What’s the Buzz: Dogfight over coach Dean Pay’s promotion for rival

Coach Dean Pay is embroiled in a row at Canterbury Bulldogs over a series of radio commercials with TV star Erin Molan to promote one of the club’s biggest rivals.

Coach Dean Pay is embroiled in a row at Canterbury Bulldogs over a series of radio commercials with TV star Erin Molan to promote one of the club’s biggest rivals.

A photo of Pay is also being used on the side of a bus to endorse Bankstown RSL and its recently renovated dining and gaming facilities after a multimillion-dollar makeover.

However, the RSL is Canterbury League Club’s biggest rival.

The Bulldogs recently completed their own $106 million licensed club renovation and hired a new chief executive, Greg Pickering, to attract business and arrest a profit slump from recent years.

LISTEN TO THE AD IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

Bulldogs coach Dean Pay.

They are desperately trying to rebuild the club that was once among the top three in NSW.

Canterbury League Club gives the Bulldogs an annual grant of up to $7 million. Without them, the NRL team would not survive.

Club chairman George Coorey declined to comment, referring us to Bulldogs football chief executive Andrew Hill who gave Pay permission to do the advertising campaign.

The RSL is a sleeve sponsor of the club’s junior rep teams — Harold Matthews, SG Ball and Tarsha Gale Cup but has no role with the NRL team.

LISTEN TO THE AD IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

“They’ve (the RSL) put money into our juniors for three or four years,” Hill said.

“It was a one-off opportunity to help another community organisation that pours money into junior sport.”

Hill is one of the game’s most highly regarded young officials but his decision to allow Pay to promote a rival organisation has gone down poorly with Belmore powerbrokers.

Every game of every round of the NRL Telstra Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. SIGN UP NOW!