News Late-season surge convinces Pay he's on the right track

djdeep4172

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Canterbury coach Dean Pay joked that the NRL's proposal of a wildcard weekend would work in their favour after the club's roller-coaster season finished on a huge positive on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium.

The Bulldogs made it five wins in their last six outings with a 30-14 upset win over the Broncos, the third win over a top-eight side in that period, while reaching 30 points for the first time in 2019.

As it happens the Bulldogs' 12th-placed finish wouldn't have been enough to get them into the proposed wildcard round but the way Pay's men finished 2019 they can set their sights much higher than that anyway.
"It was one of our better performances of the year and has been building for quite a while," Pay said.

"We'd love one of those wildcard rules to throw us in there. Why not? You'd love one of those. It's totally different to last year, in the last 10 weeks we've found our way to play footy."

Pay, who entered the second half of the season under intense media scrutiny, felt like the side had hit their straps albeit it too late.

The mid-season signing of Dallin Watene-Zelezniak from Penrith proved a turning point for the Belmore-based club, who now look to have moved past the losses of experienced players David Klemmer, Josh Morris, Brett Morris and Greg Eastwood from last year.

"It's been a hell of a ride," Pay said
"We started with the youngest squad in the competition and it has taken us a while to gel and keep learning about one and other and play with one and other.

"Over the past 10 weeks in particular we have really found our way to play footy together and what works for us. We're going to have a similar group next year and some of our young boys have got 25 games in them now.

"I enjoy doing the job. I love turning up there, they're sponges and want to get better all the time. We are aiming to be a top-four team, that's what our aim is."
A further positive was the resurgence of 29-year-old Kieran Foran, who produced some superb form late in the season as he came through the final four games injury-free and running with vigour.

"I've forgot what it's felt like to finish a last-round game," Foran said.
"I've enjoyed the last month coming back and getting some wins with the boys and being able to contribute there. Hopefully I get a bit of luck on the injury-front next season."

In the only concern for the Bulldogs, hooker Jeremy Marshall-King left the field early with a shoulder injury and did not return.

Foran believes rookies like Marshall-King, along with Lachlan Lewis, Jack Cogger and Nick Meaney, were the glue for the club in 2019.

"I thought that was a real positive for this club and we'll be so much better off for it next year," Foran said.

"We'll keep majority of the side together. They're the future of the club and have got years ahead of them.
 

EXPLORER

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Pay is probably proving a lot of the haters wrong with the teams back end to the season

Dogs will start season so much stronger next year.


We are on the right track moving forward.

Like it or lump it haters

Dogs are on the rise
 

c-b-b

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Dean needs to have the team firing from round one next year. I haven't been a fan of his but if we go into the season playing a similar brand of footy as the last 6 weeks i'll be very happy and admit I was wrong.
 

Psycho Doggie

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There is no doubt that Pay's tenure will be under serious question if the start to next season isn't substantially better than this one. Having said that, we are a long way from the start of next season, a lot can happen between now and then. All things being equal, Pay should have an improved squad, both in terms of new recruits and more seasoned youngsters, therefore the results should come.
 

flamebouyant

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Couldn't agree more. It was a very slow start to the year, and it has been a really learning curve for Dean Pay. But I think we should all accept the fact that he has done a pretty good job overall. Some of his team selections baffled us at times, but given our late season form, I believe that he has justified his selections, and has shown that he has the ability to get us much higher on the ladder next year.
 

BMOC

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The thing I respect the most about Pay is the fact that he isn’t scared to experiment with the team and he isn’t afraid to drop underperforming players or promote players that perform well. He is literally the complete opposite of Hasler. Yes some of his experiments have been questionable, but at least they have led to some conclusions. For instance, We now know that Meaney, cogger, jmk and okunbor aren’t so bad. We know that Meaney can play on the wing lol. When a club is rebuilding you want experimentation. I think Pay is heading this club in the right direction. With a few quality signings and as long as our defence stays how it has been we will be barking again
 

Interestingg

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Pay is probably proving a lot of the haters wrong with the teams back end to the season

Dogs will start season so much stronger next year.


We are on the right track moving forward.

Like it or lump it haters

Dogs are on the rise
I said this at the end of last year. Only time will tell
 

Alan79

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I think 8-10 unfair refereeing decisions going our way this year would have seen us in the finals. A lot of teams would have just caved and let the poor start turn them into easy beats. But the side gradually played themselves into form and finished the year by beating a number of teams that are going to feature in the premiership hunt. So despite going through a lot of defeats through the early stages the season it's not a bad result in a year where every Tom, Dick and Harry predicted we'd earn the wooden spoon. If we made the finals in our current form I'd be confident that we'd not disgrace ourselves.

The lowlight is that we copped a few floggings and didn't dish a lot out. It's something to build on for next year. Our roster will hopefully have more self belief to draw on in tight games.

It's going to take a while for people to get behind Pay, but the players seem to be backing him.
 

wendog33

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If we start badly again after a 40 minute trial game, it's Ground Hog Day 3rd year in a row (which would be disasterous for the club and Dean Pay).

Let's hope we keep this momentum going and they totally re-program pre-season.

Past 10 weeks we have been competitive again and you gotta congratulate Pay and the players.
 

SPEARTAKVIDREFS

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If we start badly again after a 40 minute trial game, it's Ground Hog Day 3rd year in a row (which would be disasterous for the club and Dean Pay).

Let's hope we keep this momentum going and they totally re-program pre-season.

Past 10 weeks we have been competitive again and you gotta congratulate Pay and the players.
100%. More importantly than signings or anything else I beleive. This article? is pretty much a transcript of Pays after match presser. The one promising thing was he wasnt delusional in the the fact that they need to keep moving in the same direction, that there's still alot of hard yards ahead. Only time will tell, a couple of matches in next year will be the indicator.
 

Scoooby

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If dean can have the team Starting 2020 like the last 4 or so weeks of 2019 then as a pay hater I would love to be proven wrong !!! As long as my bulldogs are going well then it’s all positive ..

In fact I hope dean proves me wrong to be honest.
 

bradyk

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Terry Lamb just said on 'Sunday Night with Matty Johns' he'd extend Pay's contract if he was in charge.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Dean needs to have the team firing from round one next year. I haven't been a fan of his but if we go into the season playing a similar brand of footy as the last 6 weeks i'll be very happy and admit I was wrong.
100% agree. Said before if Pay can get these type of performances and results from rounds 1-10 then I'll happily shut up and get behind him. Big improvements are needed from preseason though and hopefully there is a review into that.
 

GoTheDoggies

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Pay still needs two key signings.

Hooker & centre

Walker + Rapana both off contract would cover centre position. RAPANA IN

Reynolds available for bench utility hooker role. We'd get him cheap if Tigers pay half or more.
 

doggieaaron

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Ive been a big pay critic early on and whilst i think he has been learning on the run the right strategy and selections/bench rotations etc these have been his poor areas he seems to be improving and his strength is he seems to really bring the boys together and really wanting to play for each other so hopefully it continues and full credit to him
 

SPEARTAKVIDREFS

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If dean can have the team Starting 2020 like the last 4 or so weeks of 2019 then as a pay hater I would love to be proven wrong !!! As long as my bulldogs are going well then it’s all positive ..

In fact I hope dean proves me wrong to be honest.
Really, everyone on TK thought you and Pay were besty's.
 

CrittaMagic69

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I said this at the end of last year. Only time will tell
Exactly. Right now counts for very little unless we can back it up rounds 1-10. Performances and results there and then will be what shows us where we're really at and if he actually is competent enough to coach our club moving forward.
 

Dog Till I Die

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The best part of this weekend is watching my dogs Boss and Klemmer and his mercenaries give up without a whimper.
Karma is a vainglorious bitch, Dave. Traitors like you still have to look at themselves in the mirror each morning. Enjoy the off-season, arsehole!
 

AlzzBulldog

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Terry Lamb just said on 'Sunday Night with Matty Johns' he'd extend Pay's contract if he was in charge.
Surely they can’t make the same mistake again, wait until fucking round 10 next year
 
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