Canterbury Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould has confirmed the club have five spots remaining for the 2023 season in their top 30 roster, with between $700,000 and $800,000 left to spend.
It comes with the club facing increasing scrutiny over their salary cap.
A long raid on talent leading into 2022 has brought few positives in the way of on-field results for the blue and white for the 2022 season, while the club are also set to add Viliame Kikau, Reed Mahoney and Ryan Sutton to their books for the 2023 campaign.
The limited spots, and limited money left, means a number of players are likely to exit the Bulldogs at the end of the season.
As it currently stands, we have five top 30 spots to fill for season 2023, with approx $700-$800k to spend. https://t.co/RrD5cgwNN9
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) July 5, 2022
The light shed on the situation by Gould leaves the club facing a tricky decision on a number of players.
While Jack Hetherington (Newcastle Knights), Jeremy Marshall-King (Dolphins), Brent Naden (Wests Tigers) and Paul Vaughan (Warrington Wolves) have already been confirmed to depart at the end of the season, there is still a list of nine players off-contract at Belmore at the end of the season.
Those players are Matt Dorey, Matt Dufty, Raymond Faitala-Mariner, Zac Hetherington, Reece Hoffman, Tuipulotu Katoa, Joe Stimson, Jackson Topine and Brandon Wakeham.
It means at least four of that list will depart, with Dufty's departure to Warrington the only rumoured exit of the group thus far.
Doorey is touted as a player with a big future at the club, while Gould himself recently confirmed the club will re-sign Raymond Faitala-Mariner, but were waiting to value him after his return from a long-term injury lay off.
The rest of the group's futures remain unclear, however, Joe Stimson has failed to live up to his reputation since arriving from Melbourne, while Brandon Wakeham is another who could face the chopping block.
His form in the NSW Cup has been strong however, alongside that of Jackson Topine, who has been pushing for first-grade minutes in recent weeks.
Gould's Tweet was met with a cheeky response by former half Todd Carney.
The 36-year-old, who played 166 NRL games across a controversial career for the Canberra Raiders, Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks, to go with 33 games for the Catalan Dragons, 17 games for the Salford Red Devils and 6 games for Hull KR in the English Super League, offered his services to Gould.
Do you need a 36 year old half mate
— Todd Carney (@tcarney06) July 5, 2022
Carney is still playing in the Northern Rivers Rugby League competition, where he serves as captain-coach of the Byron Bay Red Devils.
The competition, which has only seen seven rounds completed thus far thanks to weather, has seen Carney line up in a handful of games in the halves with the club currently sitting seventh on the competition table.
