Bulldogs coach Dean Pay is again the most under-pressure coach in the NRL with a new report of player dissent at Canterbury.
Fresh from a miserable loss to the under-strength Raiders on Saturday night, the pressure is building on Pay.
The Bulldogs have dropped to the bottom of the NRL ladder with just three wins from 12 games.
The Daily Telegraph on Monday reported Bulldogs players are beginning to question the coach’s performance and his tactics.
“Questions need to be asked about why Pay’s contract was extended earlier this year,” editor-at-large Phil Rothfield wrote on Monday.
“There are rumblings from the players about their preparation and tactics. This story will not go away anytime soon.”
The Bulldogs handed Pay a 12-month contract extension earlier this year, despite the club’s concerning start to the season.
It is the same mistake the club made under its previous board of directors when Des Hasler was granted a long-term contract extension in the same year he was eventually terminated.
Pay on Saturday night pleaded for Bulldogs supporters to keep the faith in the direction the team is heading in.
Pay’s side once again had their hearts broken in their 12-10 defeat to Canberra at ANZ Stadium.
Dean Pay is on the bottom of the ladder.Source:Getty Images
It was a familiar tale for the last-placed Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium — they were woeful in patches but proved they could match it with the rest of the competition in others.
After repeatedly turning over the ball (completing just 15 of 21 sets) and shooting themselves in the foot in the first half, they slumped to a 10-0 deficit at the break.
But they seemingly turned a corner at halftime and by the 65-minute mark they were back on level pegging.
However, the Raiders’ class shone through in the end as John Bateman and Jarrod Croker — who came up with a one-on-one steal on Reimis Smith before booting the winning penalty goal — got their side home.
The Raiders were also without Jack Wighton, Josh Hodgson, Josh Papalii and Nick Cotric.
“They’re devastated, we don’t want to be where we are,” Pay said.
“We’re working as hard as we possibly can to get off the bottom of the ladder.
“With what we’ve got, we’re young and still developing in our footy.
“We need to get some consistency in what we’re doing. We have some really good periods, we need to make sure we have those periods for longer in the game.
Why the Dogs and not the Dragons? IMO we are even worse as we have better players, maybe just maybe our players will turn on him soon.