The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are a professional rugby league club in the National Rugby League (NRL), the premier rugby league football competition in Australia.
Based in Belmore, a suburb of Sydney, the Bulldogs in 1935 were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition, a predecessor of the current NRL competition.
The Bulldogs won their first premiership in just their fourth season (1938). At the time it made them the quickest club (barring the founding clubs) to win a premiership after admission to the competition, a record which was only recently beaten in 1999 by the Melbourne Storm. They won a second premiership in 1942 but then had to wait another 38 years before breaking through for a third title in 1980. During the 80s, the Bulldogs were a dominant force in the competition appearing in five Grand Finals, winning four of them. In the 90s they featured in the 1995 and 1998 Grand Finals, winning the former. Their most recent success was in 2004 when they beat the Sydney Roosters 16 - 13. The tryscorers were Hazem El Masri and Matt Utai, and the Clive Churchill Medal winner was Willie Mason.
Their eight premiership trophy moved the club into a clear 5th place in the all-time tally.
1ST Grade
Premierships (8) YearOpponentScore1938Easts19-61942St. George11-91980Easts18-41984Parramatta6-41985St. George7-61988Balmain24-121995Manly17-42004Sydney16-13 Runners Up (8) YearOpponentScore1940Easts14-241947Balmain9-131967Souths10-121974Easts4-191979St. George13-171986Parramatta2-41994Canberra12-361998Brisbane12-38 Minor Premierships (7) YearCompetitionWins1938NSWRL11 (2 draws)1942NSWRL101947NSWRL13 (1 draw)1984NSWRL191993NSWRL171994NSWRL182012NSWRL18
Finals Appearances (40) YearCompetitionFinishing Position1936NSWRLSemi Finalists1938NSWRLPremiers1939NSWRLSemi Finalists1940NSWRLRunners Up1941NSWRLSemi Finalists1942NSWRLPremiers1946NSWRLSemi Finalists1947NSWRLRunners Up1960NSWRLSemi Finalists1967NSWRLRunners Up1970NSWRLSemi Finalists1973NSWRLPreliminary Semi Finalists1974NSWRLRunners Up1975NSWRLPreliminary Semi Finalists1976NSWRLPreliminary Finalists1978NSWRLPreliminary Semi Finalists1979NSWRLRunners Up1980NSWRLPremiers1983NSWRLPreliminary Finalists1984NSWRLPremiers1985NSWRLPremiers1986NSWRLRunners Up1988NSWRLPremiers1993NSWRLPreliminary Finalists1994NSWRLRunners Up1995ARLPremiers1997SLPreliminary Semi Finalists1998NRLRunners Up1999NRLSemi Finalists2001NRLSemi Finalists2003NRLPreliminary Finalists2004NRLPremiers2006NRLPreliminary Finalists2007NRLSemi Finalists2009NRLPreliminary Finalists2012NRLRunners Up2013NRLElimination Final2014NRLRunners Up2015NRLSemi Finalists2016NRLSemi Finalists
2ND Grade/NSW Cup
2ND GradePremiers (11) 1939, 1971, 1972, 1980, 1997 (SL), 1998*, 2000, 2002, 2010, 2011, 2018Runners-Up (3) 1945, 1952, 1979
3RD Grade
3RD GradePremiers (1) 1971Runners-Up (5) 1963, 1969, 1972, 1974, 1976
President's Cup
President's CupPremiers (4) 1931, 1976, 1991, 1998*Runners-Up (5) 1942, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975
Jersey Flegg Cup
Jersey Flegg CupPremiers (10) 1963, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003Runners-Up (0)
Harold Matthews Cup
Harold Matthews CupPremiers (3) 2007, 2009, 2011Runners-Up (1) 2006
SG Ball Cup
S. G. Ball CupPremiers (2) 1972, 1978, 2009Runners-Up (2) 1965, 1966
Club Championships
Club ChampionshipsClub Championships (7) 1938, 1939, 1993, 1994, 2009, 2010, 2011
The Bulldogs won the President's Cup title in 1998; however this title was also considered to be the equivalent of 2nd Grade and as such is listed in both tables.
References
Footnotes
Woods B (2007). El Magic - The Life of Hazem El Masri. HarperCollins Publishing. Andrews M (2006). The ABC of Rugby League. ABC Publishing. Whiticker A & Hudson G (2005). Canterbury Bulldogs - The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Bas Publishing. Whittaker A & Collis I (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. Lane D (1996). A Family Betrayal - One Man's Super League War - Jarred McCracken. Ironbark Publishing. Chesterton R (1996). Good as Gould - Phil Gould's Stormy Life in Football. Ironbark Publishing. Lane D (1996). A Family Betrayal - One Man's Super League War - Jarred McCracken. Ironbark Publishing. Whiticker A (1992). The Terry Lamb Story. Gary Allen Publishing. Tasker N (1988). Top-Dog - The Steve Mortimer Story. Century Hutchinson Publishing. Lester G (1985). Berries to Bulldogs. Lester - Townsend Publishing. NRL Official Information Handbook (2001–2007). Season Guide. Middleton D (1987–2006). The Official NSWRL, ARL, NRL Yearbook / Annual. Christensen EE (1946–1977). NSWRL Yearbook. Rugby League Review (2003-2007). Big League (1974-2007). Rugby League Week (1970-2007). The Rugby League News.
External links Official Bulldogs Website Official Bulldogs Team Store Bulldogs Statistics Back to Belmore - The Official Campaign Website