What an opportunity this is for the Bulldogs.

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Cameron Ciraldo’s side is desperately looking for a win this week, and have been gift-wrapped a chance to play a Melbourne Storm team without all their Origin stars.

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It’s exactly what they need. That is, if they win.

Otherwise, everyone is going to be spending even more time trying to get to the bottom of what has happened to the Bulldogs in 2026.

Although if you ask me, that exercise is largely a waste of time.

You can go around and around looking for different reasons and pointing fingers. But at the end of the day, one man is going to make all the decisions: Phil Gould.

So regardless of what anybody says, it feels futile to even give an opinion because ultimately

Gus is the one who calls the shots.

There is little to no collaboration with anybody else and he’s the one that’s going to go in there and make the decision.

Plus, even if I wanted to give an opinion it’s hard to get a read on what their next move would be. After all, can anyone make sense of what they have already done?

Even looking at their roster now, they’ve got players in positions that I just wouldn’t have them in and made decisions that I just didn’t think were going to happen.

They re-signed Connor Tracey when he’s not best used at fullback; he’s a utility.

I don’t understand what they first saw in Bailey Hayward at nine. I never saw it and I don’t know many people that have publicly come out and sung their praises about him.

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Gus admits club looking into everything | 04:17

They overpaid for Leo Thompson. They moved Jacob Preston away from his preferred side. Then there was the contractual negotiations with Bronson Xerri which played out in public.

It makes it hard to guess what is going to come next.

Everyone can give opinions about what they think it should be.

But I don’t really want to do that, or at least I don’t think it’s worth anyone’s time.

Instead, I just want to take a step back and highlight the landscape of where it’s at and right now it’s all just very confusing — and I feel like Bulldogs fans would be just as confused.

Gould tried to provide some clarity when he appeared on both his own and James Graham’s podcasts earlier this week.

Instead, he only created more uncertainty. That starts with Matt Burton’s future.

Gould finally came out and said what everyone has known for a while now: Lachlan Galvin isn’t a halfback.

We could all see what type of player he was at the Tigers, and if you’d seen him play previously before the NRL, what type of player he was back then too.

I never really thought he was going to be a seven. I thought he was always going to be a six.

So, logically the next question is what does that mean for Burton?

Sure, you can come out and say the plan is for Galvin to play six and for Mitch Woods to play seven. But where does that leave your current five-eighth?

Gould said that he had already had these conversations with Burton and his manager and that in essence, he either would stay at the club on less money to play centre or leave for more money to play five-eighth.

But instead of quieting the noise, does that actually fuel some of the speculation around Burton and his future at the club?

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What has happened to the Bulldogs?Source: Supplied

What about the impact it has on the playing group? Does it settle or actually unsettle them?

And how about Galvin? Does it help him hearing he is playing in a position the club doesn’t see him in long-term, and alongside a player who may not be there beyond next season?

Then there was Gus’ theory that the Bulldogs have been left behind by the new rule changes.

That’s all well and good to say.

But how are you going to adjust? How are you going to change that? And maybe the biggest question — why haven’t you already changed that as well?

That last question is particularly pertinent when you consider who the Bulldogs’ chairman is.

Adam Driussi is incredible. Driussi, also the co-founder and CEO of Quantium, has appeared on podcasts before revealing how he is using artificial intelligence to transform both the business and sports worlds.

But for a club that’s run by him and overseen by him, I don’t see a lot of innovation in their style of play or their roster management.

When the game pivots, like it has this season, you have to quickly capitalise on those moments.

But the Bulldogs haven’t responded to the rule changes or been ahead of the game when it comes to signing certain players.

Instead, they have been stuck in trying to make an outdated formula for success work.

The Bulldogs have spoken about having a real identity on front-loading their energy and effort into their attack, and that’s all well and good.

But you’ve got to be able to do both and you’ve got to be able to have enough energy and be able to react and show enthusiasm in your support play and your kick chase.

You’ve got to take a lot more chances in attack.

It’s all well and good that the rules have caught up to you, but you’ve had enough time now.

What are you doing about it?

Dean Ritchie calls out Dogs hierarchy! | 06:15

WHY I DON’T UNDERSTAND DRAGONS’ LATEST $2.7M GAMBLE

Moving onto the Dragons, they’ve been in the news this week after signing Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf on a reported three-year, $2.7 million contract.

The Dragons have been active on the player market this year, also snapping up Keaon Koloamatangi, Scott Drinkwater and Phillip Sami.

I already made my feelings about the Drinkwater signing clear and unfortunately for Dragons fans, I feel much the same about Metcalf.

I truly don’t understand why the Dragon would sign him on that kind of money.

He’s played 43 games in five years.

I don’t understand why you would put yourself in that position with such a high-risk player. I get the club is in need of signings and under pressure but I honestly don’t believe that is the way to go about it.

Just look at how the Tigers or Warriors have gone about it.

Create some depth and competition in that position.

The Warriors have Tanah Boyd, Metcalf, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Te Maire Martin, Luke Hanson and Jett Cleary.

Sure the Tigers have Jarome Luai. But there’s also Adam Doueihi, Jack Madden and Heath Mason.

Even the Cowboys. They’ve got Tom Dearden, but there is plenty of quality depth behind him in Jake Clifford, Jaxon Purdue and Liam Sutton.

As for anyone who says the Dragons aren’t exactly in a position of power and need to overpay to sign a big-name player like Metcalf?

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Is Luke Metcalf the right signing? (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

Spending a lot of money doesn’t mean it’s a good decision.

You need to get players that are able to play above value. It’s about creating some depth in all positions — outside back, hooker, halves.

You’re not trying to go from last to first right away. You’re trying to create a professional NRL environment — whether that’s training or competition for spots.

That’s one stepping stone to the next, and to rebuild you first need to create competition for spots and be strategic around how you spend your money.

Sure, go out and get a big star like Koloamatangi. But you can’t do that for all positions.

Value for Metcalf would be $550,000-$600,000 but you’ve gone and paid $900,000. There’s a $350,000 player you could have had instead.

Hypothetically they’ve probably also paid $200,000 over what they should have for Drinkwater and $200,000 over what they should have for Koloamatangi.

So all up that’s a $750,000 player they could have signed.

I’m all for bunkering down and being decisive and going and getting who you want.

I just don’t think that Metcalf is that person.

If they went and spent their money on Sam Walker, great.

But the risk of investing that much money into a player like Metcalf who has had a significant amount of injuries and is playing in a team that’s consistently had halves who have played well in their system?

There’s just a lot of question marks around that particular player. Too many if I was a Dragons fans.

Wahs snub Metcalf, call on Martin | 00:45

WHICH TEAMS COULD BENEFIT MOST IN ORIGIN?

Of course, attention is also quickly turning to Wednesday’s State of Origin opener — and more on that later.

But first, I want to look at which NRL teams could be big risers during the Origin period. I’ve found two in particular and the bad news for the rest of the competition is that they’re already travelling well.

The second-placed Warriors are in a position to win a couple of games and considering they get a Panthers team next week that could potentially be without their Origin stars, they could even push for the minor premiership.

This is a team that has been there or thereabouts in the finals race in recent years, but they’ve struggled to quite take that next step in September. For me, injuries will play a big role in just how far the Warriors can go this season.

It feels like at the end of the year someone like Wayde Egan has battered and banged up.

But this season he’s been playing a bit of a different style and it has allowed him to stay relatively healthy outside of missing time with one head knock. Add in a healthy Mitch Barnett and this could be the year that the Warriors really make some noise in the finals.

The same goes for the Cowboys, who are seventh but have a big chance during the Origin period with Jake Clifford, Heilum Luki and Murray Taulagi all overlooked.

They’re already playing a great style of footy that matches the new rules and could push for a top-four finish at the end of the year.

‘Ridiculous’: Cleary slams criticism | 08:19

WHAT I’M WATCHING IN ORIGIN I

Moving onto Origin, I’m excited to see Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses play together again. Over the years, New South Wales has always had success that had really dominant halves. Whether it was Andrew Johns, Trent Barrett or even Braith Anasta, you really remember the champion halfbacks who have played for New South Wales. I think this is a really good opportunity for either Cleary or Moses to potentially add their names to that list. Then in Queensland, there is the intrigue surrounding their new halves pairing. What will Cam Munster and debutant Sam Walker look like? And is Walker the long-term option in the seven jumper, even when Tom Dearden is healthy? The added wrinkle of the new rules is one to watch too. The first game of the series is usually a low-scoring one, and it’s played in Sydney on a pitch that is typically wet and dewy. In other words, it’s not necessarily a field that has plenty of points scored on it. Despite that, everyone is saying that New South Wales has picked an attack-minded squad to match the new officiating, so it’s going to be interesting to see whether that pays off.