FIVE November 1 targets: Canterbury Bulldogs.

The Canterbury Bulldogs have undergone one of the all-time roster overhauls in the last two seasons, and it finally paid dividends this year as they returned to the finals for the first time in eight years.

From the additions of Stephen Crichton and Josh Curran – who were both among the blue and white’s best players in 2024 – to the removal of far too many players to name, Director of Football Phil Gould and head coach Cameron Ciraldo have been on a war path at Belmore.

The good news for Canterbury is that many of their key figures are already locked up for 2026 as the club now look to solidify their finals run and add more over the coming years.

We will run the rule over all 17 clubs on Zero Tackle in the lead up to November 1 to determine who their top targets are. Today, the Bulldogs.

Despite the enormous roster overhaul the Bulldogs have undergone in recent years, they still have plenty of wiggle room for 2026 and beyond.

 

Only 15 players are currently signed, with key positions not yet locked into place.

 

That could well be that the club are waiting to see how 2025 starts, although it would also be no surprise to see a number of off-contract players locked into new deals before the start of the new season, with the likes of Kurt Mann, Jaeman Salmon, Toby Sexton, Blake Wilson and Bronson Xerri likely at the top of the list.

Even if all five of those players were re-signed though, they still could create plenty of waves in the transfer market, and with Josh Addo-Carr unlikely to be retained, will have the cash to make at least one of two big plays.

 

Where they elect to go with those plays remains to be seen, but it’s a fair guess to say fullback and the middle third of the field will be at the top of the priority list.

Option 1: Cameron McInnes (Cronulla Sharks)

McInnes is the type of player who would simply fit right into a system run by Phil Gould.

He values defence, and there are few more tenacious defenders anywhere in the competition than McInnes.

 

Cronulla will be keen on retaining McInnes, who has developed a reputation as one of the game’s hardest-workers, but it wouldn’t surprise if there is plenty of interest in his services from elsewhere given a shortage of middle third forwards off-contract.

 

Canterbury, as it stand, would be looking at using Sitili Tupouniua at lock, but even re-signing the likes of Kurtis Morrin or Kurt Mann don’t justify not making a play for McInnes.