Salary cap woes remain: Bulldogs boss

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beastwood89

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Bulldogs chairwoman Lynne Anderson says as hard as it was for the club to farewell the Morris brothers and a host of other players, it is yet to free the organisation from salary cap restraint.

Reflecting on her first season as head of the Belmore club, Anderson had the added distraction of players being photographed in the nude during their 'Mad Monday' drinks. Anderson was tightlipped about the matter and said it would be dealt with by the club and the NRL's Integrity Unit.

Anderson was overseas on Paralympic Games business - her day-time job as CEO of the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) - when the NRL handed down its $250,000 fine and the Bulldogs made public their individual fines for players.

The Bulldogs are due to respond to the NRL's fine on Thursday.

Meantime, Anderson stands by the forecast she made in May alongside her CEO Andrew Hill, that the Bulldogs won't be clear to chase marquee players until at least 2021.

That is despite a host of higher-profile players being let go in 2018, including Moses Mbye, Aaron Woods, Josh and Brett Morris and Greg Eastwood – the last four all internationals.

"It was a challenging start no doubt, but this job comes with the responsibility to make the tough decisions that are in the best interests of the club. Ultimately, we had to do what was needed to put the club in the best position moving forward," Anderson told NRL.com.

Morris goes the distance

"Pleasingly, this has given some exciting young players a chance in first grade that they have taken well and we will add some exciting talent to that group next year.

"However, we know that 2020 is still a difficult year from a cap position. But what this year has shown us is that we need to be well planned and well informed, as opportunities can open up quickly and we need to be ready to act."

The Bulldogs have used their sparse cash wisely, snaring Panthers duo Corey Harawira-Naera and Christian Crichton, Wests Tigers forward Sauaso Sue, and Knights young guns Nick Meaney and Jack Cogger for 2019.

But Anderson said letting the Morris twins - Josh and Brett - leave the club was a particularly hard pill to swallow.

"Players moving on is always tough, especially when they have been here as long as Josh and to a lesser extent Brett," she said.

"I spoke with their mum on Sunday, and it was emotional. Like all players that are leaving us this year, we wish them well. They have all given a lot to this club, and we are grateful. They will always be Bulldogs who are welcome back to the club at all times.

"Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog."

But Anderson was less forthright on the possibility of the club already looking at extending coach Dean Pay's contract which runs until the end of next season.

The Bulldogs slumped to equal last with the Eels after round nine and were in 15th place in round 17 before finishing 12th off the back of four wins from their last six matches. It has to be noted the Dogs also lost eight games this year by six points or less.

Coaches Corner: Finals intensity and big hits

"We are pleased with the efforts of Dean this year and excited about getting our new look squad together in the off-season," Anderson said.

"In particular we were really pleased with the progress of the group under Dean and look forward to seeing the continued development of this year's squad with the additions next season.

"Dean personally has grown a lot as a coach this year. He has come through this period a more confident coach which speaks volumes for him.

"After a tough year, we are all looking to some breathing space – the boys have earned a break, and we know they will all come back revitalised with an air of excitement about what we might be able to do in 2019."

Reimis Smith, Lachlan Lewis, Rhyse Martin, and Ofihiki Ogden will be fanning that excitement. The last three on that list made their NRL debuts in 2018.

Experience the excitement of Finals footy this weekend. Get your tickets to week 2 of the 2018 NRL Telstra Premiership Finals Series
 

Kaz

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So the rumour that they offered Oates a contract was total BS.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Yh i doubt our cap problems are that bad considering we could add CHN to our backrow despite it arguably being our strongest position atm.
 

hayes

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Oates said on league life last night he received offer by email form Canterbury but is nothing like was in the media.
 

doggyrock

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I really think the club management (and Lyn Anderson) are using the salary cap issue to justify their actions in relation to letting players go.
They can definitely sign a couple more decent players.
The quote from Lyn was that “2020 is still a difficult year from a cap position”
Yeah so what, every club is under cap pressure every season......
 

oldpuppy

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Oates said on league life last night he received offer by email form Canterbury but is nothing like was in the media.
There's proof we have no money. We are sending offers by email. Smoke signals are next.
 

oldpuppy

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I'm ok for now how the club is recruiting.
Our recent marquee signings have been duds. By 2021 we might unearth our own marquee signings and know exactly how they fit in our system. Therefore making our investment in them logical.
I'm disappointed about the Morris twins not finishing their careers with us. Nostalgia is nice . Once in a while they play like yesteryear but their best games consistently are past them. It's a chance now to hopefully unearth the next Lewis or Smith who have their best in front of them.
 

Riggs80

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We were never in that bad a space with the cap, but by releasing Mbye and Woods it gave us breathing space to sign some fringe first graders, and (most importantly) promote Lewis.
I think it's more about restructuring where the cap is being spent and in whom rather than there being no cap space available.
I think they are trying to realign how they want the cap to operate by doing a fix in one hit over 1 or 2 years or try to gradually realign it over a number of years.
Also I think as you pointed out they are looking at a total refresh of playing squad
 

dogwhisperer

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I really think the club management (and Lyn Anderson) are using the salary cap issue to justify their actions in relation to letting players go.
They can definitely sign a couple more decent players.
The quote from Lyn was that “2020 is still a difficult year from a cap position”
Yeah so what, every club is under cap pressure every season......
Mate, I’ve stated this before that 2020 is the real challenge. I can tell you for a fact that we have players on backended deals who have massively inflated figures for 2020.
 

GrogDog

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We were never in that bad a space with the cap, but by releasing Mbye and Woods it gave us breathing space to sign some fringe first graders, and (most importantly) promote Lewis.
We had to be in a bad space, there is no way that the players we had being on the $$$ they were leads to us being ok salary cap wise. The question for me was always, "Had Des and co stayed what was there plan longterm when we redlined and were over the salary cap"? They gambled on backended contracts that would put us over for a short term chop at winning the premiership and they lost. Well we lost because they all left with huge bank accounts and left the fans in the gutter....we lost! That said, I can't see how we will be buggered until 2021 due to moving on those players in Mbye and Woods. I think the club is now using that underdog tag to keep the pressure off and hopeful sneak a few signings in without a bidding war. I love how they constantly report how the Morris boys and Eastwood leaving free's up salary cap space when they weren't signed beyond this year anyways.....
 

Hot Dog

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This has been covered many times in here. I myself started 2 threads with theories on our cap troubles. I won't go into the details again because it is exhausting and it won't change the minds of some who just don't want to believe that we could be in cap trouble. I will point this out. We were promised 2 premierships by 2019. As this date was drawing near the board and Des got desperate and went all out with some serious back ending that a majority of which fall due in 2020. In 2020 they could easily cut players and say the rebuild needs to start now with limited or no backlash due to the deliverance of premierships. This is why they took the gamble. This didn't happen. We have Klemmer, Jackson, Elliot, Foran, Hoppa, and Tolman all in their final year in 2020. Don't be surprised if these 6 players alone chew up $6m of our $9.4 cap. If you think this is ridiculous please just look at Eastwoods contract ($200k, $200, $800k) to make up his $400k per year for 3 years. Any player we have bought or re-signed so far is not on anything more than minimum wage other than CHN (direct replacement for Eastwood ~ $300k - $400k a year). There is a reason for this. We can't afford to pay them more. And the reason we could get CHN was due to Woods and Mbye leaving.

I don't want to believe this is true, but if the club, including CEO and Chairwoman come out and tell me this is true, and I can make sense of it by looking at previous player contracts and also the 2019, 2 premiership promise, and finally the Manly club where the same thing happened with the same coach, then I will believe it. Like I said I don't want to believe it, but I will accept it rather than put my head in the sand or throw out conspiracy theories. It sucks. We were screwed by Des and Dib. Accept it and move on. Look at the positives. We have a chance to build a team with Bulldogs culture.
 

GrogDog

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This has been covered many times in here. I myself started 2 threads with theories on our cap troubles. I won't go into the details again because it is exhausting and it won't change the minds of some who just don't want to believe that we could be in cap trouble. I will point this out. We were promised 2 premierships by 2019. As this date was drawing near the board and Des got desperate and went all out with some serious back ending that a majority of which fall due in 2020. In 2020 they could easily cut players and say the rebuild needs to start now with limited or no backlash due to the deliverance of premierships. This is why they took the gamble. This didn't happen. We have Klemmer, Jackson, Elliot, Foran, Hoppa, and Tolman all in their final year in 2020. Don't be surprised if these 6 players alone chew up $6m of our $9.4 cap. If you think this is ridiculous please just look at Eastwoods contract ($200k, $200, $800k) to make up his $400k per year for 3 years. Any player we have bought or re-signed so far is not on anything more than minimum wage other than CHN (direct replacement for Eastwood ~ $300k - $400k a year). There is a reason for this. We can't afford to pay them more. And the reason we could get CHN was due to Woods and Mbye leaving.

I don't want to believe this is true, but if the club, including CEO and Chairwoman come out and tell me this is true, and I can make sense of it by looking at previous player contracts and also the 2019, 2 premiership promise, and finally the Manly club where the same thing happened with the same coach, then I will believe it. Like I said I don't want to believe it, but I will accept it rather than put my head in the sand or throw out conspiracy theories. It sucks. We were screwed by Des and Dib. Accept it and move on. Look at the positives. We have a chance to build a team with Bulldogs culture.
Get most of what your saying BUT Woods and Mbye leaving would be what 1.8 mil gone off the books....signing CHN does not take that up. Getting rid of Woods and Mbye would have moved us ahead about 12 -18 months in the financial recovery. One would hope that maybe that spare cash is going towards some of those backdoor deals to free the pressure up in 2020 - 2021. I believe we are slightly exaggerating our position for those years, still admitting that we are not good and free.
 

Scorpio

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I really think the club management (and Lyn Anderson) are using the salary cap issue to justify their actions in relation to letting players go.
They can definitely sign a couple more decent players.
The quote from Lyn was that “2020 is still a difficult year from a cap position”
Yeah so what, every club is under cap pressure every season......
Maybe she is softening the blow for when Klemmer leaves....... lol lol lol...
(i hope he stays)
 

seven07

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Lynne’s doing what new governments always do after taking office. Overstating how bad the books are to give themselves breathing space.
Mate more importantly how many jobs do they want works full time at the Paralympics, then whats to be the chair on the side wtf...
 

bantam rooster

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I really think the club management (and Lyn Anderson) are using the salary cap issue to justify their actions in relation to letting players go.
They can definitely sign a couple more decent players.
The quote from Lyn was that “2020 is still a difficult year from a cap position”
Yeah so what, every club is under cap pressure every season......
except the roosters
 
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