From the Sydney Morning Herald, check out the bit in bold part way down,
'It all happened in four days' - Instant attraction for Allan at Bulldogs
Corey Allan needed just one meeting with Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett to convince him to quit South Sydney and try his luck at nailing down the Canterbury No.1 jersey.
Allan met Barrett last Wednesday, accepted a three-year deal on Thursday, informed his Souths teammates of the news on Friday before eventually locating Belmore on his map to begin life as a Bulldog on Monday.
The 22-year-old, who was cut loose by Wayne Bennett at Brisbane, was given the supercoach's blessing this time to join the Dogs due to the depth in the outside backs at Redfern.
Allan knew he would have struggled to bump Latrell Mitchell from the Souths' No.1 jersey, and will give it his all to nail down the Canterbury custodian role, a position Will Hopoate has had to keep returning to in recent years.
Allan's departure will pave the way for Penrith flyer Josh Mansour to sign a two-year deal at Souths by the end of the week. There was a report on Monday that Souths were keen to swoop on Wests Tigers favourite David Nofoaluma, but the preference is former Souths junior Mansour.
After completing his first session at Canterbury on a balmy summer's day, Allan told the Herald he was immediately won over by Barrett.
"It all happened in the space of about four days,'' Allan said. "I got a call from my manager Sam [Ayoub] on the Tuesday, I met 'Baz' on the Wednesday, and I told the Souths boys on the Friday.
"Baz said he really wanted to have me, he knew he could improve my game and how it was a good opportunity for me. I felt he was being really genuine. He's quite involved, he's young, excited and I'm intrigued to see what happens.
"Obviously I want to play fullback, that's my goal. I won't be too picky about where I play, but I am most comfortable [at fullback].
"Wayne wants the best for his players, he's always been good to me. He told me the truth, he said Latrell is here, I deserve to be playing first grade, and if I can find somewhere else he'll happily release me because he wants the best for me.''
Allan, who made his Maroons debut late last year, still struggles getting around Sydney and almost got lost heading to the south-western suburbs.
He made a point of not thinking about where he was going to fit into Bennett's back-line plans. Mitchell, Campbell Graham, Alex Johnston, Dane Gagai, Braidon Burns, Steven Marsters and even Tautau Moga are all on the payroll.
Allan was understood to be on about $350,000 this year, and received an upgrade at the Dogs.
Josh Mansour has played all of his 158 NRL games for Penrith but has been told his services are unwanted for the coming season.
Barrett's strike rate at nailing down players has continued. Allan joins Kyle Flanagan, Nick Cotric and Jack Hetherington, along with Josh Addo-Carr who arrives in 2022.
Souths praised Allan, who did a solid job at fullback once Mitchell broke down with a hamstring tear in the run home to the finals.
"Corey has done a great job for our club over the past two seasons and he goes to his new club knowing he has the respect of everyone at Souths," club football manager Mark Ellison said.
"His preferred position - and his best position - is fullback and the opportunity to play in that position on a regular basis is not there with us.
"He feels he will have a better opportunity to play fullback at his new club, on an extended and improved deal than that which he had with us. We felt it would be unfair to stand in the way of Corey progressing his career somewhere else, he will always be a Rabbitoh, and we wish him and his partner Teigan all the best for the future.''
get the whip out son! Is 2190 your postcode by any chance?
