After leading most of the sudden-death match, the Dogs found themselves trailing the Sea Eagles 24-22 with only minutes remaining, and despite the efforts of Matt Burton who tried desperately to hit the equaliser, they couldn’t regain the lead.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo said he is “really proud of how the players prepared”.
He said the team was “absolutely devastated… selfishly, I feel they deserved better”.
“We’ve been on a really cool journey… The season’s a success in a lot of ways,” he said.
“What we have done culturally is a massive success.
“It’s given fans a lot to be proud off.”
Captain Stephen Crichton said he got goosebumps hearing how loud the fans were…”they really love our players”.
“We didn’t get the goods tonight but it’s good stepping stone for where we want to go,” he said.
“The goal was to bring the dogs back to finals.
“Hopefully, when we get to the finals next year we can nail our moments.”
Dogs out of finals race but preparing to ‘nail’ next year
THE Bulldogs bowed out of the finals race after a two-point loss to Manly in front of a crowd of almost 51,000 at Accor Stadium.
