Bulldogs co-captain and fan Tayla Preston to live out childhood dream in NRLW opener

The Preston family has a box full of Bulldogs memorabilia, including an old pair of Willie Mason’s shorts. Now lifelong fan Tayla will add her own piece of history to the collection.

Tayla Preston has a signed pair of Willie Mason’s footy shorts somewhere, stuffed in a box of Bulldogs memorabilia she’s about to cram more into.

On Friday night the Bulldogs’ inaugural NRLW signing and now co-captain of the competition’s newest expansion team will complete a childhood dream to play for the club she grew up idolising.

“It’s honestly so surreal and so special to me, I’ve grown up going for this club so to wear this jersey, I just have so much pride and I want to repay the club for all the faith they’ve put in us,” she says ahead of Friday night’s historic clash with Newcastle at Accor Stadium.

“It’s the 90th year for the club and inaugural season, it doesn’t get much better to be honest. I get goosebumps thinking about it every day and I feel so lucky that I get to represent this club, it’s such an honour.”

Bulldogs co-captain Tayla Preston will complete a childhood dream to play for the club she grew up idolising. Picture: Getty Images

It’s a full circle moment for the Preston family.

Tayla’s dad John was born and raised in Belmore, but was also a goalkicking halfback in Canterbury’s lower grades in the 1980s.

“I have a few photos of me back in the day back in the boys sheds, with Trent Hodkinson, Josh Reynolds and Josh Morris,” she says.

“I have some photos at school repping my Bulldogs jersey for Jersey Day, not sure where that jersey has gone now it definitely wouldn’t fit me.

A younger Preston with former Bulldogs halfback Trent Hodkinson.

“We have Willie Mason’s old footy shorts from the Bulldogs, signed, too,” she laughs

“We found them the other day”

We ask, they’re definitely washed.

“They used to be massive on me but I think they might nearly fit me these days.”

They’re the very players who have been helping out at training across the pre-season.

Preston (left) as a kid repping her Bulldogs gear at her school’s Jersey Day.

New coach Brayden Wiliame is a recently retired NRL player who is still learning the ropes as a rookie mentor for the women’s team.

Since joining the Bulldogs he’s leant on the clubs’ former players to impart their knowledge on the team.

“We had Josh Jackson come in and Josh Reynolds did some kicking stuff with our halves the other week,” he says.

“I’m more than open for guys to come in and take sessions.

“We had Brad Fittler come in not that long ago, he just came in to watch but it was cool for the girls to see that.

“I’m not precious about, oh ‘this is my team don’t touch it’. I understand there’s things I’m still learning, so any time we can get ex-players in or people to come in and help the team, I’m more than happy for that.

“That’s the culture we’re trying to build here.”

Recently retired NRL player Brayden Wiliame will be the Bulldogs' inaugural NRLW coach. Picture: Supplied.

Wiliame was a late addition to the NRLW team, arriving just before pre-season kicked off in May.

He replaced former head coach Blake Cavallaro, who parted ways with the club amid claims of an undisclosed relationship with a colleague.

The former Eels, Dragons, Manly and Warriors centre arrives highly regarded and eager to learn after hanging up the boots of his playing career in 2023.

“I think the game has evolved a lot over the past five years or so, it got a lot faster and a lot more is the asked of the players nowadays,” he says of the NRLW.

“But as a recent player I feel like I can add that experience, I know what it feels like out there, so what I say can hold some weight.

“I was only doing this two years ago, going through a pre-season, so I know what it feels like.”

He says building a Bulldogs team that matches the culture of the club is his first priority.

“Grit is something that always comes up with the Bulldogs. That’s what they’ve been known for, and particularly over these last couple of seasons since Cam (Ciraldo) has come in, they haven’t had the biggest forward pack but they just go after teams,” he says.

“We do have quite a powerful forward pack, but that’s what we’ll be about.”

Originally published as Bulldogs co-captain and fan Tayla Preston to live out childhood dream in NRLW opener