Luke Patten urges Canterbury Bulldogs to go one better in NRL 2013

CANTERBURY premiership winner Luke Patten has urged Bulldogs players to focus on going one better in 2013.

Luke Patten

CANTERBURY premiership winner Luke Patten has urged Bulldogs players to be proud of their on-field NRL achievements this year and focus on going one better in 2013.

The Bulldogs are dealing with the fallout from their grand final loss to Melbourne with James Graham hit with a 12-game ban for biting Billy Slater, while there is an ongoing investigation into the club's Mad Monday exploits.

Retired fullback Patten, who enjoyed title success with the Bulldogs in 2004, didn't want to comment on the off-field matters but said the 2012 minor premiers should be proud of their season.

"James Graham had a great year but I suppose everyone is going to remember that suspension now which is a shame,'' Patten said.

"All of the players can be very proud of what they've done this year. A lot of people weren't expecting them to get to the grand final this season.

"Most people knew they would improve but not as much as they did and they can be proud of the season they had and now they just need to look to go one game better next year.

"The short passing with the forwards worked a treat for them. Although it didn't work for them in the grand final I think you'll see more teams playing like that in the future.''

The 32-year-old has just retired from rugby league after finishing his career with Salford in the UK Super League and has returned to Australia.

Patten is looking to stay involved in rugby league in some capacity, with player management still a possibility, but he has ruled out becoming a referee, something he was once close to doing.

"That was moreso when I hurt my back four years ago. It was something I was going to do if I couldn't play again but I kept playing,'' Patten said.

"It's got to the stage now where I don't think I could handle the training the refs do these days.''

Meanwhile, the NRL said they had received an interim report from the Bulldogs regarding mad Monday and the club was preparing more information to hand to the ARLC before a finding was made.

The investigation is regarding allegations of inappropriate comments made by players to a television reporter.

Unidentified players were recorded shouting from a room inside Belmore Oval as the team assembled for their post-season celebrations a day after their grand final loss to Melbourne.

The NRL also confirmed a final call had not yet been made on whether Graham's ban would include upcoming England Test matches.

Canterbury need to make submissions about the number of Tests which could be included in the ban and then a decision will be made by NRL judiciary chairman Paul Conlon.