The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs made plenty of noise over the NRL offseason. Can they now do it on the field in 2021?
2020 Wrap
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2020 NRL season was all too familiar for the blue and white faithful. A poor start to the season quickly wiped away any Top 8 optimism before they spent 12 consecutive weeks at 16th on the ladder. In the end, only points differential separated them from an awful Broncos side and the dreaded wooden spoon.
The typical Bulldogs fight still remained, though. Their 15.2-point average losing margin finished up less than the Knights, Titans, Warriors, Sea Eagles and Broncos. Still, moral victories don’t show on the ladder, and as we’ve seen over the last four seasons, don’t guarantee an improvement the following year either.
Luke Thompson struggled to adjust to his new life in a Covid-affected Australia while Dallin Watene-Zelezniak labeled his 2020 season as his worst since he was four years old. Raymond Faitala-Mariner played himself into career-best form, but much of that came through his combination with Kieran Foran who couldn’t stay on the field and is now no longer with the club.
Dean Pay eventually lost his job as head coach. Trent Barrett soon signed on as his replacement. His signature and the encouraging signings to follow reignited that familiar preseason optimism even a team that finished 15th the season prior can carry into the next.
Predicted Profile
What will the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs look like and how will they play? We take a stab at profiling their playing style ahead of Round 1.
“We’ve signed players around him [Kyle Flanagan] that will compliment his skill set – we have a runner here in the moment in Jake Averillo, we’ve got a runner in Burton coming in 12 months, we’ve got a runner in Corey Allan and there’s some edge backrowers in Adam Elliott, Raymond Faitala-Mariner and Waddell who will compliment Kyle. The guts of what we’re putting together, I’m happy with it.” – Trent Barrett
Any guesses as to how the Bulldogs plan to shape their attack throughout 2021 and beyond?
Run, run, run, run and….run.
The Bulldogs have struggled for creativity in recent seasons. They’ve finished 16th in scoring twice over the last four seasons along with 13th and 15th. Scoring hasn’t been their strong suit. While Barrett has come into the role of head coach and so far made his biggest mark with the cheque book, the two most influential attacking threats in Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr don’t arrive until after this season. Until then, it sounds as though the Bulldogs aim to earn as many attacking opportunities as they can by crashing and bashing their way into the opposition 20-metre zone.
The Bulldogs ranked 13th in yardage at 1,571 running metres per game in 2020. That translated into 29.7 tackles inside the opposition 20-metre line (7th), per Fox Sports. Kieran Foran posed as the Bulldogs most dangerous attacking threat in good ball areas. Given the opposition defence knew that, and the fact Foran only managed 11 full games throughout the season, the Bulldogs could only score 14.1 points per game.
It looks as though Barrett’s main goal for 2021 is getting the team up the field and leaving Kyle Flanagan, in particular, to create what he can. It won’t be a surprise to see Flanagan used in a Nathan Cleary-style role with his hands on the ball 60+ times per game, floating across both sides of the field and passing players into areas of the field he wants them. It may not produce much more than the 14.1 points per game in 2020, but it lays the groundwork for Canterbury’s attack on the Top 8 in 2022.
2021 NRL Notepad
Jason Oliver cracks open his notepad to find a key player, style or stat to keep an eye on this season.
Corey Allan
An update to this:
— Jason Oliver (@JasonNRL) October 17, 2020
I said Corey Allan was a “professional reserve grader” about two months ago. https://t.co/oPixoOu4VE
Corey Allan had just pulled off this skilful play on the wing in Week 3 of the 2020 Finals when I admitted to the “professional reserve grader” call. It was his 9th try involvement since taking over from Latrell Mitchell at fullback. That isn’t taking his quick hands out the back of a silky Rabbitohs shift to send a teammate streaking down the outside into account either.
The 22-year-old finished his 2020 footy season as fullback of a Queensland Maroons side that caused one of the biggest upsets in State of Origin history.
Corey Allan is a professional first-grade fullback, and could possibly be one of the best in the NRL if he carries this form into 2021.
He’s not going to be given the same opportunities this season. His Rabbitohs produced some of the best attacking rugby league in recent years by the end of the year. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs continued their four-year trend of finishing inside the bottom four of the NRL in points score per game.
Allan is now a target of the defence. He no longer has Cody Walker, Adam Reynolds, Dane Gagai, Campbell Graham or Alex Johnston attracting attention. The element of the unknown is gone too. Still, we’ve all seen what he can do out the back of shape with a man unmarked outside him.
He’s an excellent signing for the Bulldogs. Opportunistic in that he popped up in a position of need with little hope of retaining his first-grade spot in a full-strength Rabbitohs side. There is no question he makes the Bulldogs a better team in 2021. Just how much better he makes them, and his ability to still be effective as a notable attacking player, will be interesting to watch throughout the year.
“Heads In” 2021
Oscar Pannifex unpacks a scrum of three key questions ahead of the 2021 NRL season.
Centre-Field Scrum – What’s centre-frame in the Rugby League lens this season?
After a rollercoaster 2020 season, young halfback Kyle Flanagan arrives at Belmore with plenty of attention and scrutiny around the move.
Although his ugly exit from the Roosters last year hints at some poor performances from Flanagan in 2020, in reality he wasn’t all that bad. His 87% tackle efficiency ranks him in the top three among full-time halves, and that’s all while making the most tackles on average by any half in the NRL per game, last year. Opposition teams sent plenty of traffic Flanagan’s way last year, and for the most part he stood up to the test. Defending in the Roosters’ elite systems certainly would have helped, but there are promising signs for the diminutive half who joins the Bulldogs as their main man in 2021.
Flanagan is a traditional number seven – a game-managing, ball-playing halfback that the Bulldogs haven’t had since the likes of Trent Hodkinson circa 2014. Under specialist halves coach Trent Barrett, we’re expecting Flanagan to take a leading role in the Bulldogs’ structures moving forward.
Without the likes of Luke Keary and James Tedesco overcalling for the ball, Flanagan should be Canterbury’s on-field general in 2021. Statistically he hardly took our breath away last year, but those numbers will improve as he increases his touches per game and subsequently his attacking output.
Flanagan has good vision and a solid short- and long-passing game, which will be centre-frame for the Bulldogs in 2021.
Flanagan mightn’t have Tedesco backing him up on the inside anymore, but Allan has proven himself a quality supporting fullback and someone Flanagan will look to link with often around the ruck. Out wide, Nick Cotric presents as a go-to strike weapon on the edge and the dynamic centre should expect plenty of early, clean ball from his halfback in 2021.
A key trio of halfback, fullback and centre is an unusual one, but one the Bulldogs will rely heavily upon this season before Josh Addo-Carr and Matt Burton join the squad in 2022.
Right Scrum-Line – Who is feeling the pressure this season?
With incoming coach Trent Barrett bringing a host of ball-players and outside backs to the club over the offseason, all the attention is on the new names joining the Dogs in 2021.
But Barrett has also sent a message with these signings: that he believes in the forward pack he is inheriting at the Bulldogs. As such, there is plenty of pressure on the forward rotation to provide a platform off the back of which their big name signings can capitalise on in 2021.
Club captain Josh Jackson tries his heart out every week, but the once-tireless backrower is tiring and desperately needs some support. Adam Elliott is a very underrated option to replace Jackson in the lock-forward role (more on that below), while Raymond Faitala-Mariner had a breakout season on the left edge in 2020 and although he loses partner-in-crime Kieran Foran, there is no reason RFM can’t play a similar role running off Flanagan’s hip.
The club has plenty of backrow depth with Joe Stimson, Dean Britt, Chris Smith and Corey Waddell providing cover in case of injuries, but it’s their front-row that has plenty of upside for me heading into the 2021 season.
We have not even come close to seeing the best of Dylan Napa and Luke Thompson, who have the potential to be a quality starting middle duo for the Dogs this year. Both men are bruising runners of the ball and can play big minutes, but seemed a yard off the pace last season. This time around they have firebrand newcomer Jack Hetherington putting plenty of pressure on them to find – or maintain – form throughout the year.
This isn’t a bad pack. In fact, it can be a borderline good one if Barrett can help hooker Jeremy Marshall-King go to that next level in 2021.
The young playmaker has been moulded into a dummy-half in recent years and started to find his feet at the end of last season. If his decision making and ball-playing can improve even marginally this year, the pack around him should improve tenfold.
Left Scrum-Line – My left-field thought for the season
Adam Elliott’s name has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons over summer, and we’re hoping it doesn’t affect his on-field performances for the Bulldogs in 2021.
Elliot is built to play lock in the modern game. He’s an enforcer in defence, runs a strong backrower’s line and is, somewhat surprisingly, a capable ballplayer who looks set to bring some creativity and variation to the way the Bulldogs’ pack works upfield this season.
There is simply no comparison when it comes to the attacking output of Elliott and the incumbent lock-forward, skipper Josh Jackson.
Last season Jackson played all 20 games for the Bulldogs for an average 84 running metres per game, while throwing just 82 general-play passes and engaging the line 29 times throughout the season.
Elliott posted 73 passes and 26 line engagements – in just eight games.
He also averaged 88 running metres and produced 14 tackle-busts and 13 offloads in that time, and was easily the Bulldogs’ best attacking forward, statistically per Fox Sports Lab. He can skittle defenders with a charging run but can also act as a link man between the ruck area and his outside men. He isn’t going to ball-play like Victor Radley or Connor Watson, but Elliott could do worse than try to emulate the playing style of Tohu Harris at lock for the Warriors.
If Elliott can take the ball into the line with intent while still looking for that last-second tip on to a supporting runner, it will add a sorely needed element to the Bulldogs’ forward pack in 2021 and should help improve on their 12th placed run metres last season.
Peak, Pass, Pit
Oscar and Jason give their predicted peak for the Bulldogs in 2021 along with a pass mark and worst-case scenario.
Peak
9th-10th: As much as I’m starting to warm on the Bulldogs this season, it seems highly unlikely they play finals football for another few years. Still, this is a squad on the up and if Barrett can get the right combinations in the right positions early, the Dogs could end the season a lot closer to eighth spot than many would have thought possible. ~OP
10th: A new coach adds an average of fewer than two wins to a side in their first NRL season. Obviously, every situation is different and the Bulldogs have added some nice piece to the 2021 squad. Still, it will take Barrett time to mould the team he wants, and from there, cohesion and consistency still need to build. It’s not finals, but a jump from 15th to 10th would be mightily impressive. ~JO
Pass
12th-13th: A new coach and undoubtedly an eye on the future, a 12th-13th placed finish would be a solid pass mark for the Bulldogs in 2021. They have recruited well, but their best players don’t arrive until next year and keeping the squad on a gradual incline will be the focus for Barrett in his first year at the club. ~OP
12th-13th: Anticipating an improvment in their attack, the Bulldogs should sneak in a few extra wins this season. They’ve so often found themselves in games recently but didn’t have the try-scoring play to take the chocolates. A rise up the ladder puts them in a good position to make a run at the Top 8 in 2022. ~JO
Pit
15th: Even with all their improvements and signings over the past 12 months, this Bulldogs side still has a long way to go and is a risk of finishing near the bottom of the NRL ladder again in 2020. I don’t see them getting the spoon, though. Their pack is competitive and their depth is far better than that of the teams expected to finish near them on the ladder. ~OP
Wooden Spoon: Unfortunately, the possibility of a wooden spoon is still in play. The additions over the summer are solid, but the Bulldogs still lack depth. Out wide, in particular. While the pack has potential, we’ve still not seen it dominate consistently. The Dogs face a tough start to the season and early losses could soon pile up. ~JO
*All stats and video from NRL.com unless stated otherwise