Experienced administrator Andrew Hill has been charged with leading Canterbury out of their salary cap mess after being appointed chief executive of the NRL club.
Hill will take over in December from out-going chief Raelene Castle and has a big job in front of him with the club under pressure to offload players and coming off a forgettable 2017 season.
He comes to Belmore after serving as the CEO of the Rugby League World Cup, which will be staged in Australia and New Zealand this year.
Having worked at Parramatta, AFL expansion franchise Greater Western Sydney and the NRL, Hill has a strong background in sports administration.
“I’m extremely honoured to have been offered the role with the Bulldogs,” Hill said after beating out 2600 applicants for the role.
“They are a club with tremendous history and pride and I look forward to being able to work with not only a great organisation, but as passionate a supporter base as you would find anywhere in sport.
“The club has always been renowned for its toughness and resilience and it is those qualities that we will all look to build upon.”
Castle resigned from the post in May amid rumours of tension between her and chairman Ray Dib.
The Bulldogs board and coach Des Hasler are under pressure to turn around the club’s fortunes after seven wins in the first 22 rounds to sit in 13th.
While the NRL salary cap is yet to be determined, the Bulldogs are one of several clubs who are believed to have overspent for 2018 and will need to offload players.
Skipper James Graham, Brett and Josh Morris, Moses Mbye and Greg Eastwood have reportedly been shopped around to rival clubs in order to get under the cap with the impending arrival of Kieran Foran and Aaron Woods.
“Andrew was appointed from a very strong list of candidates and has exceptional experience in the game of rugby league,” Dib said.
“We thought it was important that we got a person who had a strong background in the game and understood the culture and ethos of our club.
“Andrew grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney and has a strong affinity with the history of our club.”
TigerMike
Guest
And If you off load Woods We don't want him back so send him elsewhere OK good luck get
TigerMike
Guest
Who are the other 2599 ?
Alex L
Roar Rookie
To be fair, the 130% club grants offering is fine -- the problem was Grant saying it would be 13 million under the incoming TV deal without making damn sure to do the maths first.
JOHNY BULLDOG
Roar Rookie
Your not wrong Baz,whoever was involved in Eastwood getting $800k next year needs to be shot!
Big Daddy
Guest
Obviously not. Plus propping up Newcastle and gold coast No wonder we don't know what salary cap will be. I feel sorry for all of the clubs spending on new players without knowing what cap will be.
Big Daddy
Guest
Just noticed on NSWRL site the public can go to the brad fittler award night to enjoy the succes of NSW and other comps. Great stuff if you want to fork out $300.00 per ticket. What a disgrace.
The Barry
Roar Guru
The NRL lent clubs 30M at the start of the year. Not sure if that has been paid back.
Big Daddy
Guest
But where did the $30 million go ??? Grant is probably getting out at the right time.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I think it clearly shows that the NRL doesn't have millions of dollars lying around to fund feel good but fanciful promotion and relegation projects. I see the Bulldogs, Broncos, Roosters and Cowboys have offered to combine and lend the NRL the 30M - in exchange for seats on the ARLC. Talk about letting the foxes into the hen house!
rossco
Guest
You missed the two 'classiest' CEOs: Blake Solly at Souths (who headed up the English Super League) and Dave Donaghy of Melbourne. They are the youngest (both in their 30s). As Tina Turner sang "They are better than all the rest".
Big Daddy
Guest
Just saw an article on NRL being knocked back on a $30 million loan to balance books. What's your take on that. They were actually supposed to ask for $50 million.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
TBH I think he's been covering J Grant's backside ,because of some of his bloopers.eg the Club grants offering of 130% If Greenberg can get assurances from the NSW Premier,that ANZ will be reconfigured to a rectangular stadium, and not remain as is,because a GWS Chairman wants it.Then he has earned some respect. He's been involved in the Knights and Titans sale negotiations also I understand, clearing up further mess. I'm waiting to see how he performs from 2018 when the Tv money rolls in, and grassroots supposedly gets looked after.Grant is gone also, which IMO is a plus. Don't get me wrong he has been a B grade performer to date, but gee some of the earlier ones were C-
The Barry
Roar Guru
Good luck Andrew - first order of business is to sort out this back ended contract BS...
Big Daddy
Guest
Point taken. But he's been on a downward spiral since he left the dogs.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Greenberg did a good job at the Dogs.The guys I'm referring to are club CEOs not NRL CEOs.A completely different ballgame.
Big Daddy
Guest
They said the same thing about Todd Greenberg and now he's running the big shebang.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Hill from what I've heard is thorough, gets things done,asnd knows sport marketing and development(hence his RLWC role).. Looks like we have class CEOs now at Parramatta,Penrith,Cronulla,Bulldogs,think the Tigers CEO is doing OK.
kk
Roar Pro
There were 2600 applicants for the Canterbury job , so you could expect a similar number applying for the Newcastle job, given that their house is in order. Don't be surprised if it goes to a local.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Past evidence indicates that Hill is a very capable administrator, hopefully this results in a good era for the club.
Big Daddy
Guest
Maybe raelene castle will go to Newcastle. They will be putting a new management structure in place.