# 2016 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season

The 2016 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season is the 82nd in the club's history. Coached by Des Hasler and captained by James Graham, they will compete in the National Rugby League's 2016 Telstra Premiership after finishing the 2015 season as semi-finalists.

## Fixtures
### Regular season

The Bulldogs started the season strongly, comfortably beating the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in round one. The Bulldogs were the outsiders with the bookmakers, with most rugby league experts citing the size of the forward pack as an issue with the 2016 season rule change, which dropped the interchanges allowed from 10 to 8. However, the Bulldogs surprised the rugby league community by unveiling a significantly leaner pack, with players having shed a lot of weight during the off season. Sam Kasiano was an example of this, having lost 13 kg before the season kicked off. Any concerns about the interchange rule affecting the team were put to rest with the side coming away with a convincing 28-6 first round victory, and a week later a last minute win against the Penrith Panthers proving the big men would not falter late in matches as a result of more minutes played. As though the team was further driving the point home, they completed the second round match using only 16 of the 17 named players.
The month that followed was not as impressive, with the club going loss, win, loss, win, for a 4-3 record after 7 rounds.
| Round | Home | Score | Away | Match information | Match information | Match information |
| Round | Home | Score | Away | Date and time | Venue | Crowd |
| 1 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 6-28 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Fri 4 Mar 2016, 8:05pm AEDT | Brookvale Oval | 16,512 |
| 2 | Penrith Panthers | 16-18 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Thu 10 Mar 2016, 8:05pm AEDT | Pepper Stadium | 11,125 |
| 3 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 6-20 | Parramatta Eels | Fri 18 Mar 2016, 8:05pm AEDT | ANZ Stadium | 30,018 |
| 4 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 12-42 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Fri 25 Mar 2016, 4:00pm AEDT | ANZ Stadium | 38,192 |
| 5 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 8-22 | Canberra Raiders | Mon 4 Apr 2016, 7:00pm AEST | Belmore Sports Ground | 13,463 |
| 6 | Melbourne Storm | 12-18 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Mon 11 Apr 2016, 7:00pm AEST | AAMI Stadium | 11,037 |
| 7 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 20-24 | New Zealand Warriors | Sat 16 Apr 2016, 7:30pm NZST | Westpac Stadium | 18,212 |
| 8 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 21-20 | Gold Coast Titans | Sat 23 Apr 2016, 3:00pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 11,450 |
| 9 | Parramatta Eels | 20-12 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Fri 29 Apr 2016, 7:50pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 31,815 |
| 10 | Wests Tigers | 4-36 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Sun 15 May 2016, 4:00pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 20.936 |
| 11 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 32-20 | Sydney Roosters | Sun 22 May 2016, 4:00pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 17,704 |
| 12 | Canberra Raiders | 32-20 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Sun 29 May 2016, 4:00pm AEST | GIO Stadium | 13,907 |
| 13 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 18-20 | Cronulla Sharks | Mon 6 Jun 2016, 7:00pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 10,081 |
| 14 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 16-34 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Mon 13 Jun 2016, 4:00pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 20,153 |
| 15 | | BYE | | | | |
| 16 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 40-14 | Brisbane Broncos | Sat 25 Jun 2016, 7:30pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 10,106 |
| 17 | Sydney Roosters | 20-24 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Thu 30 Jun 2016, 7:50pm AEST | Sydney Football Stadium | 7,741 |
| 18 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 32-22 | Wests Tigers | Sat 9 Jul 2016, 7:30pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 16,212 |
| 19 | | BYE | | | | |
| 20 | North Queensland Cowboys | 36-0 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Thu 21 Jul 2016, 7:50pm AEST | 1300 Smiles Stadium | 11,620 |
| 21 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 13-10 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | Fri 29 Jul 2016, 7:50pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 15,008 |
| 22 | Newcastle Knights | 14-28 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Sat 6 Aug 2016, 3:00pm AEST | Hunter Stadium | 13,318 |
| 23 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 20-16 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Thu 11 Aug 2016, 7:50pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 10,290 |
| 24 | Brisbane Broncos | 20-10 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | Thu 18 Aug 2016, 7:50pm AEST | Suncorp Stadium | 27,746 |
| 25 | Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs | 16-24 | North Queensland Cowboys | Thu 25 Aug 2016, 7:50pm AEST | Belmore Sports Ground | 10,144 |
| 26 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 10-28 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | Fri 2 Sep 2016, 7:50pm AEST | ANZ Stadium | 14,731 |
| Qualif Final | Penrith Panthers | 12-28 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Sun 11 Sep 2016, 4:10pm AEST | Allianz Stadium | 22,631 |
| Legend: Win Loss Draw Bye ||||||||||

## Ladder

2016 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 19 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 563 | 302 | +261 | 42 |
| 2 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 688 | 456 | +232 | 39 |
| 3 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (P) | 24 | 17 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 580 | 404 | +176 | 39 |
| 4 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 584 | 355 | +229 | 34 |
| 5 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 554 | 434 | +120 | 34 |
| 6 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 563 | 463 | +100 | 32 |
| 7 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 506 | 448 | +58 | 32 |
| 8 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 508 | 497 | +11 | 27 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 11 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 499 | 607 | −108 | 26 |
| 10 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 513 | 601 | −88 | 24 |
| 11 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 341 | 538 | −197 | 24 |
| 12 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 473 | 549 | −76 | 22 |
| 13 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 454 | 563 | −109 | 20 |
| 14 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 298 | 324 | −26 | 18$^1$ |
| 15 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 443 | 576 | −133 | 16 |
| 16 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 2 | 305 | 800 | −495 | 7 |
$^1$ Parramatta were deducted 12 competition points and their for/against tally accumulated between rounds 1-9 for gross long-term salary cap breaches.