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A trio of Canterbury premiership winners have spoken of their concerns about the direction the Bulldogs are heading in following a 36-0 thrashing by Manly, indicating Des Hasler has reached his use-by date at Belmore.
Hasler's future at the club is hanging in the balance after the Lottoland rout and it appears he will need a remarkable turnaround from his team against Brisbane on Thursday night and in coming weeks to keep his job beyond this season.
"All I'll say is it was very difficult sitting there watching and taking it seriously," said Paul Dunn, the 1988 Clive Churchill medallist and former Bulldogs board member.
"They've lost seven out of their last eight games now. It doesn't look like anything is changing. It's going to be a long year."
Premiership-winning captain Peter Tunks believes the clash against the Broncos at ANZ Stadium in round five now shapes as the "biggest match for the club for a long time".
"Des has been there a long time," Tunks said. "He'd have to understand there comes a time when a coach has been somewhere for long enough and what he's telling them is maybe going in one ear and out the other.
"They talk about losing the dressing room. Well, there was a lot of effort put in [on Saturday] but there was something missing. I haven't seen that from a Canterbury team for a long, long time.
"There is a sell-by date for everybody. It didn't look like the players are in on what Des is trying to get them to do. When you have a result like [on Saturday] it's not a good sign. Des has made the semis every year [since he arrived at Canterbury in 2012] and two grand finals. But they've had one win this year and in round four to get beaten 36-0 by a team that had only won one game before then you've got to be pretty concerned."
Fairfax Media was told last week that the finalisation of Hasler's two-year contract extension would hinge on performances over the proceeding eight rounds, including the visit to Manly, with the end point of that period constituting nearly the halfway point of the season.
The Bulldogs are adamant there is no set time frame but what is increasingly evident is that Hasler can ill afford another Manly-like beating on Thursday night. Canterbury is a club renowned for setting high standards and despite Hasler's rich record of reaching the top eight and beyond what was on display on the northern beaches was wildly out of character with Bulldogs sides of the past.
"It looks on the surface that there is a fair amount of passion missing," grand final-winning second-rower Graeme Hughes said. "Unless they can find something it's almost time for all parties to move on."
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...bury-say-former-bulldogs-20170326-gv6opb.html
Hasler's future at the club is hanging in the balance after the Lottoland rout and it appears he will need a remarkable turnaround from his team against Brisbane on Thursday night and in coming weeks to keep his job beyond this season.
"All I'll say is it was very difficult sitting there watching and taking it seriously," said Paul Dunn, the 1988 Clive Churchill medallist and former Bulldogs board member.
"They've lost seven out of their last eight games now. It doesn't look like anything is changing. It's going to be a long year."
Premiership-winning captain Peter Tunks believes the clash against the Broncos at ANZ Stadium in round five now shapes as the "biggest match for the club for a long time".
"Des has been there a long time," Tunks said. "He'd have to understand there comes a time when a coach has been somewhere for long enough and what he's telling them is maybe going in one ear and out the other.
"They talk about losing the dressing room. Well, there was a lot of effort put in [on Saturday] but there was something missing. I haven't seen that from a Canterbury team for a long, long time.
"There is a sell-by date for everybody. It didn't look like the players are in on what Des is trying to get them to do. When you have a result like [on Saturday] it's not a good sign. Des has made the semis every year [since he arrived at Canterbury in 2012] and two grand finals. But they've had one win this year and in round four to get beaten 36-0 by a team that had only won one game before then you've got to be pretty concerned."
Fairfax Media was told last week that the finalisation of Hasler's two-year contract extension would hinge on performances over the proceeding eight rounds, including the visit to Manly, with the end point of that period constituting nearly the halfway point of the season.
The Bulldogs are adamant there is no set time frame but what is increasingly evident is that Hasler can ill afford another Manly-like beating on Thursday night. Canterbury is a club renowned for setting high standards and despite Hasler's rich record of reaching the top eight and beyond what was on display on the northern beaches was wildly out of character with Bulldogs sides of the past.
"It looks on the surface that there is a fair amount of passion missing," grand final-winning second-rower Graeme Hughes said. "Unless they can find something it's almost time for all parties to move on."
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...bury-say-former-bulldogs-20170326-gv6opb.html
