By Will Evans
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs revolution, spearheaded by general manager Phil Gould and NRL coach Cameron Ciraldo, has encompassed a return to a development club strategy – and an overhaul of the club’s pathways program has been a key component.
The Bulldogs have been among the most successful clubs in NSWRL’s age-group competitions in recent years, winning a Harold Matthews Cup title in 2023, finishing SG Ball Cup runners-up in 2024 and taking out Jersey Flegg Cup grand finals in 2023-24.
”It’s always hard the first year or two, but you build the foundations and everything else just falls into place,” long-serving Bulldogs recruitment and pathways officer Fifita Hala tells Big League.
“But the credit goes to [Gould and Ciraldo], and then obviously they brought in a lot of good people underneath them to drive the system and the culture of the club.”
The club resides in a sizeable junior district, but competing for players with Wests Tigers, Parramatta and Penrith on their doorstep out west, along with a handful of inner-city teams to the east, presents signifcant challenges for the Bulldogs.
“It’s a big district, Canterbury-Bankstown … and they’ve got a big junior league base. The demographic of the area is not really converting into NRL players, but it’s a really passionate rugby league area as you can see through the fans,” Hala clarifies.
“The club had gone through a few years where [the NRL team] struggled a bit, which wasn’t really helpful in attracting talent. But that’s changing and we invest a lot in other regions outside the Canterbury district.”
The Bulldogs have set up academies on the NSW North Coast and Tamworth, as well as with St Laurence’s College in Brisbane, the school that produced Cooper Cronk, and Auckland’s St Paul’s College, which counts Mark Graham and Stacey Jones among its alumni.
The club also began a partnership with Canterbury Rugby League in Christchurch in 2023.
“Credit to [CRL], there’s only [four] people in the office there that are doing an amazing job, with [CEO] Malcolm Humm there running the place,” Hala says.
“There’s a lot of initiatives they’ve brought in over the years and the blueprint that they’re setting up, you want to see the rest of the country following it. Our partnership’s continuing to grow.”
While Canterbury-Bankstown’s relationship with its New Zealand namesake is based predominantly around supporting coaching resources – with Hala and Bulldogs pathways staff Adam Hartigan and Craig Wilson regular visitors across the Tasman – several South Island juniors are making their mark in the blue-and-white jersey on the back of the affiliation.
Teammates in the Bulldogs’ 2023 Harold Matthews Cup grand final victory, five-eighth Bronson Reuben – a product of the Northern Bulldogs club in Christchurch – and Hornby Panthers second-row tryscoring machine Sosaia Alatini are now regulars in the Jersey Flegg line-up.
“Bronson, in his position as a half, it comes with maturity – in our system it’s not about rushing them, they all get there at different times, as ‘Gus’ (Gould) would say,” Hala explains.
“It’s just been about patient and putting in development and getting them ready, giving them as much time as possible to hopefully make it. But Bronson’s tracking along steadily, he’s gone out of SG Ball into Flegg, and he’s played a bit at Ron Massey Cup senior footy.
“Sosaia’s on an NRL development contract, he’s had a few challenges along the way but he’s so talented.
“He’s had a few injuries but I think every time he’s played a game, he’s either scored a try, gone close to scoring or assisted in a try with his ability and his leg speed.
“But it’s about developing them, taking our time with them and just preparing them for the next step playing against men.”
