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Dogs back Mahoney, Ciraldo reacts to new NRL crackdown
George Clarke, AAP • April 1st, 2025 4:59 pm
Reed Mahoney is perhaps lucky to have escaped sanction for a high hit against Cronulla | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo concedes clubs have to be cautious of becoming victims of a refereeing overcorrection as the NRL vows to come down hard on high tackles.
As he defended the character of under-fire hooker Reed Mahoney, Ciraldo said he had relayed the details of a NRL-issued edict to his squad.
In a note sent to all 17 clubs by the competition's head of football Graham Annesley on Monday, the NRL highlighted several incidents where players ought to have been sin binned during the course of round four.
Among them was Ciraldo's No.9 Mahoney, who escaped sin binning and avoided suspension for a high shot in Saturday's 20-6 win over Cronulla, which sent the Dogs to the top of the ladder for the first time in nine seasons.
The NRL said referees would be encouraged to send players to the bin if they fell foul of the crackdown.
"We showed the players the email this morning, it's common sense really," Ciraldo told reporters on Tuesday.
"Obviously, no one goes out there to attack the head and neck area but accidents do happen.
"There might have been (more high shots) on the weekend, but I think everyone's done a really good job over the last few years of limiting that high contact."
The most recent NRL crackdown on head-high contact was in the 2021 Magic Round, where there were 14 sin binnings and three send-offs through eight games of football.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has talked to his players about the NRL crackdown on high tackles | Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP
Asked if clubs needed to wary of officials going overboard, Ciraldo said: "We have got to prepare for anything, I suppose… if there's more sin bins or more penalties or we're preparing for that, but we're also preparing just to keep getting better as a football team."
Many pundits have suggested Mahoney is lucky to be lining up for Canterbury in Sunday's home clash with Newcastle after escaping sanction and a suspension for the high shot on Cronulla utility Daniel Atkinson.
The former Parramatta No. 9 has developed a reputation as one of the NRL's biggest wind-up merchants.
His desire to test a referee's patience is supported by the fact he was the game's most-penalised player in both 2023 and 2024.
But Ciraldo says the flyweight hooker is an easy target for Canterbury's detractors.
"Reed has been at the forefront of us building our identity over the last couple of years," Ciraldo said.
"We've worked really hard on building a work ethic, connection and competitiveness, and Reed is at the forefront of that.
"We're really happy with how he's going. He's worked really hard on his discipline over the last 12 months and I think he's come a long way.
"He probably had one play in that 80 minutes that he probably got slightly wrong… I reckon there's a few other players that probably got a few plays wrong during the day as well.
"Reed's just at the forefront of that at the moment, but if he continues to work on his discipline and building his game, he's going to be really important for us throughout the season."
Vossy and Brandy's thoughts on Reed Mahoney's controversial hit
