The Bulldogs are reportedly in talks with Titans outcast Sam Verrills after Canterbury GM Phil Gould was captured in a meeting with the former Roosters premiership winner.
The Daily Telegraph reported Gould met with Verrills during Magic Round after the pair caught up at a Brisbane Hotel on Saturday Morning.
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The Bulldogs have struggled to replace Reed Mahoney since letting him leave to join the Cowboys in 2025, with Bailey Hayward struggling to transform from a utility into a full-time NRL hooker.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has been bullish on his plan to transform Hayward from a playmaker in the halves growing up into a specialist hooker for the club.
But the results haven’t matched that aim, with Hayward struggling to make inroads in the hooker role and failing to spark the Bulldogs’ spluttering attack this season.
The Bulldogs’ 38-16 loss to the Sharks on Friday was their seventh loss in eight games and they have only one three to sit 13th after 11 Rounds.
It is a stunning fall from grace for a club that was leading the competition this time last year with Mahoney and Toby Sexton in their spine, before the club made the call to invest in Lachlan Galvin and Hayward long-term instead.
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Hayward had just one run for nine metres against the Sharks and there are fears he doesn’t have the creativity and running game to meet the demands of the modern game at dummyhalf, amid the changes to the six-again rules.
Hayward was even benched for Jake Turpin earlier in the season, before latter was injured and the only other dummyhalf the Bulldogs have is Manly discard Gordon Chan Kum Tong.
The Titans have recently dropped Verrills and told him he is free to explore his options elsewhere, which could see him link with the Bulldogs immediately if the Titans agree to an early release.
The Bulldogs have met with Titans outcast Sam Verrills.Source: Getty Images
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Verrills comes off-contract at the end of the season and has been told he won’t be re-signed beyond 2026.
The 27-year-old has scored 12 tries in 112 games for the Roosters and Titans since his debut in 2019 and won a premiership in his rookie season, before moving to the Gold Coast in 2023.
Gould has a history of being photographed courting players, having previously being captured meeting with Mahoney and Blake Taaffe, who joined the club and Addin Fonua-Blake who opted to join the Sharks.
He was also captured signing Viliame Kikau before an official announcement was made by the Bulldogs and the Panthers in 2021.
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