Belmore is alive with Bulldogs fans again. Why are the police fining them?

Forget about ladder positions, defensive records and membership numbers.

You know the Bulldogs are officially back when the streets of Belmore are jammed with supporters beating drums, chanting chants, and blasting car horns after another stirring victory.

If we threw in the odd burnout and some illegal fireworks, it would feel like we’d gone back in time to 2004 when the Bulldogs last won the premiership.

Confidence is a slippery commodity but when a team can grab hold of it, as Cameron Ciraldo’s has in the past month or so, it filters through the community.

Phil Gould knew it would work for Penrith. Now, he’s doing it at Canterbury.

The deeper the Bulldogs go into September, the more fans are taking over Burwood Road – the spiritual strip of Belmore – to celebrate with like-minded people from all walks of life.

Fans arrive for a match at Belmore Sports Ground.Credit: Getty Images

Sadly, in the Nanny State of NSW, police are issuing $400 fines, including three demerit points, to fans who beep their horns.

Mustafa, a 24-year-old fan who wanted to be known only by his first name, says police in an unmarked car hauled his Hilux over following the away victory over the Warriors in round 25.

He had just turned into Leylands Parade from Burwood Road when he was pulled over.

“I had no clue what I was getting stopped for,” he said. “The policeman said, ‘Why are you beeping the horn?’ As he asked that, hundreds of horns were going off behind me. I said, ‘Are you serious?’ I was in shock. I was speechless. I didn’t know what to say. He said he wanted to check the car. He checked the tyres, the headlights at the front, breath-tested me. Then he told me I’d be getting a $400 fine and [losing] three demerit points for unnecessary beeping.”

Reed Mahoney greets the Canterbury fans at fulltime after the recent win over Canberra at Belmore..Credit: NRL Photos

I understand the police are doing their job and obeying orders but if this is the new standard God help the drivers I hear blasting their horns as they sit in unmovable traffic on New South Head Road in peak hour every morning and afternoon.

Mustafa said he intended to take the matter to court.

“It’s got nothing to do with the money or points but the morals behind it,” he said. “It was like they were taking advantage of the situation. If the event was illegal, why didn’t they shut the whole thing down? Don’t encourage it to happen then park in the side streets and fine everyone. It’s Belmore, it’s Bulldogs, you know what’s going to happen. It’s just beeping. It’s not like we were speeding.”

The Bulldogs have been in regular dialogue with NSW Police about their fans’ celebrating after matches, especially since some crash-tackled Canberra drummer Simon Tayoun following a match at Belmore Sports Ground a month ago.

Their information is police will allow them to honk their horns along Belmore and Canterbury roads, but not in the side-streets where some residents are already in their jammy-jams and slippers watching Happy Days. Police have told the club they receive “hundreds” of noise complaints after Bulldogs’ victories.

“The energy our fans bring is a huge part of what makes the Bulldogs special,” Bulldogs chief executive Aaron Warburton said. “We love the enthusiasm, but we also want to ensure we’re good neighbours in our community. We’re asking our loyal supporters to celebrate responsibly and respect local residents.”

A NSW Police spokesman said inquiries about road rules would need to be made with the Attorney General’s office.

“There will be a coordinated police presence in the Belmore area on Saturday, September 7, to coincide with the NRL match between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and North Queensland Cowboys. Police will be present to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone.”

Despite the heavy police presence, you can’t dispute the positive influence of the football club’s success on the local area.

Johnny from the popular Instagram account “Humans of Bankstown” says a return to the club’s multicultural roots is the reason the streets of Belmore have come alive.

“The cultural aspect is huge as to why the local community has embraced this team so much,” he said. “Canterbury-Bankstown is a very multicultural place. I think it’s so important for this team to have a high-performing player with a Lebanese background (Jacob Kiraz), among other nationalities. The coach is Italian. A couple of Samoans, Indigenous, Maltese ... It’s so relatable to the area. I love the fact this team was up shit creek a year ago and the coach said, ‘We will work hard and you’ll all see’. That’s typical of the area.”

If the Bulldogs can beat North Queensland at Accor Stadium on Saturday night, they will secure a home final at the same venue a week later. More than 50,000 people are expected — a phenomenal result given the club’s troubles over the past decade.

Blue and white can found everywhere you look, even in the most unlikely of places. Mustafa spoke to me on Wednesday afternoon after attending the funeral of a distant relative.

“A quarter of the people there were in Bulldogs gear,” he said.

Tigers’ spoonful of sugar

The race to the bottom of the NRL ladder reaches its exciting conclusion on Friday night when the Wests Tigers host Parramatta at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

While the Tigers are trying to avoid their third consecutive wooden spoon, the Eels want to avoid joining Souths and Newcastle as the only clubs to have finished last four times in the NRL era.

The match is the third sellout at Campbelltown this season, a remarkable feat for a club that has been so poorly managed for the past decade.

The Tigers will do battle for the wooden spoon before a full house at Campbelltown.Credit: Getty Images

It’s also indicative of the slow but clear turnaround this year after the Holman Barnes Group dumped the old board and instigated meaningful change.

Membership is up 23 per cent and the bottom line is already looking far better. After losing $5.5 million in 2023 and 2024, the joint venture has budgeted for a $600,000 loss in 2025 and expects to make a $1 million profit in 2026.

Quality players in Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva from Penrith and Royce Hunt from the Sharks are headed their way next season.

Stefano Utoikamanu has joined the Storm but the game’s hottest young prospect, Lachlan Galvin, wants to stay after getting the wobbles earlier this year.

More than that, weary fans finally have some hope about things turning around. They look at Canterbury and understand that all that’s required is a little patience.

Of course, none of this is good enough for some Balmain directors, who think the best thing would be to break free from Wests and start up on their own again.

There’s playing poker with a bad hand then there’s playing poker as a 10 per cent shareholder with no money after being bailed out a few years ago by the stakeholder from which you now want to sever ties.

THE QUOTE

“As soon as I qualified, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. What have I done?’ Because I knew that I was going to get beaten, and I knew that people were not going to understand my style and what I was going to do.” — Rachael “Raygun” Gunn on The Project. The false claims about her qualification, her husband, and endless mockery are tiresome, but this quote proves she knew criticism was coming her way but competed anyway. It’s the Olympics, not a school sports carnival.

Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn was interviewed on The Project this week.

THUMBS UP

I am, as the kids say, totally vibing these Paralympics: they’re different, they’re interesting, they capture the essence of what sport is all about. Indian archer Sheetal Devi, 17, who has no arms, scoring a bullseye in the women’s individual compound is my personal highlight thus far. Then there’s Australian swimmer Alexa Leary, who has gone from intensive care after a bike accident to gold medallist.

THUMBS DOWN

Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva took out her frustration at losing a game at the US Open by refusing to take balls being thrown to her by a ball girl, just standing there with her arms dangling by her side like salamis. After losing in straight sets to Jasmine Paolini, she apologised on social media: “Honestly speaking, it was not about her.” No, you just took it out on her.

It’s a big weekend for … the NFL, which starts on Friday (AEST) with the Chiefs hosting the Ravens before the Packers and Eagles meet in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday. One player who won’t be taking the field is San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall, who was placed on the injured list and rated “questionable” after being shot in the chest during an attempted robbery.

It’s an even bigger weekend for … the Sydney Swans and the GWS Giants as they go head-to-head in a qualifying final at a packed SCG on Saturday afternoon. The Giants lost both matches to the Swans earlier this season but hold a 3-0 record against them in finals. It’s also their 300th match in the AFL since joining the premiership in 2012.