The Bulldogs have not been subtle in using the Panthers’ template and players to rebuild the club from 2021 wooden spooners to potential contenders in the space of two seasons.
Penrith have been the benchmark over the last three seasons and the Bulldogs have adopted the theory, “if you can’t beat them, join them” in moulding their organisation and squad in the Panthers’ image.
More accurately, the Bulldogs as an organisation have gone after the best administrators, coaches and players from the Panthers in a bid to turn around their fortunes both on and off the field.
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While it might not be subtle it is certainly smart to emulate the most successful club in the NRL in a bid to join them at the top of the mountain and more clubs should be doing it.
There is another saying, if you always do what you’ve always done, then you will always get what you’ve always got.
Canterbury realised their approach to running their football club both on and off the field wasn’t equalling success and went about changing their model from the top down.
Firstly, they went after Panthers assistant coach Trent Barrett fresh off Penrith’s 2020 Grand Final loss to the Storm, while they also brought in former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen as an Adviser.
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Neither move worked out in the end, but the wheels were set in motion to make big changes to turn around the club’s fortunes.
Barrett may have come and gone, but he also brought the Bulldogs’ arguably their most important signing in a decade in Matt Burton.
Burton signed with the Bulldogs to join his former Panthers assistant at Belmore and after inking a four-year extension recently, he will be tied to the club for six seasons in total at least and potentially for the rest of his career.
However, the first key move the Bulldogs made was bringing in Blues and Kangaroos winger Josh Addo-Carr from the Storm.
Addo-Carr’s signing had a three-pronged effect on the club. His speed and try-scoring ability gave the Bulldogs a fine finisher on the field and helped bring fans through the gates.
However, perhaps more importantly his infectious personality improved the culture of the side and showed the Bulldogs were a club that could bring the biggest names in the game to Belmore.
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Addo-Carr was the first domino to fall of the big stars to come to the Bulldogs, but he has since opened the floodgates.
Arguably the biggest move the Bulldogs made was to bring in former Panthers boss Phil Gould as their General Manager of Football.
Gould might not get the credit for the Panthers’ three grand final appearances and two premierships, but he did save the club from financial ruin and rebuilt an unbalanced roster from the ground up, while also bringing the Cleary father-son duo to the club.
He is now doing the same at the Bulldogs, cutting bloated contracts of underperforming stars and bringing in star players on big money deals, only in key positions.
When Gould came to the Bulldogs he realised none of the club’s highest paid players were in the spine, when No.1, No.6, No.7 and No.9 are the key positions for producing wins consistently in the NRL.
Even Burton, who was already at the club was only on $500,000 a season at the time.
If you look at the Storm, who have been the most successful club of the NRL era, they have always built their team around a strong spine and filled in the team around those four positions.
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Early in their history it was the likes of Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, Greg Inglis and Cameron Smith and now it is Ryan Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant.
The Panthers invested heavily in Dylan Edwards, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary and Api Koroisau, before his departure to the Tigers and that foursome took them to three straight grand finals and two titles.
Gould was happy to bide his time waiting for the right spine pieces to become available. He didn’t want a repeat of the hasty decision to sign Kyle Flanagan to a three-year deal at halfback.
Flanagan’s tenure at the Bulldogs hasn’t been smooth and while he improved last season, he is not a premiership winning halfback at this stage of his career.
With Burton in the halves Gould went after a hooker in Eels dummyhalf Reed Mahoney to drive the team in the key No.9 position, leaving just two spine spots to fill in fullback and halfback.
However, Gould knows even the best spine needs a strong forward pack to play behind, so he went hard for another Panthers star in second-rower Viliame Kikau.
Kikau not only offers a point of difference in defence with his momentum changing hits, but he is also the ideal ball runner the Bulldogs halves can use to make inroads on their edges.
Kikau’s signing continued the trend of bringing Penrith’s best and most influential available players to Belmore and his partnership with Burton on the edge could potentially be devastating in 2023 and beyond.
The departure of Barrett as coach threw a spanner in the works of the Bulldogs’ rebuild, with reports it could cost the club Burton at the time.
However, Gould refused to panic and patiently waited for the right man to fill the void.
Gould could have signed premiership winning coaches in Shane Flanagan and Michael Maguire, but instead he targeted another Panther in then assistant Cameron Ciraldo.
Ciraldo is regarded as the best young coach in the game and was chased hard by a number of clubs including the Tigers, before signing a monster five-year deal with Gould and the Bulldogs.
While Gould’s number one priority was to get Ciraldo’s excellent coaching ability to Belmore, the added bonus of having someone that could help lure Penrith’s best available talent was no doubt privately extra incentive.
Ciraldo reportedly told prospective clubs that if they signed him, they had to make Stephen Crichton their No.1 target.
This was no doubt music to Gould’s ears as he could now get his No.1 target as coach, which could also help land the club a two time premiership winner to play fullback.
There is arguably no more important position in modern rugby league than fullback and Gould knew he needed a world-class athlete to fill the No.1 jersey.
Crichton may be untested as an NRL fullback over the course of a full season, but he has played there multiple times for Penrith with great success and has been earmarked as a star of the future in the position for some time.
With Crichton signed on a $3.3 million four year deal, as reported by Fox Sports’ James Hooper, Gould and Ciraldo have three of their four key spine positions locked up, with Burton and Mahoney also on long-term deals.
That leaves halfback as the final piece of the spine puzzle. The club have reportedly shown interest in luring Mitchell Moses away from the Eels to be their No.7.
Moses would be the ideal candidate to run the team in the key halfback role and control proceedings with his excellent short and long kicking game.
Should the Bulldogs land Moses or another top class halfback in 2024, they will automatically become a contender due to their spine.
Granted, they will still need to be smart to fill the rest of their pack and backline with the pieces needed to create a well-oiled machine and consistent football team on both sides of the ball.
But a solid spine is a great starting point for any NRL team and it would follow the model that has made the Panthers, Storm and Roosters so successful in recent years.
The last six NRL titles have been won by the Storm (2017, 2020), Roosters (2018, 2019) and Panthers (2021, 2022) and all six title winning teams invested heavily in their spine.
Gould still has work to do with his roster, but his vision for restructuring the squad to have the spine as four of the highest paid positions in the team and filled with quality players is three quarters of the way to completion.
When the club locks in an elite No.7, a lot of the hard work is done and Ciraldo can work to fill the other positions in his 17 over time.
Most importantly for long suffering Bulldogs fans, Canterbury are relevant again and they can start turning their bid for a first premiership since 2004 from a dream into a reality.
POTENTIAL 2024 BULLDOGS STARTING 13
1. Stephen Crichton
2. Jacob Kiraz
3. Paul Alamoti
4. Bronson Xerri
5. Josh Addo-Carr
6. Matt Burton
7. Mitchell Moses*
8. Max King
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Tevita Pangai Jr
11. Raymond Faitala-Mariner
12. Viliame Kikau
13. Ryan Sutton
* Currently yet to decide his future with the Eels
2023 squad: Andrew Davey (2024), Bailey Biondi-Odo (2023), Braidon Burns (2023), Brandon Clarke (2023), Christopher Patolo (2023), Corey Waddell (2023), Declan Casey (2023), Franklin Pele (2024), Hayze Perham (2024), Jackson Topine (2024), Jacob Kiraz (2024), Jacob Preston (2024), Jake Averillo (2023), Jayden Okunbor (2023), Jeral Skelton (2024), Josh Addo-Carr (2025), Kyle Flanagan (2023), Luke Thompson (2023), Matt Burton (2027), Max King (2024), Paul Alamoti (2024), Raymond Faitala-Mariner (2025), Reed Mahoney (2026), Ryan Sutton (2025), Samuel Hughes (2023), Tevita Pangai Junior (2024), Viliame Kikau (2026)
Development players: Isaac Matalavea-Booth (2023), Iverson Matai (2023), Jordan Samrani (2023), Joseph O’Neill (2023)
2023 gains: Viliame Kikau (Panthers), Reed Mahoney (Eels), Ryan Sutton (Raiders), Andrew Davey (Sea Eagles), Franklin Pele (Sharks), Hayze Perham (Eels), Josh Reynolds (Hull FC – train and trial)
2023 losses: Jack Hetherington (Knights), Jeremy Marshall-King (Dolphins), Paul Vaughan (Warrington), Matt Dufty (Warrington), Joe Stimson (Titans), Josh Jackson (retired), Aaron Schoupp (Titans), Ava Seumanufagai (released), Corey Allan (Roosters)
2024 gains: Bronson Xerri (return from ban)
Coach: Cameron Ciraldo (2027)
