Willie Mason calls on current crop of Bulldogs players to start delivering on talent, potential

Bob dog

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We finished the year trying our asses off, the injury toll was horrendous.
 

DinkumDog

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Outside of the usual pre-season jibber jabber, good to know that Pay is seeking out some of these blokes and getting them involved. Big Willie is a straight shooter, the stuff he says about the teams perspective on last season can be taken on face value.

Sherwin to help with halves skills. O'Meley to help with forwards skills. Mason to help with the tough winning mentality. Will be interesting to see the results.

Best of all, no Sea Feebles ring ins, Bulldogs all the way.
To your point, there’s a number of quotes from Willie dumping on the Eagles from his one year there. The peninsula poison is almost eradicated from Belmore - we need to ensure it never returns!
 

Psycho Doggie

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To your point, there’s a number of quotes from Willie dumping on the Eagles from his one year there. The peninsula poison is almost eradicated from Belmore - we need to ensure it never returns!
It was disappointing when he went to the chooks, but on the plus side he didn't settle, and after being at 6 other clubs his post-career decisions have shown that his heart never left Belmore.
 

Moedogg

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Just thinking about it now... that squad from the early 2000s is a once in a lifetime team.... doubt we'll ever assemble a squad like that with quality depth FFS.. we had Thurston, SBW and Asotasi coming off the bench... with Nate Myles still yet to debut.
 

Bob dog

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Just thinking about it now... that squad from the early 2000s is a once in a lifetime team.... doubt we'll ever assemble a squad like that with quality depth FFS.. we had Thurston, SBW and Asotasi coming off the bench... with Nate Myles still yet to debut.
Back then they didn't realize how good they were and how they would be rated fifteen years later.
We might yet be building champions.
 

KiwiDog7

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Taken Pay his third season in charge to reach out to the old boys

About fkn time

Got more out of Mason’s quotes than all of Pay post match press conferences put together
 

_G-Dog_

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Pay and the club officials around him have alot of faith in this roster.. after the next 2 years if Pay isnt successful he cannot blame the cattle or roster, hes had many oppurnities already to shuffle players..

He also sees a long bright future in his recruits Meaney Cogger and JMK and Lewis..
 

Juicydog

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Taken Pay his third season in charge to reach out to the old boys

About fkn time

Got more out of Mason’s quotes than all of Pay post match press conferences put together
Three plus years on the kennel and you still have not changed with your bitching and whinging
 

Wyzguy

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I think pay is trying to build the culture that made us a club that players wanted to play for..
 

capt obvious

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Imo brent sherwin is the most underated half in the last 30 years of first grade. And truly believe thurston copied him.
 

CrittaMagic69

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Pay and the club officials around him have alot of faith in this roster.. after the next 2 years if Pay isnt successful he cannot blame the cattle or roster, hes had many oppurnities already to shuffle players..

He also sees a long bright future in his recruits Meaney Cogger and JMK and Lewis..
Lewis :coldsweat:
 

rainman

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The kennel has been asking for this for years
 

086

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Isn't Bobcat working for CRL these days?
 

Mr Invisible

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Imo brent sherwin is the most underated half in the last 30 years of first grade. And truly believe thurston copied him.
Don't know if people would agree, but I see a lot in Blake Green, what I saw in Sherwin.

Pity Blakes tied up at the Warriors at the moment else he could have filled the Foran void potentially.
 

Pity Fool

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Willie Mason knows potential when he sees it.

Which is why he is pumped about the future for his success-starved Canterbury Bulldogs, despite their youthful roster.

Mason was patrolling the sideline on Tuesday as the players were put through their paces on the punishing Wanda sand dunes in Cronulla.

The players were physically fatigued under the hot sun but pushed the pain aside to complete the task at hand.

Mason was heartened by the effort and believes the Bulldogs have the talent to climb up the ladder after three years without reaching the finals.

However, he said the excuses had to end now, especially from the more experienced players in the squad.

“If you have played 40 to 50 games, the honeymoon period is over and it is time to perform,” Mason said.

“It is why you are on an NRL roster, to play in the NRL and not to play reserve grade.

“I know what that feeling is like as a young player. You question yourself.

“But these guys with 40 games under their belt start to feel like they belong.

“The Bulldogs aren’t the sort of club that thinks, ‘let’s rebuild for five years’. They don’t do that because they want to win.

“The fans also expect that. I expect that as a fan of the club and a former player.

“There is pressure when it comes to playing for the Bulldogs. You need to perform and that is why they are trying to get as many ex-players involved to help.”

Coach Dean Pay wants his young Bulldogs to recapture the trademark toughness from the club’s glory years.

It was a no-brainer for Pay to reach out to club legends such as Mason, Mark O’Meley and Brent Sherwin after they helped build one of the most successful eras in Canterbury’s history.

“Dean called me about six weeks ago about his interest in getting a few players in from those dominant years in the early 2000s,” Mason said.

“He said what we did during that era is something that the current team really reflects on and wants to try to emulate.

“They want to get my mindset on how I approached games, the camaraderie and how we built that team.

“It was good to talk to some young kids and try and pass on the mentality we had during those successful years.”

The mid-2000s was the club’s second most dominant period behind the 1980s, when Canterbury went toe-to-toe with arch rivals Parramatta to claim four premierships.

With players such as Mason, Andrew Ryan, Matt Utai and Steve Price, the Bulldogs won the 2004 premiership and finished in the top three in four out of six seasons from 2001 to 2006.

They were one of the most successful clubs during that time alongside Brisbane, Melbourne and Manly.

Mason said the secret to the Bulldogs’ success was simple.

“There was just a mentality when you put that jersey on, you weren’t meant to lose,” he said.

“You were supposed to win, regardless of how many games you’d played, where you were from or whatever.

“That is what the current team is trying to get back to. In the next few seasons they will push for a top-eight spot.”

Mason is excited about the Bulldogs’ youthful promise.

“Just the size of the kids blew me away,” he said.

“Reimis Smith is six-foot-four, over 100kg and he is a winger.

“Lachlan Lewis is also a big kid for a halfback.

“We are only two weeks into pre-season, so a lot of players are going to put on more muscle and lose body fat.

“Have a look at some of these kids around February next year and they are going to be animals.”

Mason said recruitment, self-belief and a fast start were the keys to Canterbury having success next year.

“I was speaking to Dean about their attitude in the final 12 games compared to their first 12 when they were losing,” he said.

“It was just simplifying their game plan, completing at over 90 per cent, defending like their lives depended on it.

“When you don’t have the talent of the Roosters, for example, they must do all the little things well to win games.”

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/s...l/news-story/ba0b528a45f0a5e83bf28576c5032ec8
I’ve been saying for years we should get these ex players like Mase, O’Meley and Sherwin from the Dogs of War era back to the club to fire these guys up and finally Pay had the brains to do it! If big Willie cant fire them up no one can... great positive feeling from this story and it brings back my pride from those days when we were the premium club!
 

Malla

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That’s great stuff from big Willie just some no nonsense straight talking is what these guys need sometimes
I know he along with the rest of us are sick of this ridiculous situation
It’s time to fire up on the field or get out,our standard has to be higher and not extend contracts any further unless warranted
No more softly approach Deano,give them a rocket
Further to this we had 18,300 members this year
We should get to 20,000 next year no problem,season tickets are very affordable
Get to the games
Agree. + I hope we sell out our next Belmore game next year and the team actually win. Need to flip the script on what we have been producing there over the last 4 years. That needs to be a sanctuary for us.
 

maroondog72

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just keep running up and down those fucking dunes and let our footy do the talking.
 

Mr. Ditkovich

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With a proper halves coach at the club in Sherwin, I’d say give Lewis one last chance for next season.

Proper guidance can make a ton of difference to a player’s game, and we didn’t have a halves coach until the end of this season, so we’ll know exactly how good or bad he is after a full preseason with a halves coach.
 
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