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Dean Pay has shot down “bullshit” speculation that Canterbury bosses have give him an ultimatum heading into Monday’s crucial clash against St George Illawarra.
When the talk was put to him that he needed to win or Pay faced the sack — after reportedly being hauled into a meeting with chair Lynne Anderson and chief executive Andrew Hill following last Sunday’s loss to Manly — Pay responded: “That’s all bullshit. We have had a couple of meetings but it was about recruitment and different things. It has been normal business.
“(Anderson) hasn’t given me an ultimatum or put a time line on it, that’s for sure.”
He was also upset at accusations he doesn’t get along with his players.
“Why don’t you go and ask the players? They will give you an honest opinion,” Pay said.
Pay also opened up about the pressure he is under to keep his job beyond this season.
He said he loves coaching Canterbury but does not fear what could be.
“It is out of my control,” Pay said. “I just want to do the best I can and get the best results I can.”
Even his harshest critics would concede Pay has been basically coaching with one arm tied behind his back since he took over given the club’s dire salary cap predicament, coupled with the fact Kieran Foran only played 14 games last year and hasn’t played this year.
The Bulldogs won three of the four games Foran played in at the end of last season before suffering his shoulder injury while playing for New Zealand.
“I know moving forward the club will be in a better position next year and at least we can go out and try and put two or three quality players in our squad which would be massive for us,” Pay said.
There is also a strong chance English prop Luke Thompson will join the team in the coming weeks.
Pay conceded some of the constant speculation “was starting to wear me down,” particularly talk relating to player unrest.
“But there is nothing I can do about it. I will continue to try and get the best out of them.”
He also defended his under-fire young playmakers Jack Cogger and Lachy Lewis.
With Foran hopefully back for his 200th NRL game, Pay described what it was like to have him train on Thursday.
“I will give you an example, Kieran trained on Thursday and the amount of confidence and the difference in our training levels just because he was out there went through the roof,” Pay said.
“His talk and his body language and how they respond to it … they just haven’t had that experience to help them along.
“We have had young players running the show who are doing their best. But they haven’t come on as quick as we’d have liked because they haven’t experienced that (having Foran consistently playing with them).
“We also have a young bloke (Jeremy Marshall-King) playing nine as well. So, yeah, experience is what we lack.
“Yeah, it got away on us the other day (last Sunday) but Manly are a bloody good team.”
Asked if he felt he had a good relationship with his players, Pay added: “Yeah I do. Under the circumstances, we have copped a flogging for a couple of years, and you walk in and they still have energy about them. They bounce in here and get into it, which is a credit to them.”
Pay knows the pressure is on to beat the Dragons but it’s a mark of the man that Pay also wished his under fire opposite Paul McGregor the best.
“I get on good with Mary,” he said.
“But one of us is going to lose, unless it is a draw. That will bamboozle people. They won’t know what to say then.”
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...k/news-story/6c07afc844b7578adf1256a51608c91a
When the talk was put to him that he needed to win or Pay faced the sack — after reportedly being hauled into a meeting with chair Lynne Anderson and chief executive Andrew Hill following last Sunday’s loss to Manly — Pay responded: “That’s all bullshit. We have had a couple of meetings but it was about recruitment and different things. It has been normal business.
“(Anderson) hasn’t given me an ultimatum or put a time line on it, that’s for sure.”
He was also upset at accusations he doesn’t get along with his players.
“Why don’t you go and ask the players? They will give you an honest opinion,” Pay said.
Pay also opened up about the pressure he is under to keep his job beyond this season.
He said he loves coaching Canterbury but does not fear what could be.
“It is out of my control,” Pay said. “I just want to do the best I can and get the best results I can.”
Even his harshest critics would concede Pay has been basically coaching with one arm tied behind his back since he took over given the club’s dire salary cap predicament, coupled with the fact Kieran Foran only played 14 games last year and hasn’t played this year.
The Bulldogs won three of the four games Foran played in at the end of last season before suffering his shoulder injury while playing for New Zealand.
“I know moving forward the club will be in a better position next year and at least we can go out and try and put two or three quality players in our squad which would be massive for us,” Pay said.
There is also a strong chance English prop Luke Thompson will join the team in the coming weeks.
Pay conceded some of the constant speculation “was starting to wear me down,” particularly talk relating to player unrest.
“But there is nothing I can do about it. I will continue to try and get the best out of them.”
He also defended his under-fire young playmakers Jack Cogger and Lachy Lewis.
With Foran hopefully back for his 200th NRL game, Pay described what it was like to have him train on Thursday.
“I will give you an example, Kieran trained on Thursday and the amount of confidence and the difference in our training levels just because he was out there went through the roof,” Pay said.
“His talk and his body language and how they respond to it … they just haven’t had that experience to help them along.
“We have had young players running the show who are doing their best. But they haven’t come on as quick as we’d have liked because they haven’t experienced that (having Foran consistently playing with them).
“We also have a young bloke (Jeremy Marshall-King) playing nine as well. So, yeah, experience is what we lack.
“Yeah, it got away on us the other day (last Sunday) but Manly are a bloody good team.”
Asked if he felt he had a good relationship with his players, Pay added: “Yeah I do. Under the circumstances, we have copped a flogging for a couple of years, and you walk in and they still have energy about them. They bounce in here and get into it, which is a credit to them.”
Pay knows the pressure is on to beat the Dragons but it’s a mark of the man that Pay also wished his under fire opposite Paul McGregor the best.
“I get on good with Mary,” he said.
“But one of us is going to lose, unless it is a draw. That will bamboozle people. They won’t know what to say then.”
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...k/news-story/6c07afc844b7578adf1256a51608c91a
