The Bulldogs are reportedly in talks with Titans outcast Sam Verrills after Phil Gould met the hooker during Magic Round, a sign the club is again looking for help at one of its most troubled positions. Gould and Verrills caught up at a Brisbane hotel on Saturday morning, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.
The timing mattered because Canterbury were beaten 38-16 by the Sharks on Friday and have now lost seven of their past eight games. They sit 13th after 11 rounds, a sharp fall from this time last year, when they were leading the competition with Reed Mahoney and Toby Sexton in their spine.
The Bulldogs have not settled on a replacement since Mahoney left to join the Cowboys in 2025, and the search has become more urgent as Bailey Hayward has struggled to make the jump from utility to full-time NRL hooker. Cameron Ciraldo has been bullish about turning Hayward into a specialist at the club, but the experiment has not delivered a clean answer. Against the Sharks, Hayward managed one run for nine metres and was benched for Jake Turpin earlier in the season. The only other dummyhalf on the roster is Manly discard Gordon Chan Kum Tong.
Verrills would give Canterbury a far more established option if the Titans agree to an early release. He has been told he is free to explore his options elsewhere after recently being dropped, and while he remains off-contract at season's end, the Titans have also told him he will not be re-signed beyond 2026. That leaves the door open for a move if both clubs can find a deal.
The 26-year-old won a premiership in his rookie season after debuting in 2019 and has since played 112 games for the Roosters and Titans, scoring 12 tries. He moved to the Gold Coast in 2023, but his future now appears to be elsewhere as the Bulldogs keep searching for stability in the middle of the field.
The club’s interest also fits Gould’s recent habit of being linked to familiar faces. He has previously been photographed meeting Reed Mahoney, Blake Taaffe and Addin Fonua-Blake, underlining how active Canterbury’s top brass has been in the player market. For the Bulldogs, the issue is no longer whether they need a hooker. It is how quickly they can find one before another season slips away.
