The 2016 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season is the 82nd in the club's history. Coached by

Des Hasler Desmond John Hasler (born 16 February 1961) is an Australian professional rugby league coach, and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as and . He initially played for the Penrith Panthers, and then spent most of his playi ...

and captained by James Graham, they will compete in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

's 2016 Telstra Premiership after finishing the 2015 season as semi-finalists.

Fixtures

Regular season

The

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...

in round one. The Bulldogs were the outsiders with the bookmakers, with most rugby league experts citing the size of the forward pack as an issue with the 2016 season rule change, which dropped the interchanges allowed from 10 to 8. However, the Bulldogs surprised the rugby league community by unveiling a significantly leaner pack, with players having shed a lot of weight during the off season.

Sam Kasiano Sam Kasiano (born 21 September 1990) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Warrington Wolves in Super League. He is both a New Zealand and Samoan international. Kasiano previously played for the Canterbury-Bankstow ...

was an example of this, having lost 13 kg before the season kicked off. Any concerns about the interchange rule affecting the team were put to rest with the side coming away with a convincing 28-6 first round victory, and a week later a last minute win against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

proving the big men would not falter late in matches as a result of more minutes played. As though the team was further driving the point home, they completed the second round match using only 16 of the 17 named players. The month that followed was not as impressive, with the club going loss, win, loss, win, for a 4-3 record after 7 rounds.

Fixtures

Regular season

Ladder

References

See also