Phil Gould has as many critics as he does roles in rugby league but even his most strident detractors must admit that there has been no greater knockdown rebuild administrator in the history of the game. While the man known as “Gus” was long gone from Penrith by the time the Panthers put together four premierships on end, he was instrumental in turning a club that had one winning season in nine from 2005-13 into an outfit that has missed the finals just twice since.
Gould didn’t push culture change at Penrith. He sledgehammered it in. He moved on senior players, coaches and administrators who were reluctant to transform. He spent big on recruitment, development, junior structures and facilities in a bid to instil a culture of success. The Panthers ended up with the ultimate payoff.
If that all sounds familiar, it might be because Gould has enacted the same cultural blitzkrieg at Belmore, bringing Canterbury-Bankstown back to genuine premiership contention after the club’s most disastrous period since the 1960s.
The Bulldogs this week head to Brisbane sitting on top of the ladder, undefeated through their first six games for the first time since 1938. It has been an incredible rise from the ashes for a club that had reached some devastating lows after years of salary cap mismanagement left it in a mess. A club highly accustomed to success missed the finals in three consecutive seasons just once between 1967 and 2016 – with just six losing seasons in that 50-year run. But the Bulldogs put together seven straight losing seasons from 2017 to 2023 and finished 11th or worse every year. Canterbury went 48-116 in that period, hired the likes of Dean Pay and Trent Barrett to coach the side, and were crippled by never-ending political infighting. Rather than building the foundations for success, the club fell deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.
Gould wasted little time with niceties after joining the club prior to the 2022 season. Coach Trent Barrett was forced out early in the season while nearly the entire roster – only Matt Burton, Max King, Jacob Kiraz and Kurtis Morrin survive – was moved on. Belmore was not in need of small ripples of change. A tidal wave was needed.
Arguably the most important signing came when coach Cameron Ciraldo was hired for the 2023 season. It was a tough gig for a rookie coach, even one who was highly touted and had come from a club that had just claimed back-to-back titles. Ciraldo came with a clear plan – the Bulldogs would be rebuilt on the foundations of hard work, connectedness and toughness. That was the historic Canterbury DNA. It is also in Ciraldo’s make up.
The head coach and Gould quickly weeded out those who did not fit the team-first character assessments. Even when it caused trouble, as when Jackson Topine launched legal action against the club, the duo never wavered. While the club understood the need to bring in elite-level talent and signed the likes of Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau, it was the character-led signings that have changed the fortunes of the clubs.
The Bulldogs were widely mocked for signing an array of utilities in 2024 seemingly with no place in the top grade, but while there were some misses with the likes of Blake Taafe, Drew Hutchison and Jake Turpin, a team with title aspirations now has Connor Tracey and Kurt Mann as its centrepieces. Bronson Xerri was given a chance after a four-year drug ban and is now one of the best centres in the premiership. Jacob Preston could not get a look in at the top grade with the Roosters, while Josh Curran was a fringe first-grader at the Warriors – both are now well in the frame for an Origin call up. Toby Sexton found it hard to win the No 7 jersey at the lowly Titans but has been outstanding for a team that is now on track to play finals in back-to-back seasons.
The cultural blitzkrieg has reaped immediate and sustainable rewards, with the Bulldogs primed to be right in the mix for their first grand final berth in 11 seasons as they look to end a 21-year premiership drought. History tells us that the most reliable indicator of long-term success in the NRL is defence. Of the last 21 premiers, 19 have ranked in the top three defensively. Only three teams in the last decade have ranked outside the top four defensively and reached the grand final. Defence wins premierships and the Bulldogs are tracking for an historic defensive season, conceding only 9.67 points across their opening six games.
Since 2008, just six teams have shut their opposition out twice in the opening eight rounds as the Bulldogs have this year done in seven. None of those teams finished lower than fifth on the ladder, while two went on to taste premiership glory and another pair finished as runners-up. Starting a season well, as the unbeaten Bulldogs have done, is also a great guide and teams with an outright or share of the lead after round eight have reached the grand final in five of the last seven years.
It has been an astonishing rise from the boys from Belmore and this is no false dawn. The Bulldogs are the real deal and are set up to be genuine premiership contenders for years to come.
