- June 26, 2019 10:06am
- by ZAC RAYSON
- Source: FOX SPORTS
Canterbury Bulldogs coach Dean Pay is under immense pressure to keep his job. Picture: Dylan RobinsonSource: News Corp Australia
Dean Pay’s tenure as Canterbury Bulldogs coach is under significant pressure after a poor start to 2019, but things could be much worse than previously thought according to fresh reports.
Daily Telegraph sports editor Phil Rothfield this morning told Macquarie Sports Radio he expected Pay to lose his position before his contract expires at the end of next season.
I can’t see Dean Pay surviving beyond this season and he might even go this year, that’s how bad it is,” Rothfield said.
“When I spoke to a very, very powerful Canterbury official last week, (they) couldn’t guarantee Dean Pay is safe, they’re saying we’re supporting him at the moment.”
The Bulldogs handed Pay a one-year extension in late March, a deal that keeps him in charge until the end of 2020.
Canterbury chief executive Andrew Hill at the time said the club was “showing the faith in him (Pay)”, while club chair Lynne Anderson said “Last year Dean inherited a squad and a salary cap situation that were not of his making, and we believe it would be unfair to judge him on that.”
While Pay was forced to inherit a difficult salary cap situation, if the Bulldogs decision-makers are judging the coach on his results this season alone, things don’t look great for the embattled mentor.
The Dogs sit last on the ladder with just three wins from fourteen rounds, with an extremely poor points differential of -162.
The next worst team in that regard is the Panthers on -94, but the Penrith side have still claimed double the number of wins compared to Canterbury.
Buzz Rothfield said “If they lose by 30 or 40 points in a couple more games over the next six weeks, I think he’s gone.”
While Shane Flanagan had been touted as a potential replacement for Pay, Bulldogs CEO Andrew Hill
emphatically denied reports they had sounded him out.
“At no stage has anyone from the club asked about Shane Flanagan coaching at the football club,” Hill said.
Rothfield this morning said he believed it was unlikely Flanagan would coach until 2021, and floated former Manly coach Trent Barrett as a possible candidate to replace Pay before then.
“Trent Barrett could come into the picture because he’s very, very close to the Trbojevic brothers,” he said.
“(Barrett) could be a magnet for those sort of players of their magnitude.
“It’s a sort of watch this space.”