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
3. Toby Rudolf
Moving away from those players locking down the halves, the other pressing issue for the Bulldogs is forwards. This may yet be a lessened issue if they manage to secure the signature of Siosiua Taukeiaho, who was seemingly bound for the club after being released weeks ago by the Catalans Dragons, but as yet, no announcement has been made.
As attention turns to 2025 recruitment though, the Bulldogs' lack of depth in the middle third is going to be something the club will likely continue to attempt to address.
While young gun Isaac Matalavea-Booth is coming through the system and will likely push for a debut in 2025, and the club are yet to make contract calls on the likes of Max King and Chris Patolo, they are going to need re-enforcements.
And more than that, they need experience out of a culture that knows how to wing.
And that's where a player like Toby Rudolf comes in. He has the ability to play in big minutes or bursts, defends well and runs hard, while he also has a bit of style that would complement the games of the likes of Burton and Stephen Crichton well.
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…)