NRL 2022: Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett faces sack amid emergency talks | Daily Telegraph
Canterbury officials will hold emergency talks on Monday as pressure mounts on coach Trent Barrett to remain in charge of the club.
There is growing discontent among fans and club management alike which could lead to Barrett’s tenure ending in days.
Canterbury directors are feeling the heat amid a fan-led campaign to have Barrett sacked after 18 months in charge.
Chair John Khoury declined to comment on Sunday but he is expected to meet head of football Phil Gould this week as pressure mounts on the club to part ways with their coach.
The sense is that a decision on Barrett’s future could be only days away and he may have coached the club for the final time on Friday night,
when the Bulldogs succumbed to Newcastle at Suncorp Stadium. The delay may be working out a contingency should they fast-track Barrett’s departure.
Pressure continues to mount on Canterbury coach Trent Barrett.
Canterbury operates under a structure where board members are elected every two years by the members. A vocal minority of those members have begun venting over the club’s efforts this season - they are running stone motherless last, having averaged less than 10 points a game through the opening 10 games.
Barrett looked devoid of answers after his side’s loss to the Knights and rival clubs reported a sombre mood among Canterbury directors at the team hotel in Brisbane immediately following the game.
Barrett is in the line of fire given he has won only five of his 34 games in charge since taking over at the start of last season.
Gould has been an outspoken supporter of Barrett but the coach’s future may be out of his hands if the board decides the time has come for change.
He could have few arguments given results during his tenure. Barrett inherited an average squad last season but the Bulldogs have been strengthened with the addition of Matt Burton, Tevita Pangai, Brent Naden, Matt Dufty, Paul Vaughan, Braidon Burns and Josh Addo-Carr. The club is already looking to part ways with Dufty and Vaughan while Pengai has also been discussed by rival clubs.
Club sponsors will also meet for one of their semi-regular catch ups and while Barrett has not been on the agenda so far, the coach’s future at Belmore is likely to be a hot topic when the group get together later this week.
Things are going from bad to worse at the Bulldogs, after a horror performance against the Knights. Picture: Getty Images.
Results have barely improved and there are genuine fears that Burton may head to market on November 1 rather than extend his deal with the Bulldogs.
That said, there is hope for next season as Reed Mahoney, Ryan Sutton and Viliame Kikau prepare to join the club. Rumours also persist that Gould has an interest in signing Payne Haas despite suggestions that he is out of their reach.
The Bulldogs are unlikely to have any problem finding a new coach if they do decide to move on from Barrett. Penrith assistant Cameron Ciraldo is off contract at the end of the year and likely to be their priority but there is no shortage of options should he decide to bide his time and wait for a more attractive opportunity.
Paul Green and Shane Flanagan have won premiership and crave another opportunity. Gould is a fan of Tigers coach Michael Maguire. Kristian Woolf has been a raging success at St Helens while Steve Price has returned as an assistant at Cronulla after a highly-successful stint in Super League.
Ben Hornby, Josh Hannay and Brett White are also highly-regarded assistants at South Sydney, Cronulla and Canberra respectively.
