Penrith captain Isaah Yeo has declared his team's familiarity with Cameron Ciraldo will help his side break down the Bulldogs' league-leading defence on Thursday night.
Canterbury have soared to the top of the NRL ladder on the back of the best defence in the competition, conceding just 17 points a game.
Ciraldo is the architect of the Bulldogs defensive structure, having used the same template he implemented when he was an assistant in Penrith.
While the reigning champions have struggled at times this year, they have won three in a row to climb into the top eight and set up a Thursday-night showdown with Canterbury.
The Bulldogs are out to prove they are the new competition benchmark, but Yeo said his side has plenty of tricks up their sleeve ahead of a fascinating defensive battle.
Panthers v Bulldogs: Round 17
"We're pretty similar defensively," Yeo sad. "They work hard, they complete really well and they've got a style where they back their defence.
"Then you've got Viliame Kikau who's one of the best back-rowers in the competition and defensively he's really good in their system. Stephen Crichton can shore up an edge from the centres. There's not really any centres that can do that.
"At Canterbury you have to be a hard worker and you need to be fit. They're not the biggest pack but they're a fit pack and really physical. No one shirks their jobs and they get good results.
"We've built that over the last three or four weeks. We haven't had our best performances but they've been gritty and resilient. We have to do that this week, we're going to be in it for the whole 80 minutes and that's a challenge we're looking forward to."
Match: Panthers v Bulldogs
Round 17 -
home Team
Panthers
7th Position
away Team
Bulldogs
2nd Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Ciraldo's arrival at Belmore came with much fanfare after his defensive system laid the foundation for the Panthers' 2021 and 2022 titles.
The transition didn't go as smoothly as many anticipated, with Canterbury finishing 15th and conceding 769 points in 2023.
The turnaround last year, however, was significant. With another season under Ciraldo's structure and the arrival of a host of new players, the Bulldogs finished the year with the best defence in the NRL, conceding just 355 points and broke an eight-year finals drought in the process.
Penrith were close behind, with 370 points against them as they claimed a fourth-straight title.
The Bulldogs' intensity in defence continues
Canterbury have gone to another level this year, brushing aside some off-field drama to soar to the top of the ladder.
Halfback Toby Sexton arrived in Belmore in 2023 and quickly recognised how important Ciraldo views defence.
The coach has used an intense pre-season to build the fitness base necessary to execute his system, with an expectation placed on players to adopt a relentless defensive attitude if they are to thrive.
"Coming to the Dogs I was all about attack and that changed pretty quickly," Sexton said. "It's part of our DNA. At the end of the year you see the best defensive teams win competitions and that's no fluke.
"The majority of it is attitude. You do so many reps during the week and you get to know the system pretty quickly but at the end of the day, if you rock up with the wrong attitude, then it flows from there."
Crichton is unstoppable in defence
Penrith have not been at their usual lofty standard for much of this season, but the signs throughout the past month suggest they are starting to turn the corner.
The Panthers have won three in a row, including an inspirational victory over the Warriors in Auckland last week without their State of Origin stars and have climbed from last to eighth on the ladder.
While both the Bulldogs and Panthers share similar defensive structures, Yeo said the challenge will come in making minor tweaks to expose their opponents on Thursday night.
Warriors v Panthers – Round 16, 2025
"We've got our system but each team attacks differently and defends differently so each week you've got to adapt on the run," Yeo said. "We fall back on our system but there's going to be times where we've got to tweak things or there are certain things we need to do well.
"Each team does things differently and each team's got strike at certain areas. They want to be able to nullify our strengths and it's no different for us."
