Dogs to bring madness this NRL season

Canterbury have warned they're set to play with a bit of "madness" this NRL season under new coach Dean Pay.

Get ready for "the madness".

That's the message from Canterbury when asked what to expect this NRL season following a summer of sweeping change from the boardroom to the locker room.

Ahead of their season opener against Melbourne in Perth on Saturday, everything old is new again and under new coach Dean Pay and they're promising to revive the "Dogs of War" mentality.

In his first press conference after replacing Des Hasler, Pay said his team would play with "a bit of madness".

Moses Mbye, who has himself been forced to evolve after being shifted from the halves to fullback, said the Bulldogs had been overhauled from top down after missing the finals for the first time since 2011.

Asked what "the madness" was and what to expect, Mbye was cryptic and upbeat.

"You'll see it tomorrow night," Mbye said.

"Deano's brought a really good culture into the club, put it that way.

"Everyone's aware of how Dean played the game and how tough he was.

"I'm not one of the toughest blokes so I'll let the big boys do the talking there.

"The boys are going to be fired up, it's a brand of footy the boys want to play, quite aggressive on the front foot.

"And we've got the cattle to do that with Australian front row (Aaron Woods and David Klemmer)."

Saturday's clash will be the first test of Pay's new-look side which has added Woods and Kieran Foran at the expense of Josh Reynolds and James Graham.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy is arguably facing the biggest footballing test of his illustrious coaching career with the departure of halfback Cooper Cronk whittling down the "big three" to a "big two".

The defending premiers are still expected to be a premiership force with Cameron Smith and Billy Slater leading the side but the spotlight is firmly on Cronk's replacement Brodie Croft.

"The only difference is the experience in games," winger Josh Addo-Carr said.

"Brodie's going to fill the position and I'm definitely confident Brodie will do the job throughout the season.

"It's a bit weird playing without Coops but it is what it is.

"People have to build combinations, they're both different players and have different skills."

Slater will miss Saturday's clash due to a shoulder injury.

STATS THAT MATTER

* Of all current teams the Bulldogs are the only team Melbourne does not have a winning record against, winning 17 of 38 against them.

* Six of the past eight grand final winners have opened the new season with a win - the exceptions being Cronulla in 2017 and the Sydney Roosters in 2014.

* The Storm have not lost a round one match since 2001 and have only been round one losers on two occasions since entering the competition.


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Source: AAP



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