Same issue faced by QPR....
Spent money trying to buy players to stay in EPL, once the dropped they lost those players. Last season was a disappointment from the get go. Now lost more players. On the rebuild and might take a year or 2 to get in the mix for EPL 

That is the only problem with promotion and relegation, all clubs face it.

Overall I like the system, it adds to the drama of the season, but is painful for players and fans when a club is demoted. 

Good thing in the EPL is you can get players from all around the world...if you have the money get a good squad is no problem ..... in theory.... in practice some get luckier than others.

They seem a very unstable club to me. In & out of EPL like a yo-yo, even dropping to 3rd tier & back. They're owned by Malaysians, the board are all Malaysians apart from one Indian & the CEO is American. If that isn't enough of a worry for a historic English team, they've been through a lot of managers in half a decade. 
Yet another manager was signed up by QPR recently, but with the board etc will he even last 12 matches before they get rid of him for someone else? It's not even enough time to build the squad a manager wants, yet the people running the place have sacked several that were only there short term. 

Ray FM in for Napa the only change...

Will be interest to see if there are changes to the game day line up, more specifically when Lewis gets back in the NRL side.

I'm not sure what to make of reserve grade. Did we play well or did the opposition stop tackling?

We'll have to wait & find out if any reserves get swapped around. I'm not a fan of 4 forwards on the bench. In one match on the weekend both sides lost a spine player in the first 10 mins. Our lot are struggling with a full spine, so losing one early would be pretty bad. For now it's possible Lichaa, Holland or Lewis could be swapped in later in the week & Holland can cover more positions out of those, although his form has been down a bit this year, same with the lot I suppose.

I didn't get to see the Cup match, but conceding 22 is a worry even if they won by a fair margin.

22 points in reserve grade equates to about 8-10 in first. Defence is not the prime consideration.

What is 52 in attack (24-26). Well above our average. LOL

52 to 22 equates to about 28-8 in firsts. It was great to watch...mind you a reverse drubbing would have been gladly accepted in reserves if the firsts had won but alas. Must have been 2003 I think....Dogs had something like a 44-42 win against Souths at Footy Stadium with Hutch Maieva scoring a runaway try...memories...

I find the Hutch try hard to believe but true.

I played an Ambrose with the Bulldogs at Bonville in 2004.
Me and my mate (me 10 him 1) played with Braith (Scr) and Hutch (should have been 45).
We won the event. The prize, (a treasure, a jersey fully signed, including Folkes, SBW).
I did have to hide it for a while with the shenanigans at Pacific Bay. (Which were bullshit).
Anyway, the great Hutch spoke on every tee. His word was "Fekk" after every shot or air swing.
A great day, Braith Anasta phit the ball as good as any pro. We had a sand wedge into a par 5!!!

We were down 16-0 after about 14 minutes then scored 52 straight. Yes they played well with some great attacking play. Mounties on top of the table with one loss before Sunday.

What's the guess for the crowd on Sat. night?  Should be free entry after the Belmore game.

42 Raiders fans...

The time of the year when the NRL forfeits any claim to being an elite sporting competition is with us again.  Byes, 12.5% of players stood down, momentum lost, quality diminished.  

This  saturday vs canberra the will be
without
cotic , willams, rapana, leailiua, hodson,
wrighton, papali 7 all out
the dogs are missing 
okunbar & how napa made the toads is still
beyond me 2 out
if the dogs dont beat a depleted raider
No excuses period 

But it brings them revenue and the 20/20 cricket fans transpose themselves to rugby league whilst the true fans lament as per your post. A sad pathetic HOS such as myself really doesn't give 2 hoots about State of Origin.

Big T..did you go to the Bulldogs Ancestral home on Sunday? Hard to believe only RFM brought up to NRL in view of the relative performances of the 1sts and reserve grade teams

Pay is under the pump with chopping and changing the team from a lot from some fans (at least) so maybe that decision to only bring in RFM is a symptom of a coach under seige as well.  Hard to leave out Lewis when our halves aren't functioning effectively. Seems like a rock and a hardplace with our team atm.

Dan I don't think where we are is entirely unexpected,,,,

It looked like Lewis might have done enough in reserve grade to get a recall, if I had to guess I expect him in the team somewhere...

Canberra are a weakened side, but will have some young keen guys looking to press for an NRL spot, we need a win, this game should be winnable.

I think Pay has mostly got team selections close to right this year, what I didn't personally agree with was dropping RFM earlier, dropping Lewis was a marginal call as he is in our best 17. If Lewis comes back better, it is the right call..

If Pay leaves out Lewis, then Cogger plays badly, and we lose, he is under pressure, more of the same next week more pressure.
If Cogger gets another chance this week, that might be his only chance.
  
JMK looks the best option out of him, Lichaa and Brown, that is not saying much, but may be enough to keep his position...

Apart from this Renouf should perhaps get  a run, no other teams selections are that questionable,

We can also add Holland in the category of might have been improved by being dropped.

I never want to see him back  in our NRL side defending on the left side,  so it is right side, or reserve grades IMO.

Happy to have RFM back. 

Not it sure why Renouf & Lewis aren’t there??

Anyway.... Joseph Tapine who I think is a beast, will surely teach us lesson on Saturday night

Great...... Souths have signed James Roberts for the next 2.5yrs


Why isn’t the board listening to me?????

Villi ring up lynn  andersons office 
& ask her your not listening to me
ahhhh 

Buzz Rothfield reporting that James Roberts contract submitted by Souths to the NRL for the remainder of 2019 is only $119k. Contract for 2020 is worth $400k

Thats a bloody bargain....

Why did we not submit an offer?

Probably because we didn't have GI retire......  I don't know how much cash we had....

On the surface $119K does not look like much, maybe there is a TPA, maybe he only wanted to go do Souths, maybe he heard Dman plays guitar in the sheds before games...

HD..... $400k for 2020 for an Origin Player that possesses plenty of Speed, Aggression & wants to score a truckload of tries is a bargain!

If our idiots thought Mbye was worth over $750k a season at Belmore.... then $400k for Roberts is a bloody steal


People will play for Bennett for unders....

I just don't know that we were ever in the hunt...

I think we should compile a list of X-factor players who could add something to the club... there are a few around if we are selective.

 But are they off contract?
 
And would they come here?

Roberts would not make my top 10.... he many need a coach like Bennett to get the best out of him...

I noticed  that cory thompson is 
off contract @ years end would nt
mind him back

I agree .. good player and likely to be good value for money.

Roberts is one of the most overrated players of all time. Yes...he can burn but his work rate is low...anyone praising him looks at the 5% and ignores the other 95%...T Rex of the backs.