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After a significant upheaval of their playing roster, the Bulldogs entered into the year expecting to vastly improve on their last-placed finish in 2021. However, their campaign got off to the worst possible start with a run of defeats which ultimately ended in Trent Barrett losing his job as head coach.
Mick Potter was installed as his temporary replacement and got the side playing some entertaining footy, but another year of failure has been chalked down to the rebuild cycle as the club desperately attempts to get themselves back up into contention.
Did the Bulldogs over-deliver or under-deliver in 2022?
Canterbury entered into 2022 with plenty of optimism but UNDER-DELIVERED in a season where all hope was stripped away before being ever so slightly drip-fed back into the club.
Canterbury had undergone a significant recruitment drive in the off-season, which saw the likes of Josh Addo-Carr and Matt Burton rock up to Belmore.
The mass overturn in the playing roster was a direct response to the club picking up the wooden spoon in 2021. It was alarming how quickly the season spiraled out of control.
Barrett started the year as a man under pressure and after the Bulldogs were handed a tough opening draw, the speculation only intensified around his position.
"He will be the coach at the Bulldogs for a long time as far as I'm concerned," Phil Gould said of Barrett, as the wolves began to circle around the door. Yet just a month or so later, the former Manly coach fell on his own sword.
In the second half of the season, the Bulldogs undoubtedly improved under interim coach Potter. But the damage had already done, as they missed the finals for the sixth-straight year.
When did it fall apart?
After week one.
The Bulldogs managed to open their season with a 6-4 win away to North Queensland, which stoked talk of a club which could force their way into the top-eight. In reality, their 8th-placed ranking after round one was the highest they would achieved all season.
They lost the next six games which felt like a return to regular transmission. During this spell, they scored over 12 points just once. It was a far cry from the expectations of Barrett turning his new roster into an attacking juggernaut, following his success as an assistant at Penrith.
Despite claiming a 16-12 upset victory over the Roosters in round eight, which provided another injection of hope into Belmore, the Bulldogs would lose another two games before Barrett's time at the club ended.
The best period to be a Bulldogs fan
Throughout the first half of their campaign, Bulldogs fans had to endure plenty of dour attacking play. Thankfully for them, Potter got the team going from Round 11 onwards by utilising an entirely different style.
They played off the back of ad-lib footy and relied less on structure and set plays, which brought Burton to the fore.
His partnership with Addo-Carr was a joy to behold with the duo turning the Bulldogs into one of the most entertaining sides during the middle of the year.
Under Potter, they lost high-scoring affairs against the Tigers, Dragons and Penrith during his first weeks in charge.
But then they notched more than 30 points - in what felt like forever - when they gave Parramatta a hiding in one of the biggest upsets of the season. The following week, in round 15, they gained revenge on the Tigers by beating them 36-12.
Three more victories followed for the rest of the year, but the five round spell where they looked revitalised was the best period to be a Dogs fan.
Shining light: Matt Burton
Moving from Penrith where he had become one of the game's best centres in a premiership-winning side, to a lowly Bulldogs outfit where he was expected to be their focal attacking point proved to be a difficult transition for Burton.
It took a while for him to find his feet wearing the No.6 jersey, but when he did he was Canterbury's best player pretty much every week.
He carried the side on his back with his running game and trademark bombs becoming integral components of the Bulldogs attack.
Special mention also to Jeremy Marshall-King who was the unsung hero for the Bulldogs in 2022. The 26-year-old finally established himself as a first-choice hooker, with his damaging running game becoming a real asset.
Marshall-King's attacking output was also coupled with a tenacity in defence that makes him one of the best tacklers in his position. He also improved on his fitness, becoming an 80-minute player by season's end.
Will they improve in 2023?
The Bulldogs will begin a brand new era, under the stewardship of highly-rated but so far unproven rookie coach Cameron Ciraldo.
The Penrith assistant was one of the most sought after coaches in the game, with the Tigers having tried and failed to lure him to Concord before he finally signed on with the Bulldogs.
Yet despite his pedigree, life as a head coach is vastly different to the role he has played so effectively while at the foot of the mountains. Much of Canterbury's fortunes will be tied to how quickly Ciraldo takes to his new role and how the players will buy into his philosophy.
Having said that, the Bulldogs will also be strengthened by the addition of Reed Mahoney in the spine, while they will also have one of the game's best strike back-rowers in Viliame Kikau to call upon.
Bulldogs player movements 2023
Gains
Viliame Kikau (Panthers), Reed Mahoney (Eels), Ryan Sutton (Raiders)
Losses
Jack Hetherington (Knights), Jeremy Marshall-King (Dolphins), Paul Vaughan (Warrington), Matt Dufty (Warrington)
Unsigned
Josh Cook, Matt Doorey, Reece Hoffman, Tuipulotu Katoa, Joe Stimson, Jackson Topine, Brandon Wakeham
Mick Potter was installed as his temporary replacement and got the side playing some entertaining footy, but another year of failure has been chalked down to the rebuild cycle as the club desperately attempts to get themselves back up into contention.
Did the Bulldogs over-deliver or under-deliver in 2022?
Canterbury entered into 2022 with plenty of optimism but UNDER-DELIVERED in a season where all hope was stripped away before being ever so slightly drip-fed back into the club.
Canterbury had undergone a significant recruitment drive in the off-season, which saw the likes of Josh Addo-Carr and Matt Burton rock up to Belmore.
The mass overturn in the playing roster was a direct response to the club picking up the wooden spoon in 2021. It was alarming how quickly the season spiraled out of control.
Barrett started the year as a man under pressure and after the Bulldogs were handed a tough opening draw, the speculation only intensified around his position.
"He will be the coach at the Bulldogs for a long time as far as I'm concerned," Phil Gould said of Barrett, as the wolves began to circle around the door. Yet just a month or so later, the former Manly coach fell on his own sword.
In the second half of the season, the Bulldogs undoubtedly improved under interim coach Potter. But the damage had already done, as they missed the finals for the sixth-straight year.
When did it fall apart?
After week one.
The Bulldogs managed to open their season with a 6-4 win away to North Queensland, which stoked talk of a club which could force their way into the top-eight. In reality, their 8th-placed ranking after round one was the highest they would achieved all season.
They lost the next six games which felt like a return to regular transmission. During this spell, they scored over 12 points just once. It was a far cry from the expectations of Barrett turning his new roster into an attacking juggernaut, following his success as an assistant at Penrith.
Despite claiming a 16-12 upset victory over the Roosters in round eight, which provided another injection of hope into Belmore, the Bulldogs would lose another two games before Barrett's time at the club ended.
The best period to be a Bulldogs fan
Throughout the first half of their campaign, Bulldogs fans had to endure plenty of dour attacking play. Thankfully for them, Potter got the team going from Round 11 onwards by utilising an entirely different style.
They played off the back of ad-lib footy and relied less on structure and set plays, which brought Burton to the fore.
His partnership with Addo-Carr was a joy to behold with the duo turning the Bulldogs into one of the most entertaining sides during the middle of the year.
Under Potter, they lost high-scoring affairs against the Tigers, Dragons and Penrith during his first weeks in charge.
But then they notched more than 30 points - in what felt like forever - when they gave Parramatta a hiding in one of the biggest upsets of the season. The following week, in round 15, they gained revenge on the Tigers by beating them 36-12.
Three more victories followed for the rest of the year, but the five round spell where they looked revitalised was the best period to be a Dogs fan.
Shining light: Matt Burton
Moving from Penrith where he had become one of the game's best centres in a premiership-winning side, to a lowly Bulldogs outfit where he was expected to be their focal attacking point proved to be a difficult transition for Burton.
It took a while for him to find his feet wearing the No.6 jersey, but when he did he was Canterbury's best player pretty much every week.
He carried the side on his back with his running game and trademark bombs becoming integral components of the Bulldogs attack.
Special mention also to Jeremy Marshall-King who was the unsung hero for the Bulldogs in 2022. The 26-year-old finally established himself as a first-choice hooker, with his damaging running game becoming a real asset.
Marshall-King's attacking output was also coupled with a tenacity in defence that makes him one of the best tacklers in his position. He also improved on his fitness, becoming an 80-minute player by season's end.
Will they improve in 2023?
The Bulldogs will begin a brand new era, under the stewardship of highly-rated but so far unproven rookie coach Cameron Ciraldo.
The Penrith assistant was one of the most sought after coaches in the game, with the Tigers having tried and failed to lure him to Concord before he finally signed on with the Bulldogs.
Yet despite his pedigree, life as a head coach is vastly different to the role he has played so effectively while at the foot of the mountains. Much of Canterbury's fortunes will be tied to how quickly Ciraldo takes to his new role and how the players will buy into his philosophy.
Having said that, the Bulldogs will also be strengthened by the addition of Reed Mahoney in the spine, while they will also have one of the game's best strike back-rowers in Viliame Kikau to call upon.
Bulldogs player movements 2023
Gains
Viliame Kikau (Panthers), Reed Mahoney (Eels), Ryan Sutton (Raiders)
Losses
Jack Hetherington (Knights), Jeremy Marshall-King (Dolphins), Paul Vaughan (Warrington), Matt Dufty (Warrington)
Unsigned
Josh Cook, Matt Doorey, Reece Hoffman, Tuipulotu Katoa, Joe Stimson, Jackson Topine, Brandon Wakeham
