Cameron Ciraldo walked into one of the more illuminating press conferences of his career on Friday night with an A4-sized cheat sheet of talking points.

He often carries these notes, but rarely referred to them as he shunned the sanctity of the dressing room for a public dressing down of his spluttering side.

This Friday, the Bulldogs feature in the best double-header in recent memory, when Canberra host Penrith in Mudgee and Melbourne does the same with Canterbury straight afterwards.

One of these sides is not like the others. The Storm’s defence has been surprisingly erratic at times this year, but they are surging with Jahrome Hughes set to return for the finals.

Penrith should have beaten Melbourne last week, long before Harry Grant got involved with, and without, the ball. Even in defeat, though, Nathan Cleary and an outright intimidating line speed have the four-time premiers rising at the right time.

Canberra’s next-gen Green Machine is largely untested under finals pressure but flying otherwise.

And the Bulldogs? Ciraldo’s press conference after being bested, battered and bashed by the Roosters was far crankier than at the club’s most recent rock bottom moment - the

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