Dean Pay has resigned as coach of Canterbury with the struggling Bulldogs stranded at the bottom of the NRL ladder.
Pay departs halfway through the final year of his contract with the Bulldogs rock bottom after nine rounds of the COVID-19 hampered NRL season.
Handed arguably the weakest roster in the NRL when he replaced Des Hasler after the 2017 campaign, Pay has led Canterbury to just 19 wins in 57 matches.
It is understood the former Bulldogs captain informed the playing group of his decision at their Belmore Sports Ground headquarters on Tuesday morning.
“I’d like to thank the Bulldogs for the opportunity to be the head coach at a club that has always meant so much to me,” Pay said in a statement.
Assistant coach Steve Georgallis will take the reins as caretaker with Trent Barrett widely considered the frontrunner to succeed Pay long-term.
NSW State of Origin coach Brad Fittler, his Queensland counterpart Kevin Walters and former Penrith coach Anthony Griffin have also been mentioned as options.
Pay’s tenure will be remembered as among the leanest in club history, with the club finishing 12th over the past two seasons.
However, his supporters will point to the lack of talent at his disposal, with salary cap issues forcing the exit of a number of star players in his first year.
Aaron Woods and Moses Mbye left the club mid-season in 2018, with David Klemmer, Josh Morris and Brett Morris departing at season’s end.
The mass exodus prompted the NRL to ban heavily back-ended contracts.
Kieran Foran, Dylan Napa and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak have been Canterbury’s only major signings of note during Pay’s reign.
However, Foran’s time at Belmore has been marred by injury.
Pay’s exit comes as the Bulldogs begin to emerge from their cap issues, with England international Luke Thompson only making his NRL debut last week.
Canterbury chief executive Andrew Hill said it was particularly tough to see Pay depart given his extensive links to the club.
The 51-year-old Pay spent seven of his 11 playing years in the blue-and-white, including their premiership triumph in 1995, prior to joining Parramatta.
“These decisions are always tough, particularly when they involve someone who has been part of the Bulldogs family for a long time,” Hill said.
“The fact is though that the club and Dean have decided that we needed to move in a different direction to take the team forward and Dean was in agreement that now was the right time for both parties to part ways.”
DEAN PAY’S NRL COACHING CAREER AT CANTERBURY (2018-2020)
57 games – 19 wins, 38 losses
2018: Finished 12th (13th in attack, 9th in defence)
2019: Finished 12th (last in attack, 9th in defence)
2020: Last after nine rounds (last in attack, 11th in defence)
Parasite
Roar Rookie
Hang in there doggies supporters it'll turn around believe me, I follow the eels lol. Feel for Pay at this time, who knows how good a coach he could be if he had the talent.
Mr Right
Roar Rookie
The King & Queen of the Castle. Raelene & Des are long going to be remembered as setting up the Bulldogs club & fans for longtime term pain. The bulldogs board should have got him in earlier instead of extending Hasler's contract for another 2 years whilst we were losing games.
Chris Love
Roar Guru
I don’t think the 2013 Parra side was that pedestrian. Stuart just sucked.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
BD there is a bloke at the Roosters keeping a Low profile who has discovered that knowledge of the game and being a great player does not make you a good coach. That bloke is Jason Taylor. The Roosters love him and he does a great job as one of the senior assistant coaches. Jason will tell that there is a huge skill set in successful man management and it don't come easy to everyone.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
A few coaches ended up at some teams who had very pedestrian rosters who had done well elsewhere and they did about as well as Pay in many cases. Sheens at the Cows .......26% Brown at the Knights...... 26% Stuart at the Eels............21% Pay ended up at 33% and Peter Sharp had similar problems at Manly and ran at 29%
mushi
Roar Guru
Barrett's in the running to replace him, can't be that sticky
mushi
Roar Guru
So they helped shove out coach A with a control noose. Coach A originally was hired to replacedcoach B after B drove the side into a wall (or cap...). Coach B goes to another club to replace coach C after issues of control / results. Coach B delivers considerable improvement over the results of C. And the dogs view C as the logical replacement of A. Even though they viewed A > B and B seemed way better than C?
Richie
Roar Rookie
That was the reference “ghost” as in past life and after death.
Paul
Roar Guru
Two down, who's next?
Andrew
Roar Pro
I don’t think the preseason drama helped his cause either losing both Jayden Okunbor & Corey Harawira-Narea was a killer. Not just the loss of two good players but it’s never a good look for the coach.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Don’t like how this has been handled Pay got the job being told you can’t sign anyone for three years and we’re going to get rid of your best players from under you Absolute poisoned chalice and no chance of success Having said that he knew going in and the team just hasn’t improved It’s similar to Nathan Brown’s situation at the Knights but worse. At least Brown had the opportunity to start slowly rebuilding his squad and got a couple of seasons with his new side. Pay hasn’t even got to that point yet.
Big Daddy
Guest
Noosa, I think his ego is bigger than his ability. Penrith have given him 2 chances and he still thinks he is 1 st grade coach. Some guys are just not cut out for it . I suppose both Canterbury and himself will learn the hard way.
Nat
Roar Rookie
I think they should be looking at Hook. He has a proven record developing young teams and he was a major influence is setinng up the Panthers pathway systems. With $3m to play with, he could encourage a lot of talent. I don't think Pay was a poor coach but he was always swinging with one hand behind his back.
Nat
Roar Rookie
You would think that but Barrett is in line for another gig after the Manly debacle, Des gets another shot after leaving the Dogs in this situation and Flannagan will get picked up again after systematically rorting the system 1000 ways over.
Don
Roar Rookie
He coached under Bellamy and I’m sure he’ll be considered closely for Assistant Coach gigs. There’s a bunch of current assistant coaches right now who didn’t set the world on fire in their only shot as head coaches but unfortunately look to be permanently cast in the role of assistant. Cartwright, Furner, Mick Potter etc.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
I truly feel for Dean Pay; From what I can discover, the club has not improved in anyway internally in anyway since Lyn Anderson took over and the in-fighting continues. She has failed to come out in support of Pay and it also appears that Dean did not have support in regard to the recruitment of players and been overruled by the board on 2 occasions and he was also upset at the failure of the club to support the 2 players who got into that strife and just cut them adrift and since they have now been re-instated, it appears that there is a serious rift in regard to them returning to the club. For a club that cannot attract players Pay could have obtained the services of Josh Reynolds on a bargain basement contract and got knocked back by the board. As for Trent Barrett well, NRL legend Laurie Daley has urged Trent Barrett to consider rejecting the Bulldogs coaching job, after a stunning condemnation of the club's infighting.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
The problems clearly continued beyond Raelene. 2021 would be the team that ALL contracts from Raelene's tenure have expired. The fact they still have problems in 2020 is because there were problems in 2018 still.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I think you can't even just look at defensive stats in isolation. A potent attack and kicking game ensures good field position and platform for your defence. But also how do you motivate your guys to put in when they know they're on a hiding to nothing?
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Their defensive numbers were flattering. When the one team can only score 10 points and don't look like scoring more, the opposition is going to get an 8 point lead and sit on it.
Don
Roar Rookie
It’s not just who they couldn’t buy but also who they offloaded and part subsidised to play elsewhere isn’t it? Pay didn’t even get to consistently coach the talent he inherited. And the big recruit Kieran Foran was signed by Des but arrived after Des left. Then was playing busted for 2 years. Trent Barrett joins them in a period they are now set up to actively recruit again.