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Home / Sport / League / NRL

NRL: Bulldogs players battle to fill Barba's boots

By James MacSmith
AAP·
26 Feb, 2014 04:30 PM3 mins to read

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Ben Barba. Photo / APN

Ben Barba. Photo / APN

How Canterbury cover the loss of Ben Barba - or not - is set to be the narrative running through the club's 2014 NRL season.

The superstar fullback didn't reach the heights of his 2012 season last year, but his move to Brisbane leaves a huge gap at Belmore.

The Bulldogs are a club who excel in regeneration and Des Hasler is a coach who has proved he can get the best out of his players, with Barba a case in point.

However, with Josh Hoffman's mooted move from Brisbane to Canterbury knocked on the head, the No1 jersey appears a problem without an obvious solution for Hasler.

Captain Michael Ennis says there is an eager queue of players lifting their games in the quest to fill the key role at the back.

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"You see that with the really good coaches, they are able to develop players quickly and we have a number of guys there that are options at fullback for us at the moment," Ennis said.

"[Kiwi international] Sam Perrett has played a lot of fullback and he is a very experienced class of player," he said.

"There is young Pat Templeman, Corey Thompson has had a really good summer and Drury Low has taken his game to another level after getting a taste of playing in the Bulldogs side early last year.

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"So there are some real options there for us.

"You see that a lot through our football, that a really good player departs our football side and someone steps in and takes that opportunity."

After a disappointing end to last season as the Bulldogs crashed out of the finals in the first week after their grand final appearance of the season before, Ennis said there had been a real resolve among the Bulldogs over the off-season.

A Bulldogs pack boasting the likes of James Graham, Aiden Tolman, Sam Kasiano, Frank Pritchard, Tony Williams, Greg Eastwood and up-and-comers David Klemmer, Dale Finucane and Josh Jackson remains the Bulldogs' strength heading into the new season.

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"We have a great versatility amongst our forward pack, which is a real strength and something you really need in the modern game," Ennis said.

"James Graham and Aiden Tolman are two guys that get through phenomenal amounts of work. Dale Finucane is really following in the footsteps of those guys. Josh Jackson, Tony Williams and Frank Pritchard all have that real ability to break open games when they turn it on.

"Josh Jackson is a terrific young kid. I can't say enough about him. I think he is going to be part of the Bulldogs pack for a long time to come."

- AAP

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