The Canterbury Bulldogs have been one of the most active sides in the player transfer market in recent years, and may not be done yet.
2025 will present yet more opportunities for the rebuilding side to continue adding to their roster, and there is little doubt they have some key shortcomings to address within their Top 30.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo should be guaranteed to be there into 2025, which makes recruitment a little easier, although still tough to suggest it's an ideal location given their lack of success.
Still, they have signed enough talent for 2024 to start turning things around, and yet more in 2025 could be the catalyst for a full blown transition to the top.
In this series, Zero Tackle are running the rule over every club and who they should be targetting when a new crop of players become available to negotiate with on November 1 ahead of their contracts expiring at the end of 2024.
Current 2025 squad
Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton, Stephen Crichton, Josh Curran, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Kitione Kautoga, Viliame Kikau, Jacob Kiraz, Reed Mahoney, Isaac Matalavea-Booth, Karl Oloapu, Jacob Preston, Jaeman Salmon, Jordan Samrani, Ryan Sutton, Blake Taaffe, Blake Wilson, Bronson Xerri
Current 2025 best 17
1. Stephen Crichton
2. Josh Addo-Carr
3. Jacob Kiraz
4. Bronson Xerri
5. Blake Wilson
6. Karl Oloapu
7. Matt Burton
8. Isaac Matalavea-Booth
9. Reed Mahoney
10. Ryan Sutton
11. Viliame Kikau
12. Jacob Preston
13. Josh Curran
14. Jaeman Salmon
15. Raymond Faitala-Mariner
16. Kitione Katuoga
17. Blake Taaffe
Players off-contract at end of 2024
Reece Hoffman, Samuel Hughes, Max King, Liam Knight, Joseph O'Neill, Chris Patolo, Hayze Perham, Ethan Quai-Ward, Khaled Rajab, Toby Sexton, Jeral Skelton, Jackson Topine
EVERY PLAYER OFF-CONTRACT AT THE END OF 2024
Other clubs
ยป Brisbane Broncos
ยป Canberra Raiders
2. Jamal Fogarty
If the Bulldogs instead elect to look at signing a halfback - or a player in both half spots - then the best on the market with experience is likely to be Jamal Fogarty.
They could instead elect to go with a player like Niwhai Puru who is currently in the Cronulla Sharks system, but for a team without a track record of winning and looking to rebuild, a more tried and tested option is the way to go.
From his time at the Gold Coast Titans, to now at the Canberra Raiders, Fogarty has been a solid option whenever he has walked onto the park, and is the type of player who can be relied on to get the job done.
He has dragged both Raiders and Titans' sides higher on the ladder than they have any right to be, but is regularly overlooked when conversations are had about top performing halfbacks.
Some interesting players there. I wonder how many of them will come up for other clubs as well. (Tohu Harris is interesting – I’d assumed he was contracted to the Warriors for life, but as you say, if he wants to go round again and the Warriors are short of cap space…)