Mahoney said something to Marcelo Montoya that neither the Bulldogs winger nor his teammates took kindly to<\/a>.<\/p>\nExactly what was said was not revealed publicly.<\/p>\n
But the report certainly suggested Mahoney\u2019s former teammates left far from impressed.<\/p>\n
‘Didn’t expect that from Yeo’ | 01:58<\/p>\n
Fast forward two months and now the Dogs host the Cowboys in round nine with the Dogs coming off back-to-back defeats and Cameron Ciraldo\u2019s team selections well and truly under the blowtorch.<\/p>\n
This will be the first time Mahoney has caught up with his former teammates on the playing field since the former Bulldogs skipper was unceremoniously sent packing last season.<\/p>\n
And after the way Mahoney was forced out to make way for the now-struggling Bailey Hayward, you wouldn\u2019t blame the fiery little hooker for returning with his own axe to grind, especially with Ciraldo.<\/p>\n
The Dogs have come crashing back to earth since their shock win over the Panthers in round six, with successive defeats to the lowly Parramatta Eels and a severely depleted Broncos.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s seen them drop to 10th on the NRL ladder.<\/p>\n
To put that in perspective, they were first this time last year when Mahoney was dummy half and Toby Sexton was halfback.<\/p>\n
Of particular concern for Ciraldo would also be their attack, with the Dogs scoring the second least points of any team in the league this year (only ahead of the last-placed Dragons).<\/p>\n
When Sexton and Mahoney were dropped last year, we were told it was because the Bulldogs\u2019 attack was not good enough to make them a genuine premiership contender.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s worth noting that after eight rounds last year the Dogs had scored 174 points compared to the 133 this year, while their defence has also gone backwards (conceding 100 points in 2025 to 166 this season).<\/p>\n
PNG signing ‘puts pressure on Perth!’ | 02:21<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs can make all the excuses in the world for their indifferent start to this season, but their lack of consistency reflects the constant swapping and changing within the team.<\/p>\n
And it has been going ever since Mahoney and Sexton became the fall guys.<\/p>\n
While no one at the Dogs will ever admit to it, there is just no denying the Bulldogs were playing better football with Mahoney and Sexton then with Hayward at hooker and Lachlan Galvin at halfback.<\/p>\n
Last week Hayward was even dropped to the bench with Jake Turpin elevated into the starting team.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mahoney has found his feet at the Cowboys and was particularly good in the first half of last week\u2019s win over the Sharks.<\/p>\n
Although I didn\u2019t like the way Mahoney got up in the face of Oregon Kaufusi when he beat the Sharks\u2019 prop to score his try.<\/p>\n
Then karma came back to bite Mahoney in the second half when a few of Mahoney\u2019s unforced errors put the Sharks back in the game, with some irony also in the fact Mahoney missed a tackle on Kaufusi for one try.<\/p>\n
It should have been a timely reminder for Mahoney how his niggly ways also got him into trouble at the Dogs last year – and why it will be important to keep his head in what could be a potentially volatile environment on Friday night.<\/p>\n
LUAI NEEDS TO PUT WORDS INTO ACTIONS<\/p>\n
Jarome Luai has done nothing wrong by Wests Tigers or their fans – so far.<\/p>\n
And any comparison linking Luai\u2019s decision to sign with the PNG Chiefs to the way Lachlan Galvin exited the Tigers is just nonsense.<\/p>\n
Luai grilled over Galvin exit comparison | 01:06<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s remember Galvin was released with more than a year and a half to run on his existing contract after being publicly courted by Bulldogs GM Phil Gould.<\/p>\n
Benji Marshall\u2019s reputation was also thrown under the bus in the process with the talk Galvin needed to play under Cameron Ciraldo to reach his rugby league potential.<\/p>\n
The difference here is that Luai has been completely up front with the Tigers – and he had a clause written into his contract that enabled him to sign with the Chiefs, but not before he plays out the rest of this season and next with the Tigers.<\/p>\n
Luai could not have been more respectful to everyone involved and it is ludicrous to suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n
That said, what Tigers fans will want to see from Luai now is to put his words into actions and continue to keep his focus on the Tigers until he plays his final game for the club at the end of next year.<\/p>\n
Depending on how this is handled by Luai and Benji, this has the potential to galvanise the Tigers and make them an even stronger unit for the remainder of his time at the club.<\/p>\n
But if there is any inkling that Luai\u2019s focus has been blinded by the big money that is awaiting him in PNG, it could have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n
From what we\u2019ve heard from Luai and Benji so far, everything indicates this won\u2019t end in more tears for Tigers fans.<\/p>\n
‘Bula should be more of a priority’ | 03:47<\/p>\n
WHY SAM WALKER SHOULD BE NERVOUS ABOUT ROOSTERS\u2019 LINK TO CLEARY<\/p>\n
The biggest game of the round is the Roosters vs Broncos blockbuster on Saturday at Allianz Stadium.<\/p>\n
And with Sam Walker coming off a man-of-the-match performance on Anzac Day, there is understandably plenty of interest about the halfback\u2019s future given Walker will be free to negotiate with rival clubs come November 1.<\/p>\n
But what makes it even more interesting is the scuttlebutt that just won\u2019t go away that perhaps the Roosters are baulking at extending the talented 23-year-old for one very good reason.<\/p>\n
And that is that the Roosters may make a play for Nathan Cleary for 2028, with the Panthers champion playmaker making no secret of the fact that he wants to test the market come November 1.<\/p>\n
Given the Roosters\u2019 history, you wouldn\u2019t rule it out.<\/p>\n
Broncos stars return for Roosters clash | 00:45<\/p>\n
You only need to think back to the way Cooper Cronk was parachuted in over the top of Mitchell Pearce to understand how ruthless the Roosters can be in the pursuit of premierships.<\/p>\n
Or the decision to bring in Daly Cherry-Evans over the top of Hugo Savala this year.<\/p>\n
There is some talk the Roosters might be planning to partner Savala and young Toby Rodwell as the halves if Walker was to exit.<\/p>\n
But with due respect to Savala and Rodwell, Cleary is on a completely different level.<\/p>\n
And we all know that when Nick Politis goes shopping for footballers, he\u2019s not known to settle for second-best.<\/p>\n
There is also some suggestions the Roosters are growing restless with the off-the-cuff style of footy Walker likes to play, and how it can sometimes make life more difficult for his teammates.<\/p>\n
Walker\u2019s certainly a very different halfback to Cronk and Cleary.<\/p>\n
But while Walker has had an up-and-down start to the season as he works on his new combination with DCE, he showed against the Dragons what a special talent he is when he finds his rhythm.<\/p>\n
And if he backs up last week\u2019s performance against the reigning premiers, it will only intensify the speculation given Walker has also said publicly that he can\u2019t see himself playing at another club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It will be interesting to see what reception the Bulldogs have installed for their old mate Reed Mahoney…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-639119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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