The Canterbury 4

Burgler

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As a 34 year old fan of the dogs, I vaguely remember the 'canterbury four' leaving for Parramatta. I started following the dogs in 95 as they were a successful team at the time and like any young kid I jumped on the bandwagon.

When Pay, Smith, Dymock and McCraken left I never truly understood why and despised those players for leaving together like they did. Even when Dymock and Pay were in coaching for us I always thought to myself why would the club welcome them back.

What I didn't realise is that it was due to the super league war. We obviously signed with super league etc, the four stayed loyal to the ARL and left the dogs to sign with Parramatta.

The interesting part is that the ARL scrapped the salary cap during the war which allowed Parramatta to spend 7mil that the leagues club had in reserve funds on players. Each of the four signed contracts approx 400-500k which was huge money at that time. The club cap was approx 1.8mil and they spent 1.6 roughly on 4 players.

Now with a bit of perspective I understand why they left. I think about the situation differently, only 25 years later haha.

Thought it was worth posting for the dogs tragics like myself, even for some of the younger fans who didn't know much about the effects of super league on today's game.

It was an interview with Jason Hetherington on Andy Raymond's podcast that got me researching about what happened at the time, also worth listening to. Hetherington was a great player and can tell a yarn.
 

CCC

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Also why there is a channel 9 v Foxtel thing to this day. I worked at Foxtel and you would think they might work together to promote the game but they hated each other, no sharing of talent (eg Thurston never on fox) Fox never getting SOO or the actual GF. How 9 and Stan are managing Rugby is much better. Helping each other for greater total success. NRL should do the same eg sign with Stan and 9 next time around
 

mikey

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As a 34 year old fan of the dogs, I vaguely remember the 'canterbury four' leaving for Parramatta. I started following the dogs in 95 as they were a successful team at the time and like any young kid I jumped on the bandwagon.

When Pay, Smith, Dymock and McCraken left I never truly understood why and despised those players for leaving together like they did. Even when Dymock and Pay were in coaching for us I always thought to myself why would the club welcome them back.

What I didn't realise is that it was due to the super league war. We obviously signed with super league etc, the four stayed loyal to the ARL and left the dogs to sign with Parramatta.

The interesting part is that the ARL scrapped the salary cap during the war which allowed Parramatta to spend 7mil that the leagues club had in reserve funds on players. Each of the four signed contracts approx 400-500k which was huge money at that time. The club cap was approx 1.8mil and they spent 1.6 roughly on 4 players.

Now with a bit of perspective I understand why they left. I think about the situation differently, only 25 years later haha.

Thought it was worth posting for the dogs tragics like myself, even for some of the younger fans who didn't know much about the effects of super league on today's game.

It was an interview with Jason Hetherington on Andy Raymond's podcast that got me researching about what happened at the time, also worth listening to. Hetherington was a great player and can tell a yarn.
Mate I’m 51 and have followed the dogs since 1979. Have watched great eras like the 80s and 90s.super league tote the game apart but it also turned players into full time athletes.it was a hard time to be a supporter because there was a war going on.we lost those four players but we remained competitive.
 

B-Train

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As big a story as it was at the time and how much we struggled in 96 and 97, we quickly rebounded from 98 onwards after Folkes took over and we had a miracle run to the GF..

Parra spent all of that money on McCracken, Pay, Dymock, Smith and Gary Freeman and it was ended up being a huge failure for them in true Parra tradition.
 

Burgler

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Mate I’m 51 and have followed the dogs since 1979. Have watched great eras like the 80s and 90s.super league tote the game apart but it also turned players into full time athletes.it was a hard time to be a supporter because there was a war going on.we lost those four players but we remained competitive.
Yep, that's what Hetherington said in the interview. He said we lost them 4 and a few moved on or retired after the 96 season. A sign of how strong the club was we made the grandfinal in 98.
 

BELMORE

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Also why there is a channel 9 v Foxtel thing to this day. I worked at Foxtel and you would think they might work together to promote the game but they hated each other, no sharing of talent (eg Thurston never on fox) Fox never getting SOO or the actual GF. How 9 and Stan are managing Rugby is much better. Helping each other for greater total success. NRL should do the same eg sign with Stan and 9 next time around
9 network owns Stan.
 

Mattreneeandgus

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As a 34 year old fan of the dogs, I vaguely remember the 'canterbury four' leaving for Parramatta. I started following the dogs in 95 as they were a successful team at the time and like any young kid I jumped on the bandwagon.

When Pay, Smith, Dymock and McCraken left I never truly understood why and despised those players for leaving together like they did. Even when Dymock and Pay were in coaching for us I always thought to myself why would the club welcome them back.

What I didn't realise is that it was due to the super league war. We obviously signed with super league etc, the four stayed loyal to the ARL and left the dogs to sign with Parramatta.

The interesting part is that the ARL scrapped the salary cap during the war which allowed Parramatta to spend 7mil that the leagues club had in reserve funds on players. Each of the four signed contracts approx 400-500k which was huge money at that time. The club cap was approx 1.8mil and they spent 1.6 roughly on 4 players.

Now with a bit of perspective I understand why they left. I think about the situation differently, only 25 years later haha.

Thought it was worth posting for the dogs tragics like myself, even for some of the younger fans who didn't know much about the effects of super league on today's game.

It was an interview with Jason Hetherington on Andy Raymond's podcast that got me researching about what happened at the time, also worth listening to. Hetherington was a great player and can tell a yarn.
This is why I don’t get our fans loyalty towards them, especially Pay, they all deserted the club for extra $$$, will never be club legends in my eyes for that fact
 

Bulldog1966

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Yep I don't really get the hatred for Parra anymore, before some on here were born like yourself OP or really young the rivalry was biggest in the 80s they had a shitload of great players(and Ray Price the fucking wanker)and we were the Dogs of war, the two teams dominated the 80s it was a great time to be a Dogs supporter.
Any hate I may have had was cured in that 1998 semifinal, our greatest comeback win from 16-2 down with just over 10 minutes of normal time to play..that loss devastated them :laughing:

Can't really recall how many times we have met in finals since but we owned those bitches that day think all four ex Dogs played for Parra too.
I never held a grudge against them they were terrific for us during their Bulldog years.
Wasn't the best of the 4 or even the best or quickest centre going around but I loved Crackers as a player..played every game right on the edge of legal, was nearly 105kgs(quite big in those days)and just belted ***** all day, anyone that ran at him..and he could fight too :hearteyes: Great test player for the Kiwi's think he captained them too.
 

ouwet

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We obviously signed with super league etc, the four stayed loyal to the ARL and left the dogs to sign with Parramatta.
That's not true. They signed with Super League they never stayed 'loyal'.

The ARL got really cut when the Dogs signed with Super League and did everything they could to destroy us and offering the big 4 and Dallas (North Sydney) the big bucks changed there minds, not loyalty to the ARL!

The hypocrites in the ARL had plans to merge and/or relocate the Dogs... the Dogs went to the Super League to ensure our future...
 

DinkumDog

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They were actually known as ‘The Filthy Four’.
Pretty sure Opes coined the term too.

One good story from that era:
I drove to Newcastle one Sunday in August 1995.
We got hammered by the Knights 42-0.
There was zero team harmony with the SL stuff going on in the background. After that game Opes took the boys for some ‘refreshments’ (so Baa probably drained Canterbury Leagues of Vodka and Orange) and they had an honesty session and aired their grievances with each other. They then committed to playing the rest of the year united as a team. The only one not to was the self-entitled Jarrod McCracken who said he’d prefer to sit on the sideline for the rest of the year - a wish Opes was happy to grant. Leaving Newcastle that day no-one could’ve imagined we’d be Premiers 6 weeks later and Deano, Jimmy and Smith got to leave with a title whilst McCracken never won anything anywhere :-).
 

DaBulldog

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As a 34 year old fan of the dogs, I vaguely remember the 'canterbury four' leaving for Parramatta. I started following the dogs in 95 as they were a successful team at the time and like any young kid I jumped on the bandwagon.

When Pay, Smith, Dymock and McCraken left I never truly understood why and despised those players for leaving together like they did. Even when Dymock and Pay were in coaching for us I always thought to myself why would the club welcome them back.

What I didn't realise is that it was due to the super league war. We obviously signed with super league etc, the four stayed loyal to the ARL and left the dogs to sign with Parramatta.

The interesting part is that the ARL scrapped the salary cap during the war which allowed Parramatta to spend 7mil that the leagues club had in reserve funds on players. Each of the four signed contracts approx 400-500k which was huge money at that time. The club cap was approx 1.8mil and they spent 1.6 roughly on 4 players.

Now with a bit of perspective I understand why they left. I think about the situation differently, only 25 years later haha.

Thought it was worth posting for the dogs tragics like myself, even for some of the younger fans who didn't know much about the effects of super league on today's game.

It was an interview with Jason Hetherington on Andy Raymond's podcast that got me researching about what happened at the time, also worth listening to. Hetherington was a great player and can tell a yarn.
I’ve got a dogs of war book and yes they welcomed them back, except McCracken he really upset a few people at the club. They said it in the book in a more delicate way though.
 

enoughsaid

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That's not true. They signed with Super League they never stayed 'loyal'.

The ARL got really cut when the Dogs signed with Super League and did everything they could to destroy us and offering the big 4 and Dallas (North Sydney) the big bucks changed there minds, not loyalty to the ARL!

The hypocrites in the ARL had plans to merge and/or relocate the Dogs... the Dogs went to the Super League to ensure our future...
didnt we get something like $30 million from Super league as a thank you
 

Kelpie03

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That's not true. They signed with Super League they never stayed 'loyal'.

The ARL got really cut when the Dogs signed with Super League and did everything they could to destroy us and offering the big 4 and Dallas (North Sydney) the big bucks changed there minds, not loyalty to the ARL!

The hypocrites in the ARL had plans to merge and/or relocate the Dogs... the Dogs went to the Super League to ensure our future...
Very true Bro, I've been convinced of that fact for a long time now, No SL would have ment No Bulldogs.
 

BELMORE

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Exactly. That’s my point
But it doesn’t make sense… you said 9 and Fox don’t work together like 9 and Stan do… why would 9 and Fox work together? They are competing with one another. It’s not a comparison that can be made
 

Dannyboi88

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I remember reading about super league and the arl war the money being thrown was crazy
Steve price was with us and said his contract was 20-25k at the time and super league offered him 180k to sign super league . It was crazy players like Ricky Stuart and langer had huge amounts thrown at them same as Fittler and co to stay with arl
I’d like to do a bit more research into super league especially with the dogs part
 

bulldog

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So many players got a big sign on bonus from both sides of the war, the courts ruled they were signed under duress as the players were pushed to sign then and there without any opportunity to have any legal reps examine the contracts, the 4 were among many to sign with Super League - pocket the sign on bonus then sign with the ARL pocket that bonus too and choose whichever side offered the best deal. I don't blame them for it, but I can't respect them for it either.
 

ouwet

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I remember reading about super league and the arl war the money being thrown was crazy
Steve price was with us and said his contract was 20-25k at the time and super league offered him 180k to sign super league . It was crazy players like Ricky Stuart and langer had huge amounts thrown at them same as Fittler and co to stay with arl
I’d like to do a bit more research into super league especially with the dogs part

Yeah bro it was insane!

In 1995 $180K could buy you a house outright in my areas of Sydney at the time, that was for Steven Price a rookie who hadn't cemented a 1st grade spot.
 

Riggs80

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This is why I don’t get our fans loyalty towards them, especially Pay, they all deserted the club for extra $$$, will never be club legends in my eyes for that fact
the same can be said about willie mason , as he went to roosters then to a few other joints

at end of the day those players won a comp with the club , that’s why people are loyal

personally i don’t consider a player to be legend of a club if been to a few clubs,

I consider a player a legend of a club if they were one club players / played 10 years at a club / or joined the club after couple of years elsewhere and never went anywhere else after ( like a young lamb )
 
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