Steve Mortimer apologises for Damien Cook oversight, begs Josh Reynolds and Martin Taupau to return

[Kip Drordy]

We've got young Zac Woolford who is looking better and better with each week. In Flegg Ryan Gray is pretty decent as well.

But Woolford is not signed for next year, unless i missed it

 

[habs]

No thanks

 

[Mr Beast]

How about you mention the fact that we overlooked Cameron Munster & Lattrel Mitchell???

i highly rate LM

 

[Mr Beast]

des fkn hasler the fkn weasel

 

[Wolfmother]

How dafuq didn't anyone of you 'experts' see how good cook was in the 7 games he played for us??? Not 1 ..7 games
Were you all blind, gagged, drunk, off your faces?

No excuses! Some things are unforgivable.

The only player I want back is Reynolds apart from Cook of course.

Open the salary cap chequebook

 

[Wahesh]

• Michael Di Lonardo
  Updated at 12:07 a.m. ET
  
  Canterbury great Steve Mortimer has apologised to the club’s fans for letting Damien Cook slip through their hands during his tenure on the Bulldogs board.
  
  Cook had a brief seven-game cameo at Belmore in the shadow of former skipper Michael Ennis and incumbent hooker Michael Lichaa before signing a two-year deal with South Sydney which has since been extended.
  
  Arguably the game’s best player of the 2018 season, Cook is in a hotly contested race for a shock Dally M Medal in a year that has also seen him honoured with a NSW jersey.
  
  
  MORE: Bulldog's Bite: Ivan Cleary can't let stubbornness get in the way of Penrith Panthers offer
  
  Most impressively, the 66-game hooker stood up the game’s premier No.9 in Cameron Smith last weekend with one of the brilliant individual tries of the season.
  
  
  
  
  
  Canterbury on the other hand have had little confidence in their rake options, juggling between Lichaa, regular halfback Jeremy Marshall-King and former Shark Fa’amanu Brown.
  
  But that is only one of their worrying holes with little talent to boast in both the forward and backs after a salary cap debacle forced a dramatic overhaul to their roster with marquee players Aaron Woods and Moses Mbye being granted early releases.
  
  Not only does Mortimer regret Cook’s departure, the former board member still holds guilt over the exits of clubmen James Graham and Josh Reynolds who made an integral contribution to the club’s culture.
  
  ‘’Dean Pay was given a mess after the former coach (Des Hasler),’’ Mortimer said.
  
  ‘’We should have never let our players go. I think James Graham has been an absolutely wonderful leader for the Bulldogs and Josh Reynolds, who is a down-right local Bulldogs player, I’m hoping one day that maybe we can get him back.
  
  ‘’Those two players I think we miss big time.
  
  ‘’We also had Damien Cook under Des Hasler and there were just things Des couldn’t see in him and now he’s probably going to be a Dally M Medallist this year.
  
  ‘’I’m very sorry that we (Bulldogs board) missed Damien Cook.’’
  
  The key losses are another stain on an ill-advised recruitment and retention plan that has also seen Sea Eagles star Martin Taupau part ways with the club.
  
  Like Reynolds, Mortimer has his fingers crossed Canterbury can complete a homecoming at some point in the future.
  
  ‘’If Marty Taupau wants to come back, I will welcome him with open arms,’’ he said.
  
  ‘’He’s a wonderful player, he’s a dangerous player, he’s a great player, can offload the ball and would be a great asset for the Bulldogs.’’
  
  It’s a wild dream that will have to wait until 2021 with the Bulldogs unable to lure any big name signings for three years under salary cap restrictions.
  
  At a fan forum in May, club officials revealed they had to fill five remaining roster spots with just $500,000 meaning players could only sign on minimum wage.
  
  Canterbury coach Dean Pay has put his faith in the club’s more affordable youth to turn their fortunes around, letting halves pairing Lachlan Lewis – who recently signed a two-year extension – and Jeremy Marshall-King take the steering wheel.
  
  Despite their financial troubles, the Bulldogs have managed to sign promising Newcastle fullback Nick Meaney, Panthers winger Christian Crichton and Knights playmaker Jack Cogger in a rebuild of their roster.
  
  There are reports they have made a play at Brisbane second-rower Corey Oates, however it is believed he rejected their offer
  
  
  
  

Why does this article refer to Turvey as a "former board member" - I thought he was currently on the board. Is this not the case?

 

[Wolfmother]

Why does this article refer to Turvey as a "former board member" - I thought he was currently on the board. Is this not the case?

Interesting pick up..

 

[Wahesh]

Interesting pick up..

Bulldogs website is up-to-date...

 

[Spoonman84]

Why does this article refer to Turvey as a "former board member" - I thought he was currently on the board. Is this not the case?

It's an error in the article he's 100% still on the board.

 

[Emdog85]

He never begged Reynolds or Marty to come back at all lol. Said he'd hoped Reynolds would be back one day and if Taupau wanted to return he'd welcome him with open arms but begged, lol no

 

[Bob dog]

Filthy over Cook but don't need JR back, surely the club should have the ability to spot talent before its poached.

 

[_G-Dog_]

Well share it.

No offer was put forward to Cook. So his management started receiving a few offers not many & the Souths offer..

Cook was with his mum at Canterbury leagues chinese at that time when this was going on in background with no offer from our club. He had a meeting with the board member I met and told the board membet he would really like to stay & if their was any chance he could.

So board mrmber said hed see what he can do but ultimately its Dessies decision. Board member chatted to board and agreed to raise Cook with Des again very soon after this.

Des was adamant he didnt want Cook because it wasnt his style of player didnt suit the way he wanted team to play & Lichaa was Dessies first choice. That was end of story. Des was coach & he got the team he wanted.

No offer to Cook.

Sad story. I told board member I understand des didnt want Cook, but someone at our club should have seen the talent in Cook. We all saw it in the 5 or 6 games he played, made big line breaks in nearly all those games. I told him was wrong to give total control to Des like that as bad decisions were made by him with retention/recruitment. Too late now. Been done to death. But another sad story.

but another common theme of this is most players dont want to leave us. JT never wanted to leave, Graham, Pritchard, Ennis, Finucane, Reynolds, Morris bros none wanted to leave. Thats a small positive consolation. Just saying

 

[Wahesh]

He never begged Reynolds or Marty to come back at all lol. Said he'd hoped Reynolds would be back one day and if Taupau wanted to return he'd welcome him with open arms but begged, lol no

Typical journalism mate. I thought the same thing.

 

[Kila R Ralai]

No offer was put forward to Cook. So his management started receiving a few offers not many & the Souths offer..

Cook was with his mum at Canterbury leagues chinese at that time when this was going on in background with no offer from our club. He had a meeting with the board member I met and told the board membet he would really like to stay & if their was any chance he could.

So board mrmber said hed see what he can do but ultimately its Dessies decision. Board member chatted to board and agreed to raise Cook with Des again very soon after this.

Des was adamant he didnt want Cook because it wasnt his style of player didnt suit the way he wanted team to play & Lichaa was Dessies first choice. That was end of story. Des was coach & he got the team he wanted.

No offer to Cook.

Sad story. I told board member I understand des didnt want Cook, but someone at our club should have seen the talent in Cook. We all saw it in the 5 or 6 games he played, made big line breaks in nearly all those games. I told him was wrong to give total control to Des like that as bad decisions were made by him with retention/recruitment. Too late now. Been done to death. But another sad story.

but another common theme of this is most players dont want to leave us. JT never wanted to leave, Graham, Pritchard, Ennis, Finucane, Reynolds, Morris bros none wanted to leave. Thats a small positive consolation. Just saying

Thats really f..ked up, the previous board really ruined the club. They are the ones gave the all the powers to Des....well they can all go and suck his d..k.

 

[Wahesh]

Also Turvey has NO REASON to apologise. At the time, Cook was simply our backup player and reserve and no one could've possibly seen that he would become this good. It's exactly the same as what happened with JT.

 

[BELMORE]

Also Turvey has NO REASON to apologise. At the time, Cook was simply our backup player and reserve and no one could've possibly seen that he would become this good. It's exactly the same as what happened with JT.

Well he played the same with us back then as he does now......

 

[Wahesh]

Well he played the same with us back then as he does now......

Perhaps but why has it taken him 4 years to get noticed?

 

[BELMORE]

Perhaps but why has it taken him 4 years to get noticed?

He was behind a coaches pet here and a quality rake at Souths.

 

[Howard Moon]

"no no no no no" -Gus Gould

 

[piggy]

Also Turvey has NO REASON to apologise. At the time, Cook was simply our backup player and reserve and no one could've possibly seen that he would become this good. It's exactly the same as what happened with JT.

lol your kidding me! Did u even watch any of his games in first grade? Everyone could see except dessie that cook offered more than Licha in the 7 games he played. Des fuked up because he couldnt spot cooks talent and decided to spend 300k for Licha when he could have signed cook for half that amount.