Phil Gould met with Sam Verrills and the hooker’s agent in Brisbane on Saturday, a conversation that quickly spilled onto social media and added another layer to Canterbury’s search for answers in the middle of a poor run. Verrills, who is off contract at the end of the season, has fallen out of favour at the Gold Coast Titans and was overlooked again on Sunday for the Magic Round clash against Newcastle at Suncorp Stadium.
The meeting came with Canterbury under pressure after Friday night’s 38-16 loss to Cronulla left the Bulldogs in 13th spot, a far cry from where they were at the corresponding point last season, when they were leading the competition with Reed Mahoney and Toby Sexton in the team. The club has already been looking at options for its spine after earlier this week officials met with Warriors halfback Luke Metcalf, who had been given permission to negotiate with other clubs before ultimately signing a three-year deal with St George Illawarra from next season.
Verrills has not asked the Titans for a release, but his situation has sharpened interest around Canterbury’s hooker plans as the club tries to settle a combination that has not clicked consistently. The Bulldogs decided last year to move on from Mahoney in favour of Bailey Hayward, but the Lachlan Galvin-Matt Burton halves pairing has so far failed to fire with enough regularity to lift the side out of trouble.
At Gold Coast, coach Josh Hannay has already shifted Verrills out of the starting role, dropping him to the interchange bench against his former club last week before opting for Oliver Pascoe in the No.9 jersey against Newcastle. Former Panthers rake Luke Sommerton was also named on the bench, and the Titans hold a high opinion of Pascoe, Sommerton and Jai Bilish, who signed a contract extension this year keeping him at the club through to 2030.
Verrills remains a proven name in the market. The former premiership-winning Roosters dummy half is reportedly on a deal worth $600,000, and his next move will depend on whether Canterbury decide the Brisbane meeting is simply part of their due diligence or the start of something more serious. For a club already searching for rhythm, the hooker question has become one of the clearest indicators of how far the rebuild still has to go.
Phil Gould Sam Verrills Meeting fuels Bulldogs hooker search
