Cameron Ciraldo has revealed he believes his side is capable of being a top-four side after their latest win over the Dolphins in Bundaberg.
Saturday's effort saw the Bulldogs wind up with a 20-point victory, which was their fourth on the trot, and sixth in their last seven outings.
Asked whether his side can be a top-four side, Ciraldo said his side is capable, although still needs improvement with where they finish being out of their control.
"It's not really in our control, but that'd be nice. I think we are capable of being a top-four team, but there are still things in our game that we need to improve that the top four do well," Ciraldo said during his post-match press conference on the chances of his side finishing in the top four.
"It's out of our control, so we will just focus on our recovery now. It's a short turnaround, we have to get back to Sydney and then over to New Zealand so that's what's at the forefront of my mind."
The coach admitted that, during the pre-season, he was unsure of exactly what his side was capable of, but that they have continued to improve with every passing game.
"I didn't know. Honestly, we hadn't played together before so I had no idea. I knew they were good people who worked hard so that was a good start, but I feel like every game we have got better. If we continue to do that, who knows what we are capable of, but honestly I didn't know what we were going to be at the start of the season," Ciraldo said.
Captain Stephen Crichton agreed with his coach, but said the signs were always positive from the start of the pre-season, revealing many of his teammates had done extra training beyond what was being asked.
"I'm probably the same as Ciro. I didn't know how we were going to go, but in the pre-season, with how connected the boys were, the way they came in, put the team first, learnt the system and stayed back after training doing extras to be at their best to first make the side and then perform under pressure," Crichton said.
"When I first came in there were a lot of boys that were fitter than me and that was probably the first sign that I knew the boys were switched on. It was good signs in the pre-season."
The Bulldogs have been rock solid in defence all season, and, as it stands, have the second-best defensive record in the competition conceding only a tick over 16 points per game.
While their attack had lacked, it's an area they have shifted dramatically on in recent weeks, running up 121 points in their latest four-match winning streak, including another 30 on Saturday.
Ciraldo revealed the club had tinkered with things during their last bye which came in Round 19. Since then, the Bulldogs have only suffered a single loss, coming against the North Queensland Cowboys directly after it before their four straight victories.
"Since the last bye we just had to tinker with a few things and change a few things to suit our players and what we were good at. We were a new team. We had ten new players at the start of the year so it was always going to be a little bit of trial and error along the way, but I feel like we have found our groove the last five or six weeks and we are starting to get confident," Ciraldo said on the club's improving attack.
"We were a little bit clunky at times today, but I thought the Dolphins defended really well on their try line so it's not as if points were easy to come by, but we need to get a little bit more cohesion before next week."
The win over the Dolphins all but ensures the Bulldogs will play finals rugby league this season, but with a run home featuring games against the New Zealand Warriors, Manly Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys, they will have aspirations of jumping the Cronulla Sharks and landing a spot in the top four.
