Five starting spots are still up for grabs for Canterbury’s team in Round 1
Canterbury coach Dean Pay still has a host of selection headaches to resolves just five days before naming his NRL side for round one.
Bulldogs
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bulldogs. Followed categories will be added to My News.
DE BELIN: Judge says ban damaged career
POWER RANKINGS: Where do Dogs fit in?
Ten players, five spots, five days. Welcome to Dean’s dilemma.
Canterbury coach Dean Pay still has 10 players queuing up for five vacant positions just five days before naming his NRL side for round one.
This for a team bookmakers are tipping to run last.
Pay told The Daily Telegraph he was still debating which way to go at fullback, wing, centre, five-eighth and back row.
“They have all put their hand up,” said Pay, who hopes to nail down his final 17 by tomorrow.
Recruit Nick Meaney and former NSW Origin star Will Hopoate are fighting for the fullback spot. Both played at the back during the Bulldogs’ trial matches.
“That’s my biggest decision,” Pay said.
Meaney has trained superbly throughout summer since joining the club from Newcastle. If Pay opts to go with the 21-year-old, then he could look to shift Hopoate to the centre position vacated by Josh Morris, who is now with Cronulla.
Bulldogs prop Aiden Tolman has been impressed with Meaney, who has played just five NRL games.
“He is definitely going to be a talent in the future,” Tolman said.
With Brett Morris having joined the Sydney Roosters, Pay has a number of replacements lining up for the wing spot.
Kerrod Holland, Reimis Smith, Marcelo Montoya and Christian Crichton are jostling for outside back positions.
Smith is a specialist winger but Holland, Montoya and Penrith recruit Crichton can play there or at centre.
With a fit again Kieran Foran a lock for the halfback position, either Lachlan Lewis and Jack Cogger will partner him at five-eighth following new Wests Tigers skipper Moses Mbye’s mid-season departure last year.
Cogger started last weekend’s trial against Canberra and linked well with Foran. But Lewis finished last season in the No.6 jersey and impressed, especially when he kicked the winning field goal in the round 23 victory over the New Zealand Warriors.
“They are both training well,” Pay said.
While Josh Jackson and Adam Elliott have locked down their spots in the Bulldogs’ back row, Pay needs to decide whether former Panther Corey Harawira-Naera or Raymond Faitala-Mariner will start or come off the interchange bench.
“They have all really trained well and each has put their hand up,” Pay said. “It will all change around a bit during the year.”
Pay’s selections will be crucial to the Bulldogs attempting to avoid finishing with their first wooden spoon since 2008.
The TAB has Canterbury the $3.50 favourites in their most losses market, ahead of Parramatta ($4.50) and Manly ($7).
At $51, the Bulldogs are the longest-priced team to win the NRL title, followed by the Gold Coast and Parramatta at $41
Canterbury will travel to Auckland in round one as $2.60 outsiders to beat the Warriors ($1.50) at Mount Smart Stadium.
Originally published as Five starting spots are still up for grabs for Canterbury’s team in Round 1
Maroons’ raiders flood SG Ball, Harold Matthews junior reps
Who were the Maroons’ raiders embedded deep in enemy territory playing in the SG Ball and Harold Matthews competitions? Revealed here, along with Queensland’s best female teens at Sydney clubs.
Every NRL club’s best 17, scouting report for the 2025 season
For teams like the Tigers, Eels and Dragons, there are plenty of fresh faces set to transform their line-up in 2025. We reveal every NRL club’s best 1-17 for the upcoming season.