The Bulldogs' hopes of piercing Penrith's four-time premiership-winning defence appear to hinge on France-bound Sexton finding immediate chemistry with the man who ousted him from the team a little more than two months ago.
Sexton will start as Lachie Galvin's halves partner for only the third time at Accor Stadium, called in from the bench after shining in an injurious qualifying-final loss to Melbourne last week.
The Bulldogs won 12 of the 16 games Sexton had started at halfback before Galvin's much-discussed mid-season arrival.
A sixth loss in 10 games since Sexton was dropped would end the 24-year-old's NRL career for the time being, as well as a breakthrough season for Ciraldo's regime.
While the Bulldogs' form wavered once Sexton came out of the team in July, Ciraldo said Sexton's attitude never did.
"Toby's attitude has been good the whole time," the coach said.
"It sort of reflected on the week he got dropped, the next training session he was the last one on the field with three assistant coaches working with him.
"It just showed that he never gave up and no one ever gave up on him either. It's a true testament to his character."
Emblazoned on the exterior brickwork at the Bulldogs' Belmore headquarters is the team motto: "Club first. Team second. Individual third".
Ciraldo's confidence in Sexton stems from his ability to live that creed and keep his head up while out of the team.
"We talk a lot about putting the 'we' before 'me' here and (being) club first. It's easy to say but to go out and do it the way he has, it was a credit to him," Ciraldo said.
Alongside Sexton's call-up to the halves, regular five-eighth Matt Burton has moved to the centres in place of injured captain Stephen Crichton.
Ciraldo expected the Bulldogs' attack to unfold slightly differently given the changes.
"It will, I can't say too much but if we can get Galvin, Burton and (Viliame) Kikau combining and asking good questions, that's awesome," he said.
"Toby has played with these guys plenty of times before as well, it will be a little bit different but it's still within our system."
Sexton's promotion has cleared the way for North Queensland-bound hooker Reed Mahoney to join the bench for what could also be his last game for the club he once captained.
Ciraldo insisted his decision to axe Mahoney from last week's qualifying-final loss was never guaranteed to be permanent.
"He was on the bench before last week and we made a decision around putting Toby there for a bit of utility value. It was probably lucky we did," Ciraldo said.
"We had those conversations with Reed along the way that it was only for that week and that anything could happen. It's funny how it's worked out."
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