Resume the rebuild: Gus pleads for patience amidst Canterbury's dog days

Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould has no problem with the club's passionate fans venting their frustration but he has urged them to be patient as the blue and white rebuild continues.

The Bulldogs last played finals in 2016 and have won just 13 of 47 games since Gould arrived midway through 2021, but he is adamant the club has “not gone backwards” in 2023.

“This year was always going to be difficult but we have to stick to our task of rebuilding the club over a period of time,” Gould said.

“It’s going to take time, we know that. We’ve been through this process plenty of times before, we just have to trust that.

“We’ve used more players than any other club [this year], we’ve debuted more players than any other club, and some players have been exposed to top grade before their time.

“Our first-grade team is very vulnerable at the moment, we couldn’t afford the type of injuries we’ve had.

“If we’re at full strength we’re not getting these types of result, unfortunately we haven’t been at full strength all year.”

The types of results the GM of football refers to are the 48-10 loss to the Sharks in Round 16 and the humiliating 66-0 defeat at the hands of Knights last Sunday that had the Dogs faithful hot under the collar.

Among those watching on from the sidelines was star recruit Viliame Kikau, who has played just four games since joining the club from the Panthers, while Josh Addo-Carr, Tevita Pangai, Luke Thompson, Braidon Burns, Jacob Kiraz and Andrew Davey have all missed chunks of the season.

It has forced first-year coach Cameron Ciraldo to use 32 players, the same number as all of 2022, when the Bulldogs struggled into 12th place.

Having blooded seven rookies last season the Bulldogs have handed debuts to seven more in 2023, including Paul Alamoti, Jacob Preston and Khaled Rajab, who were part of the Round 18 rout.

With their team trailing 30-0 at the break, a section of the Bulldogs fans erupted into a chorus of boos as the players trudged towards the sheds.

“To those of us who’ve been in the game for a long time the booing is water off a duck’s back but it’s tough for the young kids and their families who aren’t used to that sort of attention,” Gould said.

“It’s an intimidating experience, it’s quite harrowing, but that’s part of football, it’s part of professional sport.

“It’s part of what we do, fans will have their say and people will feel things out of emotion, that’s part of the gig we’re in. It’s character building and we’re helping them deal with it.

“I have had so many emails since the weekend with people apologising for booing and saying they got carried away but that’s a part of sport – people feel emotion on the day and we want to give them some good emotions into the future.”