‘They are in the market’: Shock move exposes Dogs’ roster problem as Gus called out

Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould has been urged to “man up” and front the fans as the club’s season quickly slips away, with a claim that they are in the hunt for a fullback despite only extending Connor Tracey a month ago.

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The Bulldogs finished inside the top four last year under Cameron Ciraldo’s watch only to flame out in the finals, crashing out in straight sets after a heavy loss to Penrith.

Still, there was optimism that the club was on an upwards trajectory and that the move away from Toby Sexton to young halfback Lachlan Galvin could, in time, lift the Bulldogs’ ceiling.

Instead, Galvin has been one of the sole shining lights in an otherwise tough season for the Bulldogs.

His combination with Matt Burton remains a work in progress while fullback Connor Tracey’s form has been down since he extended with the club until the end of the 2028 season.

While that new contract seemingly locked Tracey is at fullback for the next few years, veteran journalist Brent Read reported on ‘NRL 360’ on Monday night that the Bulldogs are still in the market for a fullback.

“I can tell you right now they’re looking around for a fullback,” he said.

Now, Tracey is versatile enough that if the Bulldogs were to find a better option at fullback he could still add value potentially in the centres or even as a utility off the bench.

But the Bulldogs already have two starting centres in Stephen Crichton and Bronson Xerri, while it would not reflect well on the club if Tracey was moved to the bench after agreeing to the extension.

For Read, more than anything it — along with the talks with Luke Metcalf and meeting with Sam Verrills — is an “acknowledgment” from the Bulldogs that “they got things wrong”.

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“The mere fact they are in the market for those positions shows they know they made some mistakes and need to fix them,” he added.

It is part of the reason why fellow Code Sports reporter Dean Ritchie believes Bulldogs powerbrokers, and in particular Gould, need to be more transparent and accountable to fans.

The Dragons recently sent an email to members inviting them to a forum where club CEO Tim Watsford, COO Ben Creagh and interim head coach Dean Young would answer their questions.

While the Dragons may be struggling on the field, Ritchie said the Bulldogs could learn a thing or two from the wooden spoon favourites.

“For all their faults, I think it’s quite brave that they are fronting the fans. I think it’s now time for the Dogs to take the same ploy,” Ritchie said on ‘NRL 360’.

“Their fans are blowing up deluxe... I think Gus needs to show up, I think Ciraldo needs to show up and probably Aaron Warburton.

“There would be a myriad of questions, probably starting with why did Reed Mahoney go? Why has Lachlan Galvin not quite worked out? Asking about positional changes on the way and perhaps Bailey Hayward and why he has been retained at hooker when clearly he is not a dummy-half.

“That’s just some questions that the fans would want asked, and there would be a million more. Gus has got to man up and at least meet the fans and explain the hole that they’re in. They’re in a bloody big hole.”

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Ritchie went on to claim that the Bulldogs’ roster is “not up to today’s standards”, describing it as “slow and pedestrian” in a game that rewards “quick, up-tempo and agile” football.

While coach Ciraldo has come under intense scrutiny for the club’s decline this year, Read quickly pointed out that the state of the roster is a “Gus issue” and that it doesn’t help that he has gone quiet on social media in recent weeks.

“He’s even off Twitter. He doesn’t respond to the fans on Twitter anymore. He’s basically gone into hiding,” Read said.

Gould did address the club’s worrying form slump on Nine’s ‘100% Footy’ on Monday night, admitting there is “no doubt they’re struggling”.

“But I’ve seen all this before,” he added.

“There are a number of reasons why we’re struggling at the moment and there’s not much we can do about it. We’ve got to just keep turning up and giving it our best shot.”

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That starts this weekend against the Storm, with all the pressure on the Bulldogs given they will be expected to beat a Melbourne side missing all its Origin stars.

However, Braith Anasta questioned whether there is an easy fix for his former club after they failed to get up for captain Stephen Crichton’s milestone game last week.

“I watched the tribute to Critta on Instagram and it was beautiful,” Anasta said.

“If anyone deserved their team to get behind them and win a milestone game it was him and then you look at the performance and you think, ‘What is wrong?’... we commended them 12 to 18 months ago about how they had changed the DNA and it was the Bulldogs of old.

“That was with players like Sexton and Mahoney, it wasn’t this crazy star-studded team. They just found their mojo and DNA and what it is to be a Bulldog and here we are after numerous decisions and they look nothing like a Bulldogs team.”

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