In short, Canterbury’s three consecutive wins have propelled them to their highest ladder position in eight years.
The Bulldogs have not played in the finals since 2016, and they are now experiencing their longest drought since the 1950s.
What happens next? A victory over the Roosters on Sunday would give the team its first four-game winning streak in five years.
Let’s start with the numbers behind Canterbury’s recent comeback, since there are enough of them and they tell a compelling story.
Currently, the Bulldogs are sixth on the NRL ladder, which may appear small to some, but it is the highest the team has completed a round in eight years.
That’s also how long it’s been since they made the finals, trailing only the Tigers for the longest current hiatus from top-eight football.
Since then, they’ve never placed higher than 11th and have received a wooden spoon as the club has fallen to its lowest point in decades.
Such challenges were once unfathomable for Canterbury. Only once in their 90-year history have they spent so much time outside the finals: from 1948 to 1959.
So much time in the wilderness is spent with Berries rather than Bulldogs, because since the team adopted the latter as their mascot in the late 1970s, they’ve been a consistent powerhouse.
Cameron Ciraldo’s side may still be a long way from premiership contention, but the indications are looking more than good.
State of Origin might drain life out of the club competition, but if Canterbury can upset the Roosters in Gosford on Saturday, they’ll be having a great time.
With skipper Stephen Crichton on Blues duty and standout trio Viliame Kikau, Josh Addo-Carr, and Jacob Preston out due to injury, they will be underdogs, but their form is excellent.
The Bulldogs have won six of their previous eight games, including the last three in a row, highlighted by an upset victory against Parramatta on the King’s Birthday Holiday.
“That’s exactly what we’ve been doing this year. “Whatever adversity comes our way, we’re going to face it,” said star outside back Jacob Kiraz.
“Last year was our first year with Cirro, and we were all learning the system, which was difficult, but this year we have it all figured out.
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“The recruits have been fantastic; they are really professional and all winners.
“Everyone in the place wants to win and when everyone is chasing the same goal, you get performances like that.”
Kiraz only made his NRL debut two years ago, but with the Bulldogs’ roster makeover in recent years, he has quickly become one of the club’s longest-serving players.
Much has been made throughout the summer about the club’s personnel changes in recent years, with only one player, Chris Patolo, remaining from the squad that won the wooden spoon in 2021.
However, the new folks at Belmore have managed to put something together in a short period of time this year.
Much has been made of Crichton’s leadership at centre, with Kiraz praising his captain for adding more adaptability and diversity to his game, and confidence in the group is growing.
With seven wins, they’ve already matched their total from last season, and while there’s still work to be done, the Bulldogs are starting to aspire a little higher.
“It’s good to win because it’s been a tough couple of years,” he remarked.
“We know we’re going to go out there and play our game; we know how we play, we know our lads, and we know we’re not going to be bowled over by opponents any longer.
“That is who we are.” It’s a fantastic feeling right now, but we know where we’re going, and this is only the beginning.”
Depending on other results, defeating the Roosters may propel the Bulldogs into the top four for the round, giving their finals aspirations new life.
That will not be easy. Even missing their three Origin players, the Tricolours still have one of the league’s strongest squads and have been in blazing attacking form recently.
But the Bulldogs believe they’ve discovered something that has been a part of the club for many years but may have gotten forgotten for a spell.
They lost four players to injury and had several tries disallowed during their victory over the Eels, but they still won in front of almost 45,000 blue-and-white screamers. It felt like the beginning of something.
Terry Lamb, probably the club’s greatest-ever player and a difficult man to impress, addressed the squad thereafter.
“He stated it was one of the toughest wins he’d ever seen. “Hearing that from him is incredible,” Kiraz stated.
“It cheers us up a little since while he was playing, they won a lot of games and championships.
“It is up to us now. We know how we want to play; just keep it that way.
“We put a lot of faith in ourselves, and while the Parra game was not ideal, we made things difficult for ourselves.
“But as long as we keep scrambling and saving each other’s arses — we don’t want to tackle all the time, but as long as we play our way we give ourselves a chance to win.”
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