NRL 2022: Canterbury Bulldogs have the most salary cap space, with $6m to spend for 2024
There is good news on the horizon for Canterbury fans but it won’t come until 2024, with the Bulldogs set to have the NRL’s biggest war chest.
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Canterbury’s incoming coach is set to be handed a $6 million war chest on November 1 as the Bulldogs hit the NRL open market armed with the financial artillery capable of quickly turning them into premiership contenders.
The Bulldogs have eight players on contract beyond next season and only a handful of those are on marquee money – Viliame Kikau, Reed Mahoney, Ryan Sutton and Tevita Pangai Jr.
There is every chance Tevita Pangai Jr might be gone by 2024 given rumours are already swirling that the club would not stand in his way should he find a home elsewhere.
The salary cap is expected to be at least $10 million next season and even more in 2024, meaning the Bulldogs will be capable of signing some of the biggest names in the game when November 1 arrives.
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Interim coach Mick Potter has already put the existing squad on notice as he prepares to take charge of his first game on Friday night when the Bulldogs travel to Leichhardt Oval to play the Wests Tigers.
“I think everyone plays for their future every single week,” Potter said.
“You are only as good as your last game. I think accountability is paramount in NRL. It doesn’t matter what you are going to do or have done a year ago, it matters what your last game was like.”
On that front, Bulldogs players are in trouble. Their last performance against Newcastle was among their worst of the season and pre-empted the departure of Barrett, who stood down on Sunday night after winning only five games in the past two seasons.
The good news is their cap management should give them opportunities to make raid strides. After years of salary cap difficulties, the Bulldogs kicked off the rebuild on Barrett’s watch with the signing of Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton, Corey Allan, Jack Hetherington and Pangai Jr.
Of those players, only Addo-Carr and Pangai Jr are on contract at the end of next season – Burton has an option in his contract and is expected to test his value on the open market.
Kikau, Mahoney, Sutton, Max King, Jacob Kiraz and Aaron Schoupp are contracted for 2024 and beyond. It leaves Canterbury in position to attack the market with murderous intent on November 1.
Even The Dolphins won’t be able to match the financial clout of the Bulldogs. The game’s newest franchise already have a dozen players contracted for their second season.
The Sharks are another team that have room to move in two years but have money tied up in key positions with Blayke Brailey, Nicho Hynes, Cameron McInnes, Dale Finucane and Toby Rudolf among the players locked in.
The Knights have just seven players committed beyond 2024 while the Eels have only six. New Zealand have the most players contracted long-term with half their 30 man squad committed until at least 2024 while Canberra, Manly and Gold Coast have 11 players secured until then.
No doubt, the Bulldogs’ salary cap position and spending freedom will be one of the big selling points as they prepare to begin their search for a new coach in earnest next week.
Premiership winners Shane Flanagan and Paul Green, Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire and Penrith assistant Cameron Ciraldo headline the last of potential contenders to replace Barrett.
THE SEVEN “STAR” RECRUITS WHO SANK TRENT BARRETT
—Paul Crawley
It was hailed as the recruitment masterstroke that would put the once proud Canterbury Bulldogs back on the rugby league map — instead it has descended into one of the great stuff ups.
And on the back of Bulldogs legend Braith Anasta’s stunning take down this week that modern day Canterbury has “lost their DNA”, we have applied the blowtorch to the seven “star” recruits who ultimately sank Trent Barrett’s head coaching career.
Here we break down the impact of each, comparing stats from last year to this year, and giving our recruitment rating on a scale ranging from A to F.
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Initially there were legitimate hopes the Bulldogs would be back pushing for the top eight this year. Yet they are still languishing last heading into Friday night’s clash with Wests Tigers _ that comes after a week of turmoil following Barrett’s shock resignation.
And as Phil Gould goes searching for the club’s fourth head coach in five years, it’s a fair question to ask how many of the current players deserve to survive the cull Gould has already started - following Brent Naden’s immediate move to the Tigers and Jack Hetherington being given permission to negotiate?
MATT BURTON
Recruitment rating: B
Stats last year: 26 games, 17 tries, 26 line breaks, 8 line break assists, 12 try assists
Stats this year: 10 games, 1 try, 1 line break, 8 line break assists, 3 try assists
Crawley says: Has been put in a really unfair position for a young playmaker who has huge potential and plays his heart out every game. It’s just Burton is cutting his teeth in the halves but is so heavily targeted because teams know if you shut him down you shut down the Bulldogs.
On $500,000-a-season and one of the few who has consistently earned his pay. But the mail is Burton wants to test the market at season’s end and you’d reckon the Dogs are Buckley’s to keep him long term.
PAUL VAUGHAN
Recruitment rating: D
Stats last year: 16 games, 1 try, 15.4 runs, 137m, 11 tackle busts, 57m post contact, 4 offloads
Stats this year: 10 games, 0 tries, 13.3 runs, 113m, 14 tackle busts, 47m post contact, 3 offloads
Crawley says: A big presence but a bad influence was the mail about Vaughan at St George Illawarra, and similar reports are emerging at Belmore relating to claims of his control over some teammates.
Vaughan summed up his attitude last year when he put on a team barbecue during Covid lockdown that ultimately got his $800,000-a-season contract torn up and ended up costing the Dragons any chance of playing finals footy.
His efforts on the field at the Dogs have been at least acceptable, but still nowhere near the rampaging Test prop he once was.
Was touted as a bargain buy for a reported $400,000, but it hardly rates as a recruitment masterstroke in my books. Not expected to be at the Dogs next season and is battling to find a club to take him.
MATT DUFTY
Recruitment rating: D-
Stats last year: 15 games, 10 tries, 132m, 51 tackle busts, 11 line breaks, 18 linebreak assists, 13 try assists
Stats this year: 10 games, 1 try, 132m, 45 tackle busts, 3 line breaks, 3 line break assists, 3 try assist
Crawley says: Will be off to the Super League next year and for the life of me I can’t comprehend why the Bulldogs signed him in the first place.
Sure, on the surface the reported $300,000 salary is a good deal for a fullback with Dufty’s talent.
But surely there is someone at the club with enough nous to do a bit of homework on Dufty’s history at the Dragons, where his previous two coaches Paul McGregor and Anthony Griffin both failed to get the best out of a player with such breathtaking ability.
And in a side with the worst attack of any team since the South Queensland Crushers in the mid-1990s, the Dogs needed a lot more than the one try and three try assists Dufty has delivered so far.
JOSH ADDO-CARR
Recruitment rating: B+
Stats last year: 22 games, 23 tries, 119m, 85 tackle busts, 29 line breaks, 6 try assists
Stats this year: 10 games, 6 tries, 119m, 45 tackle busts, 8 line breaks, 1 try assist
Crawley says: Just look at his stats and it’s hard to find fault in the Foxx’s contribution. Has brought enthusiasm, passion and quality, it just gets wasted on a team that doesn’t know how to make the most of his exceptional talent.
On just over $500,000 and has looked every bit a leader and one of the few Bulldogs who can hold his head high. If anything, you’d even give greater credit to the character Addo-Carr has displayed under such intense pressure and scrutiny than when he was blitzing it on the end of a red-hot Melbourne left-edge.
BRENT NADEN
Recruitment rating: E
Stats last year: 7 games, 4 tries, 124m, 26 tackle busts, 4 line breaks, 0 linebreak assists, 0 try assists
Stats this year: 8 games, 1 try, 95m, 11 tackle busts, 2 line breaks, 0 linebreak assists, 0 try assist
Crawley says: If this wasn’t already the worst buy of the year than Naden’s midweek exit surely seals the deal.
He came to the Dogs to try and resurrect his career but the fact the former Panther was released just 10 games into the season (after eight appearances and one try) so Naden can run out for the Tigers on Friday night is an utter embarrassment.
Fans and members should be demanding a please explain as to why the club gambled on signing him in the first place, but once again you can only shake your head in disbelief.
BRAIDON BURNS
Recruitment rating: D
Stats last year: 8 games, 2 tries, 119m, 28 tackle busts, 5 line breaks, 1 linebreak assists, 3 try assists
Stats this year: 6 games, 2 tries, 71m, 15 tackle busts, 2 line breaks, 1 linebreak assists, 1 try assist
Crawley says: Terrific talent but has had a rotten run of injuries over the years. And after starting well at Canterbury luck unfortunately continues to evade the former Rabbitoh. Now listed not to return until round 15 because of a hamstring.
When he gets some games together Burns is a player that can hold down an NRL spot.
But again, you have to question was this an intelligent recruitment decision knowing Burns played just 40 games in five seasons at Souths?
TEVITA PANGAI JR
Recruitment rating: C
Stats last year: 21 games, 5 tries, 12.8 runs, 100m, 49 tackle busts, 39m post contact, 55 offloads
Stats this year: 9 games, 1 try, 13.3 runs, 108m, 14 tackle busts, 39m post contact, 27 offloads
Crawley says: On more than $700,000-a-season which puts the Prime Minister’s salary to shame. Yet it must be so bitterly disappointing for Dogs fans to watch a bloke with so much power and skill play with such a lack of discipline.
From the moment Pangai Jr lost the plot in that pre-season trial against the Sharks you could just see this was heading for more trouble. Which again makes you question why they signed him in the first place given Pangai Jr’s history at the Broncos.
But yet again the Bulldogs went bugger it and rolled the dice anyway. Now there’s talk he could want out to head north and join Wayne Bennett at the Dolphins next year. Seriously, how does the game expect loyalty from fans when they get this lack of it constantly thrown in their face?
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