Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo's cheeky swipe ahead of must-win Manly clash

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has taken a swipe at the Manly Sea Eagles ahead of the side's must-win elimination final on Sunday afternoon.

Canterbury will break an eight-year finals drought when they host the Sea Eagles on Sunday, with their last finals match played against the Penrith Panthers in 2016.

Manly have made no secret of their blueprint that will be executed at the elimination final, which led them to a stellar 34-22 victory over the Dogs in round 26.

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Despite conceding 78 points across two matches ahead of the finals, Ciraldo is confident his team can rectify the errors that left them shell-shocked at home.

"The disappointment was left (at the field) last weekend," he said.

"We've got on with preparing for this week. It was two games out of a whole season, we had 22 others and I was ecstatic with our defence.

"There are a couple of really simple fixes and a lot of it is around attitude. They look like they've got their attitude right this week."

Manly's defence pushed the team to win five from eight of their last games and claim one of the final spots in the eight.

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But Ciraldo admits the club's rivals deserve to have finished higher than they did at the conclusion of the regular season.

"They're a class team. Probably should be ahead of where they are really," Ciraldo said.

"They have an Australian halfback, one of the best fullbacks in the game, and a really strong roster. We knew they were a quality side ... they were very good on that night.

"We're expecting that again. [There is] a couple of things we need to fix up and make it more of a contest."

In positive news for the Sea Eagles, Tom Trbojevic is set to return to the field for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury against the Bulldogs in round 26.

Manly confirmed the fullback had sustained a grade three AC shoulder injury which would sideline the star for at least one match, with his expected return to be in week one of the finals.

But as the star likely prepares to endure the expected additional tests of the Bulldogs forward pack, the Canterbury coach revealed he was unaware of Trbojevic's injury.

"Oh, he's injured, is he?" Ciraldo said when asked about Trbojevic.

"I haven't thought too much about it to be honest. I'll worry about our game.

"It's going to be a physical game no matter what, no matter who is carrying the ball. Everyone will get tested physically.

"I'm really excited to see them go out on a really big occasion in front of a lot of Bulldogs fans, who have waited a really long time to watch a game like this.

"I expect us to bring our best footy."

Ciraldo insisted the controversy involving Josh Addo-Carr has not taken a toll on the team, stating he feels "lucky" that the incident occurred when it did.

"We were really lucky it was at the start of the week and everyone knew what was going on after that," he said.

"We've had a couple of really good days at training so I'm not worried about it.

"Our guys are pretty galvanised as it is. They're a tight group, they work hard, and they love each other. We don't need anything else to motivate us.

"If they're not motivated by what we're about to do this Sunday then we've got other problems."