$3 million under the Cap

No No No No No...You are clueless Gus
Bring back Des-Troyer, Rae Rae, Dib, Hilly and Lynny...They'll know how to fix it :tearsofjoy:
The best was when raerae was like I have multiple spread sheets of cap professsion. Then Hasler says tolman is the best prop in the league (mind you on 800k). That’s the moment I knew the club was going to fall a long way before it got better.
 
Well a hotdog and a can of drink at the footy will set you back about a grand these days wouldn't it?

I'm just going off projected inflation. Every time I get to avrane at Olympic Park food has tripled in price.
Buying a house was the Australian dream...Now it's buying a hotdog and a can of drink, and for us dogs fans a chance to sneak through the fence at Belmore :laughing:
 
The best was when raerae was like I have multiple spread sheets of cap professsion. Then Hasler says tolman is the best prop in the league (mind you on 800k). That’s the moment I knew the club was going to fall a long way before it got better.
I know it's difficult but hopefully one day soon we can look back and laugh about it all.
 
Gus is the best signing the club has made in decades. More junior grade players will start to make an impact in FG in the next year or two. If we can add a few shrewd signings with the cap space and bolster the pack, then we can become a legitimate contender for years to come.
 
Will have plenty of cash to play with end of next year too can’t see too many of these names being re-signed.
Would keep Wilson cheap depth, Xerri ??, Sexton ?? Mann will be going on 33 time to hang up the boots.
Rest likely to be moved on.

OFF CONTRACT 2025
Bailey Hayward, Drew Hutchison, Kitione Kautoga, Kurt Mann, Kurtis Morrin, Jaeman Salmon, Toby Sexton, Daniel Suluka-Fifita, Ryan Sutton, Blake Taaffe, Jake Turpin, Blake Wilson, Bronson Xerri
 
From this looks like we won't be signing Paps, Hunt, May or Thompson. Spewing !

Gus doesn't like opening the purse strings to compete with other clubs
 
Will have plenty of cash to play with end of next year too can’t see too many of these names being re-signed.
Would keep Wilson cheap depth, Xerri ??, Sexton ?? Mann will be going on 33 time to hang up the boots.
Rest likely to be moved on.

OFF CONTRACT 2025
Bailey Hayward, Drew Hutchison, Kitione Kautoga, Kurt Mann, Kurtis Morrin, Jaeman Salmon, Toby Sexton, Daniel Suluka-Fifita, Ryan Sutton, Blake Taaffe, Jake Turpin, Blake Wilson, Bronson Xerri

Personally can only see Xerri, Wilson, Sexton and possibly Hayward being re-signed past 2025. And can’t say they’ll be massive upgrades either which will work in our favour.


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'Rather ambitious': What Gould said in Dogs' 'war room' that kickstarted 'ambitious' rebuild
Sacha Mirzabegian
November 7, 2024 - 11.44am



Saving money on the salary cap in 2024, in addition to a young team qualifying for the finals for the first time in eight years, has put the Bulldogs in a position of strength over the coming seasons, Canterbury football boss Phil Gould says. The Belmore-based club surprised NRL observers this year to qualify for the finals but what's even more surprising, they did it without filling out the $11.65 million cap.

Speaking to The Journos podcast, Gould revealed how much the club was under the salary cap by year's end. "We were about $700,000 under the cap and there was another $900,000 we paid to players to leave, and then we had several players who did not play a game this year and that took up another million or so, so we were close to $3 million under the cap," Gould said.


"And that's before someone gets injured. They did an outstanding job and what it's been able to do is put value back in our salary cap and then be able to plan what it looks like two years down the track." The team's performance this year has given Gould and the club leverage in negotiations with off-contract players looking to join an ascending team with a strong growing culture.

Add to that the release of Josh Addo-Carr, which will also free up another $500,000 for the club to add more quality players. But Gould won't necessarily go that way, if he follows the model he set up at Penrith which is still bearing fruit for the Panthers. "This year was really the start of what we're trying to do. It's only the start. If we look at where we are at the moment in 2026 which is only 15 months away, we've only got 20 players signed, three or four of those are young fellas.

"When I started in 2021 salary cap wise we were gone by 2023. We had to restore that and I set a goal in two years that we had to have a framework around our salary cap moving forward and I thought we could turn our roster around in two years which was rather ambitious. "I don't think anyone else would try to do that or attempt to do it but we did and it produced a team this year with a different culture and personality about it. We went a long way under the salary cap this year."

Gould said his job and everyone else's at the club becomes a whole lot easier when the team is performing and pointed to the success on the field as the catalyst. "They did an outstanding job and what it's been able to do is put value back in our salary cap and then be able to plan what it looks like two years down the track," Gould added. "We've got models for 2026, 2027, 2028. We go into our war room and we talk about the number of positions we need to fill but here are 30 kids that I've identified from our pathways program.

"In our last couple of years we've won the Harold Matthews competition, minor premiers and grand finalists in the SG Ball, we won two under-20 Jersey Flegg competitions so we've got to be doing something right there. "I'm not saying they're all going to be NRL players. If you got four or five long-termers that would be a good result."

The former Penrith GM and premiership winning coach highlighted how nurturing young talent within the pathways system may take time, but will give the club a better chance at sustained success as opposed to spending their way out of their roster issues. "How many of these young players will fill those top 10 spots in two years' time? Because that's where our value will be. When I first came to the Bulldogs I said 'show me your roster and show me your salary cap'.

"When you've spent $9.5 million on your roster salary cap at the time... If I went out and sold all those players tomorrow how much would I get for them? I rated it at about $5.5 million. "I compared to Melbourne, Penrith and the Roosters - the top teams of the day - and tell me how much it would cost to get those 30 players to come and it was $13-14 million. "That's the true difference in your roster, they're paying $9.5 million but they're worth so much more. We're paying that much and our roster is only worth over five. "The idea to get more out of your spend than your paying and you do that mainly with the young fellas on the way up. Which allows you to compensate the players at the peak of their careers."



In good hands and just the start.


Team First
You're the undisputed cap analyst on here . . . How much do you reckon we still have available for next year? It must be the best part of 1.5 mil imo
 
Gus is the best signing the club has made in decades. More junior grade players will start to make an impact in FG in the next year or two. If we can add a few shrewd signings with the cap space and bolster the pack, then we can become a legitimate contender for years to come.
It was never going to be easy to replace The Great Bullfrog but what made it hard was Greenberg and Hasler abandoning pathways,
How ironic is this, Gus was pushed out by Bullfrog back in 1989 returns to continue the legacy or simply build his own.
 
It was certainly one of the biggest triggering issues on TK.
There was confusion it was chaos, for example
I idolized Bullfrog but disliked what he did to Warren Ryan and Phil Gould,
Hated how both Bullfrog and Chris Anderson abandoned us after directing the club towards supper league,
Admired how Folksy stood by us during the most turbulent years in the history of the club,
Absolutely despised how the opportunists Lynne and Chris Anderson returned to the club pretending they care.
 
Will have plenty of cash to play with end of next year too can’t see too many of these names being re-signed.
Would keep Wilson cheap depth, Xerri ??, Sexton ?? Mann will be going on 33 time to hang up the boots.
Rest likely to be moved on.

OFF CONTRACT 2025
Bailey Hayward, Drew Hutchison, Kitione Kautoga, Kurt Mann, Kurtis Morrin, Jaeman Salmon, Toby Sexton, Daniel Suluka-Fifita, Ryan Sutton, Blake Taaffe, Jake Turpin, Blake Wilson, Bronson Xerri
Extend Sexton and Xerri for sure. Mann for another year.
 
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