Following the dire results of Des Haslerโs now notorious back ended deals, the Bulldogs are currently undertaking one of the most substantial rebuilds in the history of the NRL under rookie head coach Dean Pay, and boy could they use the help of some of the names on this list.
Having struggled to forge an identity and playing extremely dire football in the last few months of Haslerโs reign, the Bulldogs have predominantly gone away from the previous policy of attracting big name high earners to the club.
With second-year coach Dean Pay wanting to bring back the old โDogs of Warโ moniker, through recruiting a slew of young cut-price talent such as Nick Meaney, Sauaso Sue, Jack Cogger, Corey Harawira Naera and Christian Crichton and simultaneously letting go a host of proven first graders. Here is the top 10 players the Bulldogs have let go, not re-signed or released in the past decade.
7. Aaron Woods
This will definitely go down as one of the more peculiar pieces of business, not only for the Bulldogs but in the entire history of the NRL.
In mid-2017 after the Tigers withdrew their final contract offer to Aaron Woods, the Bulldogs pounced and signed the Leichhardt junior to a mammoth four-year deal. However, in order to accommodate the NSW and Australian prop on the books, the Bulldogs had to push club stalwart and captain James Graham out the door to the Dragons with a year remaining on his contract.
On paper, this seemed like a good trade for the Bulldogs, switching an ageing front-rower for a then 26-year-old international on a similar financial package seemed like smart business. Well, you and I now both know that it wasnโt. Because a mere 11 months into that four-year contract, Woods was forced out the door in order to free up more space from the Bulldogs' mismanaged salary cap.
Woods was snapped up by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and has since gone onto be a consistent force for the Shire based club in their forward rotation, running for an impressive 140 metres per match in limited minutes for the remainder of 2018.
Having endured another slow start to the season winning only two of their opening nine games, the Bulldogs faithful sure wish they could call upon Woods now.
