Dean Pay won't be torpedoed at Thursday's board meeting, but Canterbury officials have privately conceded they will have a fairer idea by the end of next month whether to ''sack or back'' their coach.
With Josh Reynolds aiming to sink the boot into his former club on Sunday when he runs out in the Wests Tigers' No. 6 jersey, the Bulldogs know the clock is ticking when it comes to making a call on Pay for 2021 and beyond
The Dogs maintain there have been no conversations or approaches made to rival coaches, including Wayne Bennett.
No official deadline has been placed on a Pay decision, but the club knows they need to get moving soon so they can plan for next year.
Prior to the competition's suspension earlier this year, Canterbury were keen to see how the team performed across the opening two months before weighing up whether to extend Pay's tenure into a fourth and fifth season.
By the the time the Dogs have played the Tigers, Bennett's South Sydney, the Broncos and St George Illawarra, Pay will have had a similar amount of time to prove he deserves a new deal.
The last thing Canterbury want is to re-sign Pay early and have the poor results continue. The Dogs also know a coach can arrive as late as the post season and still have enough time to get a team up and running.
The Bulldogs, however, do not have that luxury of waiting that long. They have $3m to spend on new talent, but players will want to know who they'll be playing for before committing to the club
While Bennett's record speaks for itself, there are some at Canterbury who point to the fact it has now been several years since he last tasted success.
Craig Bellamy was linked to the Dogs last week but quickly shot down those rumours, even going to the point of ringing his good mate Pay to confirm there had been no contact.
Some people loosely affiliated with the club - but with zero influence - have ensured the issue of Pay's future has kept bubbling by tossing up a fantasy list of replacements.
The Dogs have already signed English prop Luke Thompson who will have no dramas leaving Melbourne on Sunday once his 14-day isolation period finishes.
Prop Aiden Tolman leapt to Pay's defence this week when he told the
Herald:
"Our cap was a mess for a long time, we had to let a lot of players go we wouldn't have liked to, particularly in Deano's first year, and now is the time to give him the opportunity ... let him get the team he wants and once he's got that team, judge him then. It's harsh to judge him right now."
Meanwhile, Reynolds, whose third and final request to leave the Tigers and return home to Canterbury fell over before the competition resumed, is expected to have a huge impact on Sunday evening.
Tigers teammate Harry Grant remembers watching Reynolds and quickly got a sense of how much he meant to the Bulldogs faithful, but was certainly glad he was wearing the black, white and orange.
"He'll be very energetic as he always is when he comes out on Sunday,'' Grant said.
"With the new rule changes he's a runner of the footy, he likes to get his hands on the footy, and once we get a bit of a dent in the opposition [defence], he's keen to take them on. He loves talking and is always talking out on the field.
