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| Full name | Cameron Ciraldo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1984-10-30)30 October 1984 (age 41) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 194 cm (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 104 kg (16 st 5 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Second-row, Lock | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 12 April 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cameron Ciraldo (born 30 October 1984) is a professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in theNational Rugby League (NRL), and a former professional rugby league footballer. He is known as the defensive coach behind thePenrith Panthers back-to-back premierships in 2021 and 2022. He was previously the head coach of theItaly national team and an assistant coach of thePenrith Panthers in the NRL. During his playing career, Ciraldo played forCronulla,Newcastle Knights and thePenrith Panthers, all in the NRL, and was selected to representItaly. He primarily played as asecond-row orlock.
Ciraldo was born inSydney, New South Wales, Australia, to parents Nick and Kelly Ciraldo.[3] He is ofItalian descent through his paternal grandparents, who migrated from Italy as a child.[4] He completed his schooling atMenai High School class of 2002.[citation needed]
Ciraldo made his NRL debut forCronulla on 5 August 2005 in their round 22 game against theMelbourne Storm atEndeavour Field.
Ciraldo signed a two-year deal withNewcastle on 19 October 2007.[5] On 23 March 2009, he broke hisfibula in four places and dislocated his ankle while playing against Cronulla-Sutherland atToyota Stadium.[6] He was escorted from the field with his ankle rotated at approximately 90 degrees;[7] the injury was described as "one of the most sickening injuries on a football field".[8] On 10 September 2009, Ciraldo re-signed with Newcastle on a two-year deal.[9]
On 17 August 2011, Ciraldo signed a two-year deal with thePenrith Panthers.[10] He played for theWindsor Wolves, Penrith's feeder team, in their 8–36 loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the2013 NSW Cup Grand Final on 6 October 2013.[11]
Ciraldo retired at the end of the2013 NRL season.
In October 2009, Ciraldo represented Italy in the Australian Mediterranean (Aus-Med) Shield atMarconi Stadium in Sydney, a tournament made up completely of Australian residents, such asBlake Austin,John Skandalis andJarrod Sammut.[12] Italy's match againstMalta was Ciraldo's first time taking the field since breaking his leg in March 2009.[13] Ciraldo was named in the Italian squad for the2009 European Cup, also held in October,[14] but was unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts.
In April 2011, Ciraldo was named as vice-captain for Italy in their2013 World Cup qualifying campaign in October 2011.[15][16] He made his Test debut againstRussia on 15 October 2011, scoring a try in Italy's 92–6 win. He played in all three of Italy's matches.
For the2013 Rugby League World Cup, Ciraldo was again named as vice-captain of the team.[17][18]
He played in Italy's 15–14 upset overEngland in their pre-tournament friendly match,[19] and featured in all three of their World Cup group matches, scoring a try in their game againstScotland.
Following his retirement from his playing career, Ciraldo became the assistant coach of the Penrith Panthers'NYC team in 2014, under head coachTrent Barrett. On 5 April 2014, Ciraldo was appointed as assistant coach of the Italy national team, also under head coach Barrett.[20]
Ciraldo was promoted to head coach of Penrith's NYC team in 2015. That year, his team won 20 of their 24 regular season games to claim the minor premiership, before going on to win the Grand Final.[21] The following year, the team won 18 of their 24 regular season games (in addition to 2 draws) to claim the minor premiership for the second consecutive year. However, they were unsuccessful in winning back-to-back premierships, losing 30–28 to theSydney Roosters after leading 28–6 at halftime.[22] Ciraldo was named as coach in the NYC Team of the Year in both 2015 and 2016.[23][24]
In May 2016, Ciraldo was named as head coach of the Italy national team.[25] Assistant coachLeo Epifania mentored the team during their 2016Mediterranean Cup match againstLebanon in June, but Ciraldo returned as head coach for their2017 Rugby League World Cup qualifying matches in October 2016.[26] The Italian team defeatedRussia in therepechage round to qualify for the2017 World Cup.[27]
In 2017, Ciraldo was promoted to assistant coach of Penrith's NRL team to work under head coachAnthony Griffin.[28] In August 2018, Ciraldo was promoted to caretaker coach following Griffin's sacking as head coach.[29]Ciraldo guided Penrith to a 5th-place finish and the club qualified for the finals. In week one, Penrith defeated New Zealand to set up an elimination final against Cronulla. Cronulla went on to win the match 21–20. In October 2018, Ciraldo was replaced as head coach byIvan Cleary with Ciraldo dropping back to an assistant coach role at Penrith.[30]
Ciraldo was Penrith's assistant coach in the2020 NRL Grand Final, before winning the premiership in 2021.
On 14 August 2022, the Canterbury side announced that Ciraldo would join the club as head coach on a five-year arrangement from 2023 onwards.[31] Ciraldo would joinPenrith Panthers premiership winnersMatt Burton andViliame Kikau atBelmore. Ciraldo enjoyed an extensive relationship with Canterbury general managerPhil Gould who promoted him into his first coaching roles.[citation needed]Canterbury's first season under Ciraldo would prove a disastrous one as the club finished 15th on the table with the worst points differential in the competition.[32]In the2024 NRL season, Ciraldo would guide Canterbury to a sixth placed finish on the table which saw the club qualify for the finals. This was the first time in eight years that Canterbury had managed to achieve this. Canterbury's season would be ended however in week one of the finals losing to Manly.[33] On 8 September 2025, the Canterbury club announced that Ciraldo had extended his contract until the end of 2031.[34]Ciraldo guided Canterbury to a 4th placed finish in the2025 NRL season. After round 11, the club sat first on the table but a drop in form occurred towards the back end of the regular season. With signing of Tigers halfback Lachlan Galvin Ciraldo would make changes to the spine after a great start they would go backwards. Canterbury would be eliminated from the finals in straight sets.[35]
| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 2 | ||
| 2006 | 10 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2007 | 7 | |||
| 2008 |  Newcastle Knights | 14 | 1 | 4 |
| 2009 | 2 | |||
| 2010 | 13 | 2 | 8 | |
| 2011 | 14 | 1 | 4 | |
| 2012 |  Penrith Panthers | 21 | 1 | 4 |
| 2013 | 11 | |||
| Totals | 94 | 6 | 24 |
| Year | Team | Games | Wins | Losses | Draws | Win % | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Penrith Panthers | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 50 | 5th |
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1st | |
| 2023 |  Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 29.17 | 15th |
| 2024 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 0 | 56 | 6th | |
| 2025 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 69.57 | 3rd | |
| Totals | 79 | 41 | 38 | 0 | 51.90 |
Ciraldo married model, Kimberly Rendall, in October 2007 at St Andrew's Anglican Church inCronulla.[5]
Italy will be under Leo Epifania, the former Western Suburbs and Illawarra Steelers player, who will be assistant coach to Cameron Ciraldo for this autumn's European World Cup qualifiers.
Coaching positions | |||||
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