NRL 2024: Bulldogs boss Phil Gould meets with injured South Sydney forward Daniel Suluka-Fifita
An injured South Sydney heavyweight has toured Canterbury’s facilities, meeting Phil Gould and Cameron Ciraldo about joining the club effective immediately.
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Phil Gould’s overhaul of the Bulldogs has continued with the Canterbury football boss targeting South Sydney prop Daniel Suluka-Fifita.
This masthead can reveal Suluka-Fifita could seek an immediate release from the Rabbitohs after touring Canterbury’s facilities in recent days.
Gould has presided over an emphatic cleanout of the Belmore club, having released their entire top 30 since 2021, the last being Raymond Faitala-Mariner, who has been jettisoned to the Dragons.
The departure of Faitala-Mariner could pave the way for Suluka-Fifita to go from Redfern to Belmore as the Bulldogs look to regenerate their forward stocks.
It is understood the former Roosters giant has held talks with Bulldogs bosses with a view to potentially joining Canterbury immediately - pending a release from the Rabbitohs.
The 24-year-old is contracted to Souths until the end of 2025 but is seeking a fresh start after undergoing a knee reconstruction which will delay his availability for the 2024 campaign.
But Bulldogs recruitment chiefs believe the hulking 112kg bookend has untapped potential in the NRL which they are keen to unlock under coach Cameron Ciraldo.
The Matraville Tigers junior made his NRL debut for the Roosters in 2020, playing 20 games for the glamour club before his shift to inner-city rivals the Rabbitohs in 2022.
Suluka-Fifita has played an additional 15 games for South Sydney, including 10 last season, only to suffer an ACL rupture playing in the NSW Cup last September.
A hard-running, no-nonsense front-rower, the 192cm Tongan torpedo would add depth to a Bulldogs forward pack headlined by Viliame Kikau, Reed Mahoney and Josh Curran.
Suluka-Fifita is believed to be keen to make the move, which is contingent on the forward passing a Bulldogs medical on his reconstructed knee.
The Bulldogs endured a disastrous 2023 season, finishing third last and posting the worst points differential (-331) in the league as their defence fell apart.
The highly-regarded Ciraldo is under pressure to turn the Bulldogs around this season and former Titans playmaker Toby Sexton, who joined the club midway through last season, lauded Canterbury’s culture.
“I have found Cam outstanding,” Sexton said last season.
“He is honestly beyond anything I expected.
“He is the best coach I have ever had and I’ve only known him eight weeks.
“There’s no unrest here.
“We can’t control external stuff as a football side, but Cam is 12 months ahead of where he was last year and as a club, we know we need a big pre-season.
“What I like with Cam is that you always know where you stand with him. On top of that, his standards and what he expects is so high.
“He has come from a Penrith system where all they did was win, so he knows what it takes to win.
“Canterbury’s culture over the last three or four years has been a losing one. It takes time to recover. It won’t happen overnight, but I believe Cam is the coach to bring the good times back here.”
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Originally published as NRL 2024: Bulldogs boss Phil Gould meets with injured South Sydney forward Daniel Suluka-Fifita
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