What have I done?': Bulldogs recruit Reed Mahoney reveals startling mid-season regret
By Damien McCartney - 1 day ago
New Bulldogs recruit Reed Mahoney has admitted he was having doubts about his off-season move as the Eels marched towards the NRL grand final.
Mahoney rejected a three-year extension with the Eels to pen a four-year, $650,000-a-season contract with the Bulldogs in late-2021.
He will co-captain the side in 2023, alongside star half Matt Burton.
Mahoney said his parents were in tears when he called them with the news he would be leading the side.
"I didn't really know what to say; Mum and dad were in tears and super proud of me."
Burton in early January signed a massive five-year extension to stay at Belmore. He told Nine he was never looking to go elsewhere, despite his player agent David Riolo fielding interest from the
"As soon as they wanted to lock me down, I didn't even bother looking," he said.
"I told my manager, 'this is where I want to be, this is home for me'."
The Bulldogs play the Raiders in the first of two trial matches in Moruya on February 12, and then the Sharks at Belmore the following weekend.
They take on the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval in round one.
Replies
Not sure you know Wizz but his local where his parents live, turn the pub all blue & gold. It's amazing the extent of the decorations & some wearing blue & gold. Interesting to see what happens from here.
I knew from reading on here that his oldies are devoted Eels fans. Makes you wonder what exactly has happened behind the scenes with this move, hey. You wouldn't think an extra 50k per year would be enough to entice a player who was brought up bleeding blue and gold to go back to a wooden spoon contender who rejected him in the first place.
Even 100k per year would be a tough sell to get you from a top 4 team to a bottom 4 team given the history with Canterbury punting him and family emotional ties to us.
Theres defs more behind the scenes with this one.
I can see where you are coming from Wiz and don't disagree (not that I mind losing Reed).
Couple of things ....Reed is a hog, always has been, single handedly lost us a u /21 Grand Final. His obvious overcalling of Moses is another issue.
Finally and we won't know this, is the chanel opening for Matt Arthur....personally I think this is too early a call and is frightening if true.....Moses and Jake probably fit the same scenario but again I find that hard to accept as well.
I have never been a conspiratist supporter, like to think better of human beings but I do accept the premise of your argument.
NB THe recruitment of Hodgson and the vision involved points strongly to BA being behind it. That said BA has never been a visionary thinker in any other way i.e. match tactics etc..... now we know you are not an O'Neill fan but Hodgson smacks of his vision......what do you think.
According to wiki we made a final offer of 1,5 mil over 3 but he decided to take the dogs money. I get that. That's an extra 450 K over the 3. I get he left for the money. Personally, I'm a man who holds a grudge so if I was left by the bins as he was by the dogs after 2016 only to have his career salvaged by Parra I wouldnt care what they offered me. Especially when I had the option to go play for Wayne's Dolphins for more $$$.
I was pissed when he signed for the dogs, but after I saw him give everything he had for Parra helping us reach the GF, I don't have any negative feelings for him. Is he emotionally invested as his old folks? Definately not. For Reed it's business, for us it's passion. Now, one would ask, why would he choose the Dogs being a bottom 4 team, well he knew Burton was there, as was the Fox, was told Kikau was coming and a handful of other good players so obviously he felt they will be challenging for the premiership in a couple years. The dogs are in a much better position than the Tigers.
Someone I know who talks to player managers daily told me at the time there was about a 50k per season difference after incentives if he managed to make rep duties . Given he won't play Origin or rep footy etc I stretched it out to 100k a season as a buffer. The bloke I chatted with even said something doesn't add up.
Could be wrong , but there's a couple of blokes with pretty credible resumes who've relayed this information I'd beleive over whatever Gould's leaked to his mates in the media to make it seem like he's the ultimate recruiter getting blokes to sign because of him.
When Andrew Johns left our coaching ranks, didn't he say that one of our spine will not listen to anything? Maybe someone can find the quote.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the Dogs do when his shoulder blows out again.
What are we going to do if Hodgson busts his knee again should be the question.
Rein............
Exactly....
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