The Bulldogs' 2024 season came to an end on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Sea Eagles 24-22 in an elimination final.
Canterbury-Bankstown held double-digit leads on two occasions at Accor Stadium but couldn't hold off a fast-finishing Manly side.
While the defeat will hurt, this year's campaign was still a major improvement on 2023, where the team finished 15th.
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Unfortunately, the Bulldogs' first NRL finals appearance since 2016 was somewhat overshadowed by an off-field controversy.
Josh Addo-Carr returned a positive result for cocaine on a second sample from a random NSW Police roadside illicit drug test on Friday.
The star winger stood himself down as details emerged.
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Head coach Cameron Ciraldo was asked post-match whether the saga negatively impacted his team's preparation.
"It’s hard to say whether it has had an impact or not," Ciraldo said.
"What I will say is I thought we handled it great. I thought having a leader like [football boss] Gus [Gould] was awesome for myself and the playing group.
"You are always looking at the playing group and thinking 'how has it affected them?'. They came to me and said 'this is not a distraction for us, we are right to go'.
"I think it showed out there tonight how well they prepared all week.
"It’s a credit to these players and our leaders [that] they were able to shift any focus on that onto trying to get the job done tonight."
