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
5. Reimis Smith
Halves and forwards are the key, but with the Bulldogs signing more utilities than you could poke a stick at, specialists in key positions will also be critical.
As it stands, Canterbury still have plenty of decisions to make in their outside backs, but need more reinforcements.
A player who started his career in the club at Reimis Smith could be a good option to make his return to Belmore though. Able to play on the wing or in the centres, Smith defends well and knows how to find the tryline.
The Bulldogs are going to have options in their outside backs, but Smith is a better player than most of them on the list for 2025 at the present time.
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…)