# 2006 Bulldogs RLFC season

The 2006 Bulldogs RLFC season was the 72nd in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 2nd out of 15 teams. They went on to come within one match of the grand final but were knocked out by eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos.

## Season summary

The Bulldogs lost a tight match in round 1 against the 2003 premiers Penrith Panthers 24-22. The Bulldogs only lost 4 games in the first half of the season. Played 12, Won 8, Lost 4, Byes 1. The Bulldogs biggest up set in the first half of the season was when they played Newcastle Knights at EnergyAustralia Stadium in round 3 they lost 46-22. The Bulldogs most strongest performance in the first half of the season was in round 2 against Wests Tigers they defeated them 47-12. The Bulldogs second half of the season was the same as the first Played 12, Won 8 Lost 4 Byes 1. In round 13 Hazem El Masri became the top scored tries for the Bulldogs. The old record was 123 which was set by Terry Lamb. Hazem currently holds it with 128 tries. Hazem El Masri was only 4 point shy of hitting the 300 mark again in total point in a season as he did in 2004 with 342points. The Bulldogs went into the final on the back of some poor performances but that certainly didn't affect them, they were on top of the Canberra Raiders the entire match. Even in the miserable conditions it didn't affect them. The Bulldogs did what they do best stuck together and ripped in. The Bulldogs got the luxury of having a week off the following week. In the preliminary final against the Brisbane Broncos the Bulldogs showed some specular plays and tries in the first half and ended up winning the first half 20-6, but cannot say to much about the second half performance from the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs went down to the Broncos 37-20

## Match results

2006 Season Results :
| Round | Opponent | Result | Bulldogs | Opposition | Date | Venue | Crowd |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers | Loss | 22 | 24 | 11 March | Telstra Stadium | 17,510 |
| 2 | Wests Tigers | Win | 47 | 12 | 17 March | Telstra Stadium | 21,340 |
| 3 | Newcastle Knights | Loss | 22 | 46 | 24 March | EnergyAustralia Stadium | 25,504 |
| 4 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 5 | Canberra Raiders | Win | 30 | 12 | 9 April | Canberra Stadium | 12,125 |
| 6 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Win | 26 | 18 | 17 April | Telstra Stadium | 19,529 |
| 7 | Manly Sea Eagles | Loss | 14 | 40 | 23 April | Telstra Stadium | 13,621 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 30 | 16 | 30 April | Ericsson Stadium | 11,664 |
| 9 | Sydney Roosters | Win | 30 | 14 | 7 May | Sydney Football Stadium | 16,121 |
| 10 | Parramatta Eels | Win | 22 | 18 | 14 May | Telstra Stadium | 13,159 |
| 11 | Cronulla Sharks | Win | 32 | 24 | 21 May | Telstra Stadium | 12,728 |
| 12 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 6 | 25 | 27 May | Suncorp Stadium | 30,589 |
| 13 | Newcastle Knights | Win | 38 | 22 | 3 June | Telstra Stadium | 12,658 |
| 14 | Canberra Raiders | Loss | 26 | 28 | 12 June | Telstra Stadium | 12,541 |
| 15 | North Queensland Cowboys | Won | 20 | 12 | 18 June | Carrara Stadium | 16,231 |
| 16 | Melbourne Storm | Loss | 12 | 16 | 23 June | Olympic Park | 10,373 |
| 17 | Wests Tigers | Win | 32 | 10 | 2 July | Telstra Stadium | 22,515 |
| 18 | New Zealand Warriors | Win | 22 | 18 | 9 July | Telstra Stadium | 14,067 |
| 19 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 22 | 16 | 14 July | Oki Jubilee Stadium | 18,223 |
| 20 | Sydney Roosters | Win | 25 | 0 | 22 July | Telstra Stadium | 14,020 |
| 21 | Bye | | | | | | |
| 22 | North Queensland Cowboys | Win | 54 | 14 | 5 August | Dairy Farmers Stadium | 20,486 |
| 23 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Win | 26 | 10 | 13 August | Telstra Stadium | 31,256 |
| 24 | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 0 | 30 | 18 August | Telstra Stadium | 26,111 |
| 25 | Manly Sea Eagles | Loss | 20 | 21 | 25 August | Brookvale Oval | 20,163 |
| 26 | Penrith Panthers | Win | 30 | 22 | 3 September | CUA Stadium | 13,363 |
| QF | Canberra Raiders | Win | 30 | 12 | 9 September | Telstra Stadium | 14,628 |
| PF | Brisbane Broncos | Loss | 20 | 37 | 22 September | Sydney Football Stadium | 29,511 |
| Round | Position |
| 1 | 9/15 |
| 2 | 5/15 |
| 3 | 8/15 |
| 4 | 6/15 |
| 5 | 5/15 |
| 6 | 3/15 |
| 7 | 6/15 |
| 8 | 8/15 |
| 9 | 4/15 |
| 10 | 5/15 |
| 11 | 5/15 |
| 12 | 5/15 |
| 13 | 3/15 |
| 14 | 5/15 |
| 15 | 4/15 |
| 16 | 5/15 |
| 17 | 2/15 |
| 18 | 4/15 |
| 19 | 2/15 |
| 20 | 2/15 |
| 21 | 2/15 |
| 22 | 2/15 |
| 23 | 2/15 |
| 24 | 2/15 |
| 25 | 2/15 |
| 26 | 2/15 |

## Ladder

2006 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 605 | 404 | +201 | 44$^1$ |
| 2 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 608 | 468 | +140 | 36 |
| 3 | Brisbane Broncos (P) | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 497 | 392 | +105 | 32 |
| 4 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 608 | 538 | +70 | 32 |
| 5 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 534 | 493 | +41 | 32 |
| 6 | St George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 519 | 481 | +38 | 32 |
| 7 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 525 | 573 | -48 | 30 |
| 8 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 506 | 483 | +23 | 28 |
| 9 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 450 | 463 | -13 | 26 |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 552 | 463 | +89 | 24$^2$ |
| 11 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 490 | 565 | -75 | 24 |
| 12 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 510 | 587 | -77 | 24 |
| 13 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 515 | 544 | -29 | 22 |
| 14 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 528 | 650 | -122 | 20 |
| 15 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 429 | 772 | -343 | 10 |
$^1$ The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches.
$^2$ The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.

## Crowds

The Canterbury Bulldogs average crowd (not including finals) for 2006 was 18,211
All Games*: Played:26 Total: 481,219 Average: 18,508 Home Games: Played: 12 Total: 216,489 Average: 18,040 Away Games: Played:12 Total: 220,591 Average: 18,382 Finals*: Played: 2 Total: 44,139 Average: 22,069

## Players (29)
### Player movements

Gains
2006Signings/Transfers :
| Player | Previous Club | Years Signed | Until the End of |
| Daryl Millard | St George Illawarra Dragons | 3 Years | 2009 |
| Kane Cleal | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Brent Crisp | Canberra Raiders | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Lee Te Maari | St George Illawarra Dragons | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Aaron Wheatley | St George Illawarra Dragons | 1 Years | 2007 |
| Ryan Millard | St George Illawarra Dragons | Unknown duration | Unknown Year |
| Leon Bott | Cronulla Sharks | Unknown duration | Unknown Year |
Losses
Losses :
| Player | Notes |
| Roy Asotasi | Contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Daniel Irvine | Contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs |
| Nate Myles | Contract with the Sydney Roosters |
| Ben Czislowski | Contract with the Wynnum Manly |
| Daniel Conn | Contract with the Gold Coast Titans |
Re-Signings
Re-Signings :
| Player | Years Signed | Until the End of |
| Reni Maitua | 3 Years | 2009 |
| Jarrad Hickey | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Chris Armit | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Luke Patten | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Willie Tonga | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Andrew Emelio | 2 Years | 2008 |
| Dallas McIlwain | 1 Years | 2007 |
| Brad Morrin | 1 Years | 2007 |
| Tony Grimaldi (in doubt because of injury) | 1 Years | 2007 |

## Footnotes

* Woods B (2007). El Magic - The Life of Hazem El Masri. Harper Collins Publishing. ISBN 0-7322-8402-3
* Andrews M (2006). The ABC of Rugby League. ABC Publishing. ISBN 0-7333-1946-7
* Whiticker A & Hudson G (2005). Canterbury Bulldogs - The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Bas Publishing. ISBN 1-920910-50-6
* Whittaker A & Collis I (2004). The History of Rugby League Clubs. ISBN 978-1-74110-470-7
* Lane D (1996). A Family Betrayal - One Man's Super League War - Jarred McCracken. Ironbark Publishing. ISBN 0-330-35839-1
* Chesterton R (1996). Good as Gould - Phil Gould's Stormy Life in Football. Ironbark Publishing. ISBN 0-330-35873-1
* Lester G (1991). The Bulldog Story. Playright Publishing. ISBN 0-646-04447-8
* Whiticker A (1992). The Terry Lamb Story. Gary Allen Publishing. ISBN 1-875169-14-8
* Tasker N (1988). Top-Dog - The Steve Mortimer Story. Century Hutchinson Publishing. ISBN 0-09-169231-8
* Lester G (1985). Berries to Bulldogs. Lester - Townsend Publishing. ISBN 0-949853-06-2
* 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.