The manager of incoming Canterbury coach Trent Barrett admits the task of turning around the former NRL powerhouse is a “massive challenge” but says the club’s rich history and prominent brand made it an enticing opportunity for the ex-international playmaker.
The Bulldogs hope to finalise Barrett’s arrival for the 2021 season on a three-year deal in the coming days, during a busy week in which they are also expected to finally announce a new major sponsor
If the latter is some long-awaited good news for the NRL cellar dwellers in a tumultuous year, there was some more of it on Sunday when Kieran Foran was cleared of a toe injury he feared could end his season.
The playmaker is now expected to suit up in the team’s round-11 match against Newcastle next Sunday, before which Barrett is likely to be officially installed as the Bulldogs’ next full-time head coach following Dean Pay's resignation last week
Barrett’s long-time agent Wayne Beavis said on Sunday he was still poring over the terms of Canterbury’s contract offer to the 42-year-old, who is expected to remain an assistant at high-flying Penrith for the rest of this season.
“There’s a fair bit to go through so we’ve got to get all of that done and dusted. The bloke [Pay] has only just walked out of the place. You don’t do it at the drop of a hat,” Beavis said.
“I’m just going through the motions of looking at contracts and checking everything and making sure the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed.”
Barrett will rejoin the ranks of NRL head coaches two years after his controversial exit from Manly, and Beavis makes no bones about the assignment in front of him at Canterbury should he sign.
“They’re running last, it’s a massive challenge,” he said. “But it’s one he’s up for.
“It’s a club steeped in rich history, it’s just gone through a lean period. It’s probably [in] a rebuild phase but it’s a very strong brand. It’s not a unique club because there are six and seven clubs in the same position in the bottom [half] of the ladder.”
Barrett at least won’t have his new team running around in a bare-fronted jersey when he arrives at Belmore, with the club close to naming a new major backer.
They were on the brink of signing a two-year agreement with restaurant chain Rashays earlier this year when their players Jayden Okunbor and Corey Harawira-Naera had their contracts deregistered by the NRL over a schoolgirl sex scandal in Port Macquarie.
The Bulldogs board is still discussing the reinstatement of the two players after
the NRL appeals committee last week overturned their sacking and produced less serious sanctions that technically mean Harawira-Naera can resume his career in round 11, depending on when he can join the team's COVID-19 bubble. Okunbor is free to play again in round 15.
Harawira-Naera is reportedly angry about the Bulldogs’ response to the pre-season incident but has a strong relationship with Barrett from his junior days at Penrith.
Foran, meanwhile, was able to breathe a sigh of relief on Sunday when an MRI scan reported no structural damage to a big toe on which he had surgery two years ago.
Foran has been offered a new one-year contract by the Bulldogs, but at a cut-price rate compared to the more than $1 million a season he is earning on his current deal.
He has been eager to push for a higher valuation with on-field performances in the second half of the season and hopes to seize on the opportunity after being cleared of the injury.
