Howie B
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Canterbury’s plight highlighted by the fortunes of Kieran Foran and Aaron Woods
'Dogs lack in attack'
0:57
THEY were the major moves designed to win back respect — and competition points — after missing the finals for the first time since 2011, but the recruitment of Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran has only added to Canterbury’s pain.
Last year Woods signed a four-year deal worth a reported $3.2 million and Foran inked a contract reportedly worth $3 million over three years. If the Bulldogs were hoping the international representatives would save them after a year in which they finished 14th, they were wrong.
To start with, the big-money signings have wreaked havoc with the club’s salary cap position. The Belmore outfit is being forced to shed players to be salary cap-compliant in 2019 because it over-estimated how big the cap would be and overspent. Offering such big dollars to two marquee recruits only dug that hole deeper.
Just as harmful as that, the pair’s on-field performances haven’t been worth the investment. It’s part of the reason the Dogs sit 14th on the ladder with just three wins from 12 attempts.
Five-eighth Foran — once considered the best half in the game — is a shadow of the player he once was with Manly, where he started his career and established himself as a regular in the New Zealand side.
He quit his lucrative four-year deal with the Eels after just nine appearances for the club in 2016 because of personal issues then returned to the NRL with the Warriors in 2017 before heading back to Sydney this year. But he hasn’t delivered what the Bulldogs need.
Foran has been unable to spark anything meaningful in attack. He’s had just six try assists across 12 rounds and in Sunday’s 14-10 loss to the Wests Tigers he ran the ball once for one metre.
The Dogs have scored less tries than any other side and made the third least amount of line breaks. To put their attacking woes into context, they’ve been tackled in the opposition’s 20m zone 377 times this season — the fourth most of any club.
Having spent plenty of time near the tryline Canterbury should be piling on points, but that hasn’t been the case. It’s managed just 183 points in total, the second fewest behind the Eels (170).
The harsh reality is it’s the playmakers who take responsibility in attack. Foran is more experienced than current halves partner Matt Frawley and should be leading the way with the ball in hand but he hasn’t been able to.
Upon first joining the Warriors last year Foran did a great job of straightening their attack with a running game that put the defence in two minds about whether he’d pass at the line or go himself.
He’s averaging only 4.5 runs a game in 2018, well below the benchmark set by Penrith’s Nathan Cleary and Wests Tigers No. 7 Luke Brooks (who both average 7.8 runs a game). Former Penrith icon Mark Geyer said Foran has been the biggest disappointment of the year, which he believes in part is because of fitness concerns.
“I had the Dogs finishing fifth because of him (Foran),” Geyer said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with MG. “I don’t like seeing players like him performing the way they are.
“He’s obviously carrying an injury, he’s obviously not right.
“Maybe sit a month out and then regroup so you don’t have people remembering you for the way you’re playing now.
“On his day he’s in the top five players in the world but at the moment he is letting himself down and he’s letting the Bulldogs down by not being 100 per cent fit.”
Woods has also underperformed since moving to Belmore from the Tigers. The former Wests skipper was a NSW and Australian regular but has fallen out of Origin contention since changing clubs.
He hasn’t been awful by any means but he hasn’t had the impact Canterbury was hoping for either.
In the lead-up to Origin this year his name was barely in the mix when discussing front-row options and he has been outshone by teammate David Klemmer. Klemmer is averaging more runs, more metres, more tackle busts and less errors than his fellow prop, who’s struggled in the blue and white.
Apart from Clay Priest, who’s only played three games this year, Woods on average concedes more penalties a game (one) than any other Bulldog.
In 12 months the 27-year-old has gone from being mentioned as a possible NSW captain to someone who’s fallen by the Origin wayside. He’s at an age where he should be hitting his prime but he’s only gone backwards.
It doesn’t help your representative ambitions playing in a losing team where it’s easy to be ignored but Woods hasn’t demanded selection the way he did when he played for the Tigers.
So diabolical has the new partnership been there are rumours Woods is being shopped around to other clubs for 2019.
In a cruel irony for the Dogs, after poaching one of the Tigers’ best players last year (Woods), Wests hit back this week by signing Moses Mbye on a four-year contract from 2019. Mbye — shifted to fullback after playing most of his NRL career in the halves — has been one of his team’s best players this year and all the attack stems from his carries. He’s always threatening.
Had it not been for the Dogs being under salary cap pressure — exacerbated by Woods and Foran’s presence at the club — they wouldn’t have had to let Mbye go.
It’s a troubling sign that life will get worse before it gets better for Canterbury.
'Dogs lack in attack'
0:57
THEY were the major moves designed to win back respect — and competition points — after missing the finals for the first time since 2011, but the recruitment of Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran has only added to Canterbury’s pain.
Last year Woods signed a four-year deal worth a reported $3.2 million and Foran inked a contract reportedly worth $3 million over three years. If the Bulldogs were hoping the international representatives would save them after a year in which they finished 14th, they were wrong.
To start with, the big-money signings have wreaked havoc with the club’s salary cap position. The Belmore outfit is being forced to shed players to be salary cap-compliant in 2019 because it over-estimated how big the cap would be and overspent. Offering such big dollars to two marquee recruits only dug that hole deeper.
Just as harmful as that, the pair’s on-field performances haven’t been worth the investment. It’s part of the reason the Dogs sit 14th on the ladder with just three wins from 12 attempts.
Five-eighth Foran — once considered the best half in the game — is a shadow of the player he once was with Manly, where he started his career and established himself as a regular in the New Zealand side.
He quit his lucrative four-year deal with the Eels after just nine appearances for the club in 2016 because of personal issues then returned to the NRL with the Warriors in 2017 before heading back to Sydney this year. But he hasn’t delivered what the Bulldogs need.
Foran has been unable to spark anything meaningful in attack. He’s had just six try assists across 12 rounds and in Sunday’s 14-10 loss to the Wests Tigers he ran the ball once for one metre.
The Dogs have scored less tries than any other side and made the third least amount of line breaks. To put their attacking woes into context, they’ve been tackled in the opposition’s 20m zone 377 times this season — the fourth most of any club.
Having spent plenty of time near the tryline Canterbury should be piling on points, but that hasn’t been the case. It’s managed just 183 points in total, the second fewest behind the Eels (170).
The harsh reality is it’s the playmakers who take responsibility in attack. Foran is more experienced than current halves partner Matt Frawley and should be leading the way with the ball in hand but he hasn’t been able to.
Upon first joining the Warriors last year Foran did a great job of straightening their attack with a running game that put the defence in two minds about whether he’d pass at the line or go himself.
He’s averaging only 4.5 runs a game in 2018, well below the benchmark set by Penrith’s Nathan Cleary and Wests Tigers No. 7 Luke Brooks (who both average 7.8 runs a game). Former Penrith icon Mark Geyer said Foran has been the biggest disappointment of the year, which he believes in part is because of fitness concerns.
“I had the Dogs finishing fifth because of him (Foran),” Geyer said on Triple M’s The Rush Hour with MG. “I don’t like seeing players like him performing the way they are.
“He’s obviously carrying an injury, he’s obviously not right.
“Maybe sit a month out and then regroup so you don’t have people remembering you for the way you’re playing now.
“On his day he’s in the top five players in the world but at the moment he is letting himself down and he’s letting the Bulldogs down by not being 100 per cent fit.”
Woods has also underperformed since moving to Belmore from the Tigers. The former Wests skipper was a NSW and Australian regular but has fallen out of Origin contention since changing clubs.
He hasn’t been awful by any means but he hasn’t had the impact Canterbury was hoping for either.
In the lead-up to Origin this year his name was barely in the mix when discussing front-row options and he has been outshone by teammate David Klemmer. Klemmer is averaging more runs, more metres, more tackle busts and less errors than his fellow prop, who’s struggled in the blue and white.
Apart from Clay Priest, who’s only played three games this year, Woods on average concedes more penalties a game (one) than any other Bulldog.
In 12 months the 27-year-old has gone from being mentioned as a possible NSW captain to someone who’s fallen by the Origin wayside. He’s at an age where he should be hitting his prime but he’s only gone backwards.
It doesn’t help your representative ambitions playing in a losing team where it’s easy to be ignored but Woods hasn’t demanded selection the way he did when he played for the Tigers.
So diabolical has the new partnership been there are rumours Woods is being shopped around to other clubs for 2019.
In a cruel irony for the Dogs, after poaching one of the Tigers’ best players last year (Woods), Wests hit back this week by signing Moses Mbye on a four-year contract from 2019. Mbye — shifted to fullback after playing most of his NRL career in the halves — has been one of his team’s best players this year and all the attack stems from his carries. He’s always threatening.
Had it not been for the Dogs being under salary cap pressure — exacerbated by Woods and Foran’s presence at the club — they wouldn’t have had to let Mbye go.
It’s a troubling sign that life will get worse before it gets better for Canterbury.
