Official Wakeham and Faitala-Mariner commit to the Bulldogs for a further two years

AlzzBulldog

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Wakeham and Faitala-Mariner commit to the Bulldogs for a further two years

The Bulldogs have been boosted by news that two of their most promising young players in Brandon Wakeham and Ray Faitala-Mariner have both re-signed with the club for a further two years, keeping them at Belmore until the end of the 2022 season.

21 year-old Wakeham, a local junior from the Chester Hill Hornets, has made great strides over the past 12 months, making his NRL debut in 2019 and playing in six matches for the Bulldogs this season in the halves.


He also represented Fiji with distinction in 2019, playing in all three Test matches, including a memorable performance against Samoa, when he kicked five goals and had a hand in setting up two tries.

This led to him being nominated for the 2019 Golden Boot Award for Best International Male Player.

26 year-old back-rower Ray Faitala-Mariner has been a consistent performer this season since moving into the starting side, scoring tries in two of his last three matches.

The New Zealand International is in his 5th season at the Bulldogs and is averaging over 100 running metres per game with a tackle efficiency rating of 93%.

He has now made 75 NRL appearances overall.

Bulldogs Chief Executive Andrew Hill was delighted at what the signings meant in terms of being a development club :

"As part of our focus on developing quality and depth in our playing squad, we are delighted that we have been able to keep two talented young players at Belmore for the next two seasons.

Brandon is a local junior who has shown the talent he has at both NRL and International level with Fiji, while Ray is the type of hard-running forward that provides us with great energy whenever he is on the field.

Both players are part of a long term plan to make sure that we keep bringing quality young players through our system and continue to develop them as they form the nucleus of our squad going forward.

We are confident that both players will have a major impact for the club in the seasons ahead."

https://www.bulldogs.com.au/news/20...mmit-to-the-bulldogs-for-a-further-two-years/
 
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DogsOfWar1704

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What’s the logo for the pub look like any one know?
 

CaptainJackson

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I hope both are modest deals. RFM has been solid of late but not world beating. And Brandon is a junior and I want him to come good but he needs time.
Rfm needs to play bench prop and agree wakeham needs a year or two in reserves
 

TABOO

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I hope both are modest deals. RFM has been solid of late but not world beating. And Brandon is a junior and I want him to come good but he needs time.
Barrett could be good for Wakeham. He definitely has had some poor games this year but has some potential I think.
Having an attacking half as a coach could put him back on a good course for development.
Lets hope its the case.

I'd love to see RFM reach his potential too - We see glimpses of it from time to time, but never for long periods.
 

Scoooby

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Fucking beautiful news, and back in the day the bad news would keep coming..!! Things just keep getting better an it feels we’ve turned the corner and we have finally stopped digging the hole deeper. The light at end of tunnel gets closer each day.
 

Natboy

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I thought we were losing Wakeham??
Based on his performances lately I wouldn’t have cared
 

MatstaDogg

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Very good news. Both players will improve next year with baz and a better roster
Agree, we had a coach who didn't improve over three years so how could you expect players to improve also.

I believe the squad as a whole will improve in leaps and bounds with TBaz at the helm.
 

Alan79

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Yeah he looks bog average to me.
I'm hoping that it's partly a confidence issue right now. But between being low on confidence due to overall team performance and the weight of fan expectations he's probably under plenty of pressure. Hopefully he lives up to the hype next year. Would be nice to have a quality half that we developed.
 
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