Bulldogs board saga: Club legend Steve Price latest in firing line
Canterbury legend and current general manager of football, Steve Price, is under pressure to survive at Belmore after three under-fire directors resigned from the football club board.
The Bulldogs’ long-threatened extraordinary general meeting has now been abandoned after chair Lynne Anderson and directors Paul Dunn and John Ballesty stood down on Wednesday morning.
Anderson was a staunch supporter of Price and a change in direction at board level has his position under scrutiny.
Price has as many supporters as he does enemies at Belmore with meetings to discuss his future set down for Friday.
Powerbrokers at the club are sceptical about Price continuing in his role at the club where he won premierships in 1995 and 2004.
Resigning would have been a crushing blow for Anderson, wife of legendary Canterbury player and coach Chris Anderson, and daughter of Bulldogs godfather Peter Moore.
A rebel members group who wanted to oust the three secured the required 100 signatures to force the EGM. Aware they might not have the numbers to survive, Anderson, Dunn and Ballesty informed club CEO Andrew Hill of their resignation.
The remaining four football club directors — Joe Thomas, Peter Mortimer, John Khoury and Adrian Turner — will now appoint the three replacements. A Sydney corporate high-flyer is already being discussed.
Given club greats Mortimer and Thomas are on the board, there is a feeling the three new directors should come from the business sector, not be former players.
It is clear Anderson, Ballesty and Dunn accepted discreet advice from club insiders about their chances of surviving.
Club management has been informing sponsors of the developments.
Well-placed football club member, Bill Diakos, warned of a potential EGM a month ago when meeting with Dunn and Ballesty over an investigation into the behaviour of Leagues Club chairman, George Coorey.
The football club initiated the investigation and succeeded in pushing for Coorey’s removal as chairman despite being told of a possible EGM if they did by Diakos. The resignations now place Coorey and his backers into a more powerful position.
The decision of Anderson, Dunn and Ballesty also gives club officials fresh hope that new coach Trent Barrett can arrive in a more settled environment. It is unknown whether Dunn and Ballesty will remain on the Canterbury Leagues Club board. Dunn is chairman.
In a letter to members, Anderson wrote: “Whilst standing down means that I and two of my fellow directors, John Ballesty and Paul Dunn, won’t be around to finish the job we started, we will always put the interests of the club before our own.
“We made no secret of the fact we inherited some challenges, the most pressing being how to ensure we could field a competitive roster with the salary cap debacle that handicapped retention and recruitment plans for several years.
“I acknowledge there have been challenges and mistakes along the way, we are always learning. Things rarely run perfectly in professional sporting organisations, and the behind the scenes wins are not greeted with as much interest as the problems.
“We always said it was going to take some time to turn the corner – that it would not be until 2021 that we would be in control of our destiny. I’m proud to say that has been achieved.”
The letter ended with: “Always proud to be a Bulldog.”
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