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.
3. Ben Barba
While Ben Barba has largely wasted his talents thanks to a spate of off-field issues in recent years, we must not forget that when the Bulldogs released him to join the Broncos in 2014, it was only a year after he dominated the NRL and was named Dally M Player of the Year.
While his short-lived stay at the Broncos was average at best, he went onto spearhead the Cronulla Sharks charge to the 2016 premiership, as well as claiming the English Super League Man of Steel Award while at St Helens in 2018 prior to returning to the NRL with the Cowboys.
