The "family club" of the NRL is back.
In what was widely considered the most bitter election battle in club history, Lynne Anderson on Sunday became the chairwoman of Canterbury as her rival ticket won in a landslide.
Anderson, the daughter of club "godfather" Peter Moore, joins six new faces on the board including husband and premiership-winning coach Chris Anderson.
"I'm still numb, I'm emotional. I just walked past a photo of my dad; it didn't help," Anderson said after her win at Canterbury Leagues club.
Asked how she felt her father, who was chief executive of the club from 1965 to 1995, would have felt, she said: "He'd be really proud, I have no doubt."
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The Andersons are joined by John Ballesty, Steve Price, Paul Dunn and John Khoury while Bulldogs legend Steve Mortimer is the only incumbent member to survive.
The Bulldogs grew a reputation as a "family club" in the 1970s, with Moore's son Kevin playing and later coaching the club.
Former Bulldogs players Anderson and Steve Folkes married into the Moore family, before later coaching the club to respective premierships in 1995 and 2004.
Anderson polled the most votes at the annual general meeting with 471, followed by Ballesty (448), Price (415), Chris Anderson (397), Dunn (395) and Khoury (382).
Dib's 346 votes put him 12th out of the 18 candidates, ending an eventful eight-year reign as chairman that included two grand finals under the guidance of Des Hasler.
However, it was the board's handling of Hasler's eventual termination last year - the only season where he failed to lead the club to the finals - that was key to Dib's demise.
Hasler is suing the club for a reported $1 million payout after being axed last September despite being granted a two-year extension in April.
In what was a horror year for the Bulldogs, chief executive Raelene Castle, captain James Graham and favourite son Josh Reynolds all departed the club.
Anderson insisted there would be no issue with Canterbury Leagues club chairman George Peponis or members of the playing group who supported the Dib-led board in the build-up.
"It was a battle. It's like when you go into any competition on the field - you're doing your darndest to compete. What happened there is gone, we all come together now," Anderson said.
"It was an emotional time. A lot of passions were running high.
"From our point of view, we're looking not just at current players, we're looking beyond. The club is bigger than that."
Anderson said the board was open to working with Mortimer despite his loyalty to Dib.
"I've shared with people that when we decided to run, Chris and I actually caught up personally with Turvey (Mortimer) to tell him we were running and explained and our reasons," she said.
"We had a bit of a chuckle that day saying we all want the same thing.
"Turvey's just like (coach) Dean Pay. He's Bulldogs. He knows it. He gets it."
