Cameron Ciraldo claims Matt Burton is now ready to take full ownership of Canterbury's attack after handing him the No.7 jersey for the first time against Cronulla.
Burton will move into the halfback role on Saturday night, in a jersey swap that puts the No.6 on Kyle Flanagan's back.
Ciraldo is well aware he could have given Burton more responsibility without swapping numbers, but wanted to make his intentions clear after talking with Burton in recent weeks about taking on more responsibility.
"We want Matt to step up and take ownership of the team," the Bulldogs coach said.
"I feel like he is ready for that. A while back he probably wasn't ready for that. But he has really grown into the leadership role, he is one of our on-field captains.
"The change of jersey is a little bit symbolic as well with where we can go with our footy."
The move will also take some pressure off Flanagan, also allowing him to focus more on his edge and smaller areas of his game.
But it is with Burton the biggest change will come.
Traditionally known as a five-eighth in his early years at Penrith, Ciraldo worked with him in both the No.6 jersey and at left centre while at the Panthers.
He then played five-eighth exclusively since his arrival at Canterbury last year with the 23-year-old's skill best exhibited in the Bulldogs' last win, where he took charge late and kicked the golden-point field goal.
"It's what the team needs right now from Matt, but he has also matured over the past two years from when I last saw him at Penrith," Ciraldo said.
"He is a lot more mature, a lot more comfortable in his own skin.
"He is ready to take the next step in terms of leadership on the field and owning parts of the game plan.
"Matt's a pretty quiet guy, but he also has the presence around the group that when he says something the boys listen and really believe in what he is doing.
"At the end of that Cowboys game, he just owned the back-end of it. We think that by giving Matt more ownership of the team, we can bring that out of him more often."
Canterbury will play centre Jake Averillo, after he recovered from a knee bump and trained Wednesday.
Ciraldo also confirmed he would resist the urge to blood 18-year-old playmaker Karl Oloapu off the bench, after helping put Canterbury's NSW Cup side atop the ladder.
"Karl is really versatile. He can play any position," Ciraldo said.
"We're a bit short on middles and forwards at the moment and we did contemplate putting him on the bench in the past few weeks.
"I'm sure he will get his opportunity soon somewhere."
