Kennel welcomes back 50 players with ex star vying for top 30 place

The 2023 journey, under Head Coach Cameron Ciraldo, began this week with players walking into a newly renovated gymnasium facility for fitness testing drills.
Among those players returning for the 2023 NRL train-on squad, were Paul Alamoti, Corey Allan, Jake Averillo, Bailey Biondi Odo, Braidon Burns, Ray Faitala-Mariner, Kyle Flanagan, Max King, Jayden Okunbur, Tevita Pangai-Junior, Chris Patolo, Aaron Schoupp, Jackson Topine and Corey Waddell.
Topine’s return to Belmore comes with the signing of a two-year contract extension that will see him stay on through the end of 2024.
Young gun Declan Casey has also signed a one-year contract extension which sees him training on with the squad through the 2023 season.
Casey was first drafted by the Bulldogs in 2019 and had played 11 NSW Cup games before earning his opportunity to take to the top grade, stepping in on the 2022 season as a replacement for the injured Corey Allan.
Upgraded to train with the top squad in 2023, are Sam Hughes, Jeral Skelton and Brandon Clarke of the 2022 NSW Cup Team who narrowly lost out on the grand final win against Penrith Panthers.
Recruits, Andrew Davey (former Manly player) and Jacob Preston (Roosters/North Sydney Bears) proudly wore the Bulldogs kit for the first time and will be joined by additional club recruits Franklin Pele (Sharks), Ryan Sutton (Canberra), Reed Mahoney (Parramatta) and Hayze Perham (Parramatta) over the coming month.
Viliame Kikau will reunite with Ciraldo and his new team in the new year, following some well-earned downtime off the back of the NRL grand final and his Fijian World Cup matches.
NSW Cup and test-and-trial players were among the squad putting their fitness to the test, with Kurtis Morrin, Billy Tsikrikas and Reynolds also vying for a place in the top 30.
“This is just the start of the journey,” Ciraldo said.
“The hard work starts now.”