The phones have been ringing off the hook around the NRL lately. And almost every time it’s the Canterbury Bulldogs on the other side of that line.

Just like call center salespeople, the Bulldogs are making offers to anyone who’s willing to listen.

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Canterbury Bulldogs fire sale

The reason for this sale is simple. The aim is to get under the salary cap for next season. So essentially a large portion of the Canterbury Bulldogs playing roster — even though they’re contracted for next season — are being offered up to rival NRL clubs.

According to Fox Sports, some of the biggest names on offer include captain James Graham, the Morris twins, Moses Mbye and Greg Eastwood.

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Bad contracts

Bulldogs captain James Graham is on the open market because the club chose to back-end his contract. Graham is on around $1 million for next season.

The Morris brothers aren’t on that much but their deals are also back-ended and upwards of $700,000 per season.

Mbye and Eastwood are both on around the $800,000 mark next season.

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Sales tactics

The Canterbury Bulldogs have to trade away these contracts ASAP but trouble is, no one is interested. Understandably, rival clubs are only going to be interested at the right price. And since the players are all still contracted and technically don’t have to go anywhere, the whole thing is a huge mess.

Impact on the field

It’s no surprise that this uncertainty is having an impact on the playing list. Their performance has been shocking of late and I don’t blame them. The Bulldogs have only managed to win one match out of their last seven. WHich I would personally attribute to a lack of focus and/or interest.

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Next season

Who knows how the Canterbury Bulldogs’ playing roster will look next season. Most likely, not so great. A lot of players will be gone that’s for sure but who else will follow them out the door? Coach Hasler, chairman Ray Dib or CEO Raelene Castle maybe?

Only time will tell…

by Ed Toussaint – contributor