{"id":470319,"date":"2026-06-10T14:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/470319\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T14:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T14:18:10","slug":"bulldogs-sign-breakout-hooker-on-multi-year-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/470319\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulldogs sign breakout hooker on multi-year deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Canterbury Bulldogs<\/a> have landed a quality signing with Freddy Lussick<\/a> set for a move to Belmore on a two-year deal.<\/p>\n

It will change the dynamic of the Bulldogs’ spine as they seek an attacking option out of dummy half as shown with Lussick crossing for two tries on the weekend for the Penrith Panthers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old, according to reports revealed by NewsCorp, will join the Bulldogs next year, with no chance of a transfer before the June 30 deadline.<\/p>\n

Lussick has played 10 games for the Panthers this year at a consistent level, which is a solid bid in becoming a starting hooker at an NRL<\/a> club..<\/p>\n

He has spent time in four other NRL<\/a> systems before reaching the Bulldogs, including the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, St George Illawarra Dragons<\/a> and the Panthers, but has struggled to solidify himself as a club’s main hooker since his NRL<\/a> debut in 2020.<\/p>\n

Bulldogs boss Phil Gould met with off-contract hooker Sam Verills at Magic Round<\/a>, with images surfacing online of the duo meeting.<\/p>\n

However, Gould has opted to make a move on Lussick, who is edging closer to the starting nine jersey in the blue and white.<\/p>\n

The signing will no-doubt apply some heat on Bailey Hayward<\/a>, who is the incumbent hooker at the club and has struggled to create a spark out of dummy half since the departure of Reed Mahoney<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lussick signed on with the Panthers for one year after gaining an early release from the Warriors, and has stepped up significantly for Ivan Cleary<\/a> and his teammates.<\/p>\n

Lussick’s arrival at the foot of the mountains ended up being pivotal since Mitch Kenny<\/a> suffered a long-term leg injury in April, seamlessly sliding into the dummy half role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Panthers will have the luxury of a bye this weekend, with Lussick expected to be named at starting hooker for their clash against the Gold Coast Titans<\/a> on June 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Canterbury Bulldogs have landed a quality signing with Freddy Lussick set for a move to Belmore on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-470319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470319","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470319"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470319\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}