Canterbury coach Dean Pay brushes off salary caps woes to target 2019 NRL finals
FROM wooden spoon dogfight to NRL finals — that’s Dean Pay’s ambitious 12-month plan to rescue Canterbury from one of the darkest periods of club’s proud history.
Bulldogs
Don't miss out on the headlines from Bulldogs. Followed categories will be added to My News.
FROM wooden spoon dogfight to NRL finals — that’s Dean Pay’s bold 12-month plan to rescue Canterbury from one of the darkest periods of their history.
Used to fighting it out for the old Winfield Cup, on Thursday night at ANZ stadium, Canterbury and fellow 1980s glamour club Parramatta will instead be battling to avoid the wooden spoon.
The Bulldogs hold the upper hand, leading the last-placed Eels by two competition points and a for-and-against of almost 60.
But with the mid-season departures of Moses Mbye and Aaron Woods, and games against finals-bound Brisbane, New Zealand, St George Illawarra and Cronulla in the closing rounds, the pressure is on the Bulldogs to put some breathing space between them and the Eels.
MONEYBAGS: Knights’ war chest for another marquee
CONTRACT: Kikau signs with Penrith til 2022
TALKS: Rhyse Martin negotiations ongoing
“We need to keep away from that,” Pay said of the dreaded wooden spoon, which would be the Bulldogs’ first since 2008.
“We want to turn up against Parramatta and put in a really good performance — where that takes us, it takes us.
“We have been competitive in a lot of games. That’s our challenge — to turn those small losses into small wins next year and start to climb up the ladder.”
Pay is also trying to avoid becoming the first coach since Paul Langmack at South Sydney in 2003 to finish last in his debut season in the NRL.
Between them, Canterbury and Parramatta have won a combined total of just seven from 37 matches this season
“Every week is a big week for us. We want to improve this week on what we did last week,” Pay said.
“Parramatta is a big club, like ourselves. They are going through a tough period as well.”
While conceding it had been a “challenging and tough”, Pay stressed his club was working to bounce back from a season from hell.
“There is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel — we will come out the other side,” Pay said.
With very little room to move in the salary cap, the Bulldogs will lose wingers Brett and Josh Morris to the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla next season, while Greg Eastwood will also depart. Rising back-rower Rhyse Martin’s stocks have also increased with his recent form surge, which threatens to price himself out of staying at Belmore, where money is tight.
But there is some good news, with off-contract rookie half Lachlan Lewis set to re-sign.
The development of Lewis and with the likes of Jeremy Marshall-King coming through, Pay is already targeting a return to finals football sooner than anyone expected.
“Hopefully next year,” Pay said.
“That will come back to our performances week in, week out. They will judge whether we play semi-final footy or not. We want to play semi-finals every year.
“It’s been challenging but in saying that, and it may not seem like it, but the club has made big strides forward from where we were. We are on-the-improve and are moving forward again.”
Coaches rarely walk into NRL jobs where the club is going well. But Pay’s had it worse than anyone.
Previous management over-estimated the proposed salary cap, leaving the club unable to sign a marquee player until 2021. Pay has had to shed key players and bring in juniors ahead of their time.
“The club has always been above any individual and it always will be. The club will always be here,” Pay said.
“Individuals come and go, I will come and go. But I want to make this club a better place than when I first turned up.
“We’re going through a tough period at the moment but slowly and surely we are making sure we are putting the club first and making sure we can put ourselves in positions where we can compete for competitions.
“I have a long history with the club. I have been through the good times and this is a tough time.
“There has been some real hard decisions that had to be made here. From my point of view, I just have to keep putting the club first. That’s what we’re doing and we will continue to do that and get ourselves back on track and competing for premierships.”
Canterbury’s recent form has been solid without securing the required results. Four of their six previous losses have been by six points or fewer.
Asked how he handled disappointment, Pay said: “It takes a while to get over each and every week, obviously. You’re never immune to it.
“My job here is to pick these boys up and get them ready for the following week.
“If I am walking around here kicking stones, then so will they. I’ve got to walk in here with my head up and have a lot of positivity about what we are doing and believe in what we are doing.
“Because our group of players, we go out every week and we think we can win. That’s the best part about this group of players.
“With the group of young players we have here at the moment, I think people can see there is light at the end of the tunnel. We are starting to play more attractive footy.”
Refusing to point the finger at previous coaches, management or boards, Pay did not want to focus on the salary cap as a reason his side’s dismal year.
Asked did he blame former coach Des Hasler, Pay said: “No. Look, what’s happened in the past has happened. That’s got nothing to do with me. Where we sit today, my job is to move the club forward.
“The cap is what it is, mate. My job is to get on with what we’ve got. It’s not an excuse, we want to be playing better footy. We want to be winning games.
“When you look at it, there are a number of clubs that are down the bottom where they think they shouldn’t be. We’re one of them. Now we have to manage a roster where we can buy some kids and put in some time, effort and coaching.
“Make them better players and in another 20, 30, 40 games — they will be the future of our club. Once we get another 18 months down the track, they are going to be better players.
“Once we start getting better players, we will get better results and then once we get better results, we are going to have more players wanting to come to the club.
“Those boys (Aaron Woods and Moses Mbye) had to leave because of the cap. That’s been well documented. Now we’re no different to any other club, players come and go. That won’t change.
“Once we get our money back (from the salary cap), then we can put some really good, experienced players around those younger guys.”