News Bulldogs’ brutal season start; Cowboys (R1), Broncos (R2), Manly (R3), Storm (R4), Panthers (R5), Rabbitohs (R6)

jof

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Canterbury coach Trent Barrett will be under pressure from the start of the season. We reveal the Bulldogs, Wests Tigers and Dragons’ early 2022 draws.

Canterbury coach Trent Barrett is facing a brutal start to his second season in charge as he attempts to ease some of the pressure on his job.
The NRL will release the full draw on Tuesday but News Corp can reveal that the Bulldogs face the most daunting start to the season of any of the game’s 16 clubs.

They begin with a pair of winnable games against North Queensland and Brisbane before the temperature rises over the ensuing month.

Over a four-week period, the new-look Bulldogs face Manly, Melbourne, Penrith and South Sydney – last year’s top four sides.


The Bulldogs will be outsiders in each of those games and they will need to start fast against the Cowboys and Broncos, because there is every chance they may struggle to score a victory for the four weeks after that.

Barrett enters his second year in charge under immense pressure to perform given the Bulldogs only won three games in 2021.

The club has strengthened its football department since then by bringing in Phil Gould and they have fortified their roster with the addition, among others, of Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton, Braidon Burns and Tevita Pangai Junior.

All four will face their former clubs within the opening six weeks of next season. Pangai will face the Broncos in round two, Addo-Carr will face the Storm in round four, Burton and Pangai will meet Penrith in round five and Burns will clash with Souths in round six.

While the draw makes life difficult for the Bulldogs, so does the expectation that envelopes the side and their coach as they kick off their pre-season with vaccination issues and concern over the quality of their playmakers.

English forward Luke Thompson has been training on his own after declining to be vaccinated, although it is understood he has given an indication that he will consider changing his stance if necessary.

Early NRL draws for three clubs
WESTS TIGERS - Melbourne (R1), Newcastle (R2), Warriors (R3), Titans (R4), Sharks (R5)
BULLDOGS - Cowboys (R1), Broncos (R2), Manly (R3), Storm (R4), Panthers (R5), Rabbitohs (R6)
DRAGONS
- Warriors (R1), Panthers (R2), Sharks (R3), Eels (R4), Rabbitohs (R5)

The club is also facing a dire shortage of quality in key positions and it is understood their salary cap position has ruled them out of the race for Storm rake Brandon Smith, who became eligible to speak to interested parties on November 1.

Barrett is among a slew of coaches who start the season under the blowtorch. Like his Canterbury counterpart, St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin faces a difficult start to the season as he prepares to lead his side against Penrith, Parramatta and South Sydney over the opening five weeks.

The Dragons coach is off contract at the end of next year and a fast start will help his cause as he looks for a contract extension. While Barrett and Griffin face significant challenges to make headway early in the season, the news is better for Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire as he looks to keep the wolves at bay.



 

albatross

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I like the draw. Just see it as an opportunity. We play 2 teams in a similar bracket to us first up and, if we can't lift for those games, we're probably only competing for the spoon again anyway. Good momentum from those games though can set us up to surprise a big gun or two. There's plenty of durable NRL players with us now so the draw can be no excuse whatsoever.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Lol get fucked
 

KiwiDog7

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Hopefully the Panthers have a premiership hangover start to the season

Bunnies will be weaker in 22

Storm will be tough as usual

We almost beat Manly last time with an average team

By week 7 we will know if Baz still has a job
 

The__GM

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This just in - team who won the Wooden Spoon is underdog against premiership favourites. I don’t mind getting them out of the way early. Every team has had some level of turnover, Cleary would still possibly be out with his shoulder surgery recovery, Cowboys and Broncos are winnable, Melbourne will be missing at least NAS due to Anti-vax, maybe more. South’s lost their coach and halfback. Manly will be tough but we played them well at the end of last season with a reserve grade side. Bring on 2022.
 
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