Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould has confirmed Canterbury's entire squad of 24 for tonight's clash with the Brisbane Broncos has tested negative to coronavirus.
The blue and whites were rocked earlier this week after four positive tests were recorded.
Jake Averillo, Ava Seumanufagai, Reece Hoffman and Brent Naden were all ruled out of the clash with the Broncos after teams had originally been named due to a positive COVID test.
The quartet were added to eight already unavailable players in Paul Alamoti, Braidon Burns, Chris Patolo, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Jack Hetherington, Matt Doorey, Brandon Wakeham and Corey Allan, who are all unavailable due to injury.
Jacob Kiraz, Aaron Schoupp, Bailey Biondi-Odo and Billy Tsikrikas were all called up to the 17 as the Bulldogs attempted to keep the game from being postponed.
The 24-man squad flew to Brisbane on Thursday and were tested overnight for coronavirus, with Gould confirming the results have come back negative ahead of the clash with the Broncos.
Gould has also confirmed only one step remains for Canterbury, with all players to needing to pass a RAT at 4pm today - four hours before kick-off - to take their place in the team.
All 24 @NRL_Bulldogs tested negative this morning. Last RAT at 4pm today, but not anticipating any problems. Looking forward to seeing our debut players tonight.
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) April 22, 2022
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo confirmed on Wednesday that the game would go ahead, with four players testing positive to COVID labelled "not a problem".
The New Zealand Warriors and Gold Coast Titans - who are both in Queensland's south east corner - are also believed to have been reached out to in an effort to have players on standby in case of a late positive test coming to one of the players in the camp.
The Bulldogs flew to Brisbane in two groups in a further effort to limit any potential exposure ahead of the clash with Brisbane, which is must-win for both teams.
The Broncos have won just two of their first six games, the last of those coming against the Bulldogs in Round 2, while the Bulldogs have only recorded a single victory coming back in Round 1 against the Cowboys.
Kick-off is slated for 7:55pm (AEST), with teams to be confirmed 60 minutes before kick-off.
