NRL Market Watch: Bulldogs to use Sonny Bill Williams in Payne Haas pursuit

On November 1, the game’s most dominant forward can begin negotiating with rival clubs - and the Bulldogs have a plan to secure the Broncos star.

Reed Mahoney and (inset) his social media apology.

The Canterbury Bulldogs, embarrassed on Sunday, have identified NSW and Brisbane superstar Payne Haas as a possible $1m a year recruit – and hope he can be lured to Belmore by club great Sonny Bill Williams.

And the Bulldogs are also monitoring developments with Gold Coast pair Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and David Fifita.

Haas, 23, comes off contract with Brisbane after next season but is free to field rival offers for 2025 from November 1 this year.

Canterbury management is expected to target Haas but are also aware he will be pursued by multiple clubs along with Rugby Australia.

Haas is being discussed internally at Belmore, where the club has been bringing former Bulldogs greats, including Williams, back into the fold.

Williams and Haas are friends with their strong Islam religious connection possibly giving the Bulldogs an edge.

Haas has previously said: “I went to Islam, I found it and it‘s taught me a lot. It just made sense to have good people around me.

“I speak to Sonny, Sonny’s a real good brother of mine. He’s always messaging me, making sure I’m all right. He’s always providing good guidance for me.

“I’m learning off one of the best ever to do it. He’s giving me life advice, I ask more things about life. But he’s always messaging me, asking how I am.”

Senior Bulldogs officials were aware this masthead was running a story about Haas but chose not to comment given the humiliating score line on Sunday.

Sonny Bill Williams mentors Payne Haas. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Bulldogs officials, players and fans are still reeling after Sunday’s embarrassing 66-0 loss to Newcastle at Accor Stadium.

While the club won’t recklessly rush into the marketplace, management is aware the side needs another two big forwards and a halfback.

And the club is also aware Brisbane will be hungry to retain Haas while RA will make the giant forward a record offer.

Canterbury will have considerable room to move in their salary cap for 2024 and 2025 and the club has shown the club can attract some star power by signing Viliame Kikau, Matt Burton, Reed Mahoney, Josh Addo-Carr and Stephen Crichton over the past two years.

Canterbury general manager of football, Phil Gould, and club chairman, John Khoury, are desperately attempting to rebuild a fractured culture.

This masthead revealed on Monday that Fa’asuamaleaui and Fifita had contracts tied to former coach Justin Holbrook, who was sacked by the club late last month.

Payne Haas can speak to clubs from November 1. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty

The pair are now free agents with Canterbury closely watching developments.Canterbury is also injecting money, resources and energy into its burgeoning pathways system.

The Bulldogs has debuted more players this season than any other club. Aside from Crichton, Canterbury has also signed Bronson Xerri from 2024 and continues being linked to Gold Coast halfback Toby Sexton.

Bulldogs fans flooded social media on Sunday evening to express their anger at the club’s insipid performance against the Knights.

Some left at half time on Sunday with their side behind 30-0 while others have vowed to boycott games for the rest of this season.

It doesn’t get any easier for Canterbury, who play Souths this Saturday night.

DOG’S EMBARRASSING APOLOGY AFTER OFFENDING FANS

- Brent Read

Canterbury captain Reed Mahoney has apologised to Bulldogs fans for his side’s recent form and moved to clarify comments he made about angry supporters after the club’s embarrassing loss to Newcastle on Sunday afternoon.

Frustrated Bulldogs supporters booed the players at halftime and many left before the end of the game as they watched their side capitulate at Accor Stadium.

Mahoney was asked afterwards about the reaction of the fans and suggested they didn’t have the right to boo, before quickly backtracking and suggesting they did.

He later claimed any players and fans who weren’t willing to take the hard road should “hop off the bus”.

“The fans I feel like they don’t have the right to do that – well they do in a way,” he said.

“We’re working really hard. It is frustrating. I will support my players and this club. It is hard but we have to move on and keep working hard like we are.

“We need our members and fans to get behind us because we’re working really hard. I know sometimes you have to go through these things to get to where you want to go.

Reed Mahoney dejected at full time. Picture: Getty

“Footy is a lesson – you learn every week. It takes time, it takes years to build craft. We’re all still learning. I have been there before and it is not easy. It is a hard road – we are willing to take that.

“For the players and fans, if you don’t want to be on the hard road, then hop off the bus.”

Mahoney posted on his social media accounts on Sunday night and said his comments were not intended to offend the club’s supporters.

“My comments tonight after the game were said not to offend our members or fans, it was more of an emotional response to support our playing squad and staff,” he wrote.

“We apologise to our loyal fans for our recent performance. We understand your frustration and share your disappointment.

“Rest assured we are actively working to address the issues and improve our performance. Your support means everything to us and we are committed to better results.”

We apologise to our loyal fans for our recent performance. We understand your frustration & share your disappointment. Rest assured we are actively working to address the issues and improve our performance Your support means everything to us, & we are committed to better results

— Reed Mahoney (@MahoneyReed) July 2, 2023

My comments tonight after the game were said not to offend our members or fans, it was more of an emotional response to support our playing squad and Staff.

— Reed Mahoney (@MahoneyReed) July 2, 2023

COMMENT: LOYAL DOGS DESERVE A MEDAL AFTER DARK DAY

The Canterbury fans who stayed until the bitter end at Accor Stadium on Sunday afternoon deserve a medal for enduring one of the blackest days in Bulldogs history.

The crowd was posted at just over 11,000, although many of them headed for the exits at halftime.

Those who weren’t high-tailing for the car park, made their feelings known.

As Bulldogs players huddled in the middle of the field after an abject 40 minutes, boos rung around Accor Stadium.

Angry and incredulous Bulldogs fans unloaded. The toxicity level had grown with every Newcastle try – and there plenty of them – and it reached a crescendo as the halftime siren sounded.

Furious Canterbury fans turn on pitiful Bulldogs, demand answers from Phil Gould and Cameron Ciraldo #NRLBulldogsKnights#NRL Tackle: https://t.co/XSpWV3I5KXpic.twitter.com/gKYvRFCu3X

— Telegraph Sport (@telegraph_sport) July 2, 2023

It didn’t get any better in the second half either. By day’s end, the Knights crossed for 11 tries.

They could have had more, such was the woeful standard of the Bulldogs defence.

Dogs coach Cameron Ciraldo was hailed as a defensive genius at Penrith. The Panthers set a high bar. The Bulldogs aren’t even close to reaching it.

Players help make great coaches and Ciraldo is suffering from an extreme lack of talent at the Bulldogs.

Hope is at hand but Stephen Crichton and Bronson Xerri alone won’t fix the problems that were ruthlessly exposed at Accor Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Dogs fans started the season with such optimism but it has slowly given way to a sense of despair. On Sunday, their frustrations exploded as they watched their side produce an insipid performance on home soil.

Bulldogs players shattered during the big loss to Newcastle. Picture: NRL Photos

It was an unmitigated disaster. It felt like rock bottom for the Bulldogs, prompting Ciraldo to urge the club to stay together and captain Reed Mahoney to lay down a challenge to anyone involved at the Bulldogs, be it player of supporter. “For the players and the fans, if you don’t want to be on the hard road, hop off the bus,” Mahoney said.

As Mahoney and Ciraldo were fronting the media, head of football Phil Gould was addressing the concerns of fans on social media. The were plenty of them too.

“It’s not easy to watch and I feel for the fans,” Gould wrote to one.

“But I feel for the coaches and players too. They work hard and they all care. NRL can be very tough at times, and we are going through a particularly tough time at the moment.

Today was not good. Quite upsetting for a number of our younger players actually. Right now, we need to look after them. That’s our first job. https://t.co/PPInFUkCcL

— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) July 2, 2023

“The solutions are not immediate. We’ve been here before. Better days ahead.”

To another he wrote: “It’s not going to get any easier.” Gould also defended the decision to hand Ciraldo a five-year deal.

“The fact that he came to us knowing how tough it would be speaks volumes for his character,” Gould wrote.

“He will get the club right. Of this I have no doubt.”

The Knights had a day out against the Bulldogs.

Where Ciraldo is concerned, it is far too early to make a judgement. What is clear is that he has work to do. Plenty of it too.

Newcastle came into this game with their coach Adam O’Brien under pressure and their season on the line. They made light work of a Bulldogs side that missed more than 50 tackles.

Ciraldo has his work cut out. The job, he conceded, was even bigger than he thought given the losing culture that has infiltrated Belmore.

“This is a cultural thing that has happened for years and years now,” he said.

“A habit of losing. We want to fix the culture of the place. It will turn soon. It will turn.

“The message to the players is we have to stick together and that is the same message for anyone who supports this club or is within the club as well.

“Days like today are hard. The only way you can do it is stick together. We are going to turn this club around.”

Ciraldo also delivered a promise to Bulldogs fans. “If you stick with us there will be good times ahead,” he said. “When we get there, days like this will make it all the more reason to enjoy it.”

Originally published as NRL Market Watch: Bulldogs to use Sonny Bill Williams in Payne Haas pursuit