NRL: Bulldogs bite back

A jubilant Bulldogs team have left last season's problems far behind them. Photo / Getty Images

The NRL is full of surprises in the salary cap era but one of the biggest is that the Bulldogs are such comfortable residents of the top reaches of the ladder so far in 2009.

Remember, this is a club that has lurched from one crisis to the next throughout most of the past decade, interspersed with a title in 2004, and which finished last with a paltry five wins in 2008.

They were always known as The Family Club for the culture they implemented under the legendary Peter "Bullfrog" Moore. Family values were hardly to the fore with the salary cap scandal (2002), Coffs Harbour (2004), fan violence (2006) and the messy departures of Sonny Bill Williams, Willie Mason and Reni Maitua (2008).

Many took great delight in their downfall and a number of sponsors baulked at being associated with the club. But they are starting to win back admirers for what they have achieved on and off the field this season. It has coincided with the arrival of Bullfrog's son, Kevin Moore, as coach as well as a massive overhaul of the backroom staff and playing ranks.

In a year when the NRL is despairing over the number of alcohol-fuelled incidents besetting the game, it is interesting to note the Bulldogs have not been involved in one of them. This was once their domain but has been taken up with gusto by the Roosters and Sharks in 2009.

It might just be coincidence, but those two clubs picked up most of the Bulldogs' outcasts. Mason, Mark O'Meley, Nate Myles and Braith Anasta all went to bitter rivals the Roosters in the past four years. Maitua moved to Cronulla before his contract was torn up following a positive drugs test, as did the controversial Corey Hughes.

The money this freed up on their wage bill allowed the Bulldogs to hit the market aggressively and they returned from their shopping trip with Brett Kimmorley, David Stagg, Ben Hannant, Michael Ennis, Greg Eastwood, Josh Morris, Bryson Goodwin, Yileen Gordon and Michael Hodgson.

"They had an enormous amount of money freed up and they have used that very, very well," says former Bulldog-turned-commentator Graeme Hughes. He still supports the club despite the fact his family resigned their club membership when his brother Garry was made the scapegoat for Coffs Harbour and despite the fact he is suing them for defamation for allegedly malicious emails circulated about him.

"They raided the Brisbane Broncos, where the great guru Wayne Bennett was leaving, and came back with four forwards from one pack. They are all good players but they got more for their buck because they had all played footy with each other. They had a ready-made forward pack.

"At the start of the year, I had them in my top eight, but I didn't think they would be where they are now. Now I see them as genuine title contenders." Few did.

The Bulldogs will easily make the playoffs but the staggering thing is they would actually be four points clear at the top if it wasn't for two points stripped for briefly fielding 14 players against the Panthers and a dodgy video referee decision that cost them a win over the Dragons.

Doubts exist, though, about whether they will still be contenders come finals time, especially as Manly and Melbourne, in particular, should find form towards the end of the season.

The Doggies are heading into a crucial stage in their season, with injuries to Hannant (knee, 4-6 weeks) and promising centre Jamal Idris (elbow, 8 weeks) testing their depth.

They have also been largely untouched by State of Origin but talk out of Sydney suggests both Kimmorley and Ennis will get a call-up for game three.

"You need a lot of luck in a long season and the Bulldogs have hardly had a scratch," Hughes says. "Now they have Hannant and Idris out it will be a test for them."

Moore's role should not be underestimated and the freshness of the playing squad and coach is a significant factor in their revival.

Moore is a Bulldog. He grew up immersed in the club because of his father and went on to play 37 first-grade games for the Bulldogs between 1989 and 1994 before joining the coaching team in 1999. He has been assistant coach since 2001 and was the natural choice to replace Steve Folkes.

"Kev has been wonderful and straightforward," winger Hazem El Masri, who last week announced his retirement after 14 years with the club, told the Daily Telegraph recently. "I can really see the effect he's had on the team."

His true worth will be measured in years to come but you can't argue with what he has achieved so far.