Paul Crawley, News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom
November 9, 2020 9:40am
Trent Barrett officially kicked off a new era for the Canterbury Bulldogs on Monday, turning up with a team of new staff to begin the rebuild of one of rugby league’s most famous brands.
And Barrett’s former club the Penrith Panthers better get ready for what comes next.
The Bulldogs have made no secret of the fact they are head hunting the signatures of several of the Panthers’ young guns who Barrett worked closely with this year, led by outstanding prospects Matt Burton and Stephen Crichton.
The Bulldogs have already tabled a two-year offer to Burton believed to be worth $800,000 starting from season 2022, but you can expect the chase will move to the next level now Barrett is officially on board.
While Burton has a year to run on his current deal with the Panthers, there is every chance he could be training with the Dogs by this December if negotiations go to plan.
They are also watching Crichton’s movements with interest as he goes through a change of management.
The Panthers have a stack of other players coming off contract at the end of next year including the likes of Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo, James Fisher-Harris, Spencer Leniu and Tyrone May.
Take it as fact that the Bulldogs certainly won’t restrict their interest to just Burton and Crichton, although plenty of other clubs will be just as keen to join what is sure to be a feeding frenzy.
It is going to be a huge test to see how Ivan Cleary handles these negotiations after such a successful season.
Of course, Cleary’s reputation copped a whack for the salary cap management employed during his stay at Wests Tigers, where they had to pay massive overs to get outside players to sign.
But this time the challenge is to keep a red-hot squad together after making the grand final.
Given you would imagine most of their off-contract players will be chasing significant upgrades, it’s no wonder the Panthers are said to be desperate to find a new home for Josh Mansour and also Dean Whare, who are reportedly taking up close to $1 million in salary cap space.
Meanwhile, Barrett will bring with him a complete new team of staff that includes assistants David Furner, Craig Sandercock and David Tangata-Toa.
The Bulldogs also have a new strength and conditioning head in Dan Ferris, while Luke Portese also comes across from Penrith, and the new club doctor is Luke Inman who has previously worked with the Melbourne Storm.
Barrett and his staff have a week to get their systems up to speed before the earliest of the players arrive back to start pre-season training next week.
November 9, 2020 9:40am
Trent Barrett officially kicked off a new era for the Canterbury Bulldogs on Monday, turning up with a team of new staff to begin the rebuild of one of rugby league’s most famous brands.
And Barrett’s former club the Penrith Panthers better get ready for what comes next.
The Bulldogs have made no secret of the fact they are head hunting the signatures of several of the Panthers’ young guns who Barrett worked closely with this year, led by outstanding prospects Matt Burton and Stephen Crichton.
The Bulldogs have already tabled a two-year offer to Burton believed to be worth $800,000 starting from season 2022, but you can expect the chase will move to the next level now Barrett is officially on board.
While Burton has a year to run on his current deal with the Panthers, there is every chance he could be training with the Dogs by this December if negotiations go to plan.
They are also watching Crichton’s movements with interest as he goes through a change of management.
The Panthers have a stack of other players coming off contract at the end of next year including the likes of Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo, James Fisher-Harris, Spencer Leniu and Tyrone May.
Take it as fact that the Bulldogs certainly won’t restrict their interest to just Burton and Crichton, although plenty of other clubs will be just as keen to join what is sure to be a feeding frenzy.
It is going to be a huge test to see how Ivan Cleary handles these negotiations after such a successful season.
Of course, Cleary’s reputation copped a whack for the salary cap management employed during his stay at Wests Tigers, where they had to pay massive overs to get outside players to sign.
But this time the challenge is to keep a red-hot squad together after making the grand final.
Given you would imagine most of their off-contract players will be chasing significant upgrades, it’s no wonder the Panthers are said to be desperate to find a new home for Josh Mansour and also Dean Whare, who are reportedly taking up close to $1 million in salary cap space.
Meanwhile, Barrett will bring with him a complete new team of staff that includes assistants David Furner, Craig Sandercock and David Tangata-Toa.
The Bulldogs also have a new strength and conditioning head in Dan Ferris, while Luke Portese also comes across from Penrith, and the new club doctor is Luke Inman who has previously worked with the Melbourne Storm.
Barrett and his staff have a week to get their systems up to speed before the earliest of the players arrive back to start pre-season training next week.
