Canterbury coach Dean Pay has welcomed club legend Steve Price moving into a more hands-on role as the pair plot to return the lowly Bulldogs to their NRL glory days.
After standing down from the board, Price will take over as the club’s general manager of football from Monday and says the job will involve working with coaches in all grades and overseeing development pathways, recruitment and high performance.
But far from being nervous about relinquishing control, Pay is looking forward to reuniting with his 2004 premiership-winning captain in a significant off-field partnership.
“Pricey coming on board is exciting for everyone. He was the best man for the job so it’s important that he comes in,” Pay said on Thursday.
“Obviously he’s been a past great player of the club so he’ll contribute a hell of a lot to the place.”
It was barely a month ago that Pay, in only his second season as an NRL head coach, was under huge pressure as the Bulldogs were staring down the barrel of collecting only their third wooden spoon in 55 years.
But with wins over three top-eight hopefuls in their past five games, the Dogs are now four points clear of last-placed Gold Coast and Pay is suddenly talking up his young side’s future top-four prospects.
“Some of our young guys are improving each and every week and that’s what we keep talking about: we need to keep building towards being a top-four team,” Pay said.
“The more games that the young guys play, the better they’re going to get. We’re building nicely.”
The famously understated former NSW State of Origin and Kangaroos hardman refused to drop the F-word when asked about aiming for the finals next year.
But with hopes of winning their last five games this season, finals football is clearly the goal in 2020.
“We’ll talk about next year next year,” Pay said ahead of Canterbury’s hosting of eighth-placed Wests Tigers on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium.
“What we want to do is make sure we finish the year off really well and then rolling into next year we want to take the confidence out of what we did this year.
“Then we’ve got some money to go into the market place and we’re having a look around, so we need to be really smart about who we buy and bring into the place and make sure that they can improve our team.”
Himself contracted until the end of 2020, Pay wants to remain at Belmore for much longer.
“I’d like to stay here for quite a while,” he said.
“We’ve done all the hard work. Last year and this year we’ve rowed through some really tough periods.
“Over the next 18 months, two years, I think that’s where we’re going to see some real progress.”