LeagueNews.co | Jason Patrick
The Canterbury Bulldogs became one of the two top-four teams to exit the 2025 postseason without a win, the other being the Canberra Raiders.
While some have attributed their playoff failure to the arrival of Lachlan Galvin and various roster changes, Billy Slater, the Maroons coach and Melbourne Storm icon, has pointed out a different concern.
"I don't think the Bulldogs have top-end talent," he said on Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast.
Slater noted that the Bulldogs lack elite players like Nathan Cleary, Dylan Edwards, and Isaah Yeo, who could elevate the team's performance.
The legendary coach expressed skepticism about the Bulldogs' chances early on in the season, even when the team was experiencing a successful streak.
"It's a hard game, and I remember at the start of the year, you asked me what team I thought was going to be on the slide," Slater reflected.
"I don't like telling people what they can't do, but I knew it was going to be a real challenge this year for the Bulldogs to back up what they did last year."