Phil Gould Sam Verrills Meeting Points to Bulldogs Hooker Move
Phil Gould Sam Verrills Meeting took shape in Brisbane on Saturday morning, with the Canterbury GM captured meeting Titans outcast Sam Verrills at a hotel during Magic Round. The timing matters for the Bulldogs because they are still trying to settle a hooker spot after a 38-16 loss to the Sharks left them 13th after 11 rounds.
Brisbane Hotel Meeting
The pair caught up at a Brisbane hotel, and the sighting has linked Verrills to Canterbury while the club works through its dummyhalf problem. The Bulldogs have struggled to replace Reed Mahoney since he left for the Cowboys in 2025, and Bailey Hayward has not yet made the transition from utility into a full-time NRL hooker.
Gould has made similar face-to-face meetings before, including with Reed Mahoney, Blake Taaffe and Addin Fonua-Blake. This one is different because it comes as the Bulldogs are reportedly in talks with Verrills after he was dropped by the Titans and told he can explore his options elsewhere.
Bulldogs Hooker Search
Hayward’s numbers against Cronulla were thin. He had one run for nine metres, and he was benched for Jake Turpin earlier in the season as Cameron Ciraldo kept searching for a workable answer at hooker.
The Bulldogs were leading the competition at this stage last year with Mahoney and Toby Sexton in their spine, then chose to invest long term in Lachlan Galvin and Hayward instead. That decision has left them with only one other dummyhalf option, Manly discard Gordon Chan Kum Tong, while the team has now dropped seven of its past eight games.
Verrills And Canterbury
Verrills would bring a different profile if the Titans agree to an early release. He comes off-contract at the end of the season and has already been told he will not be re-signed beyond 2026, but he could link with Canterbury immediately if both clubs move quickly.
The 2019 premiership winner has scored 12 tries in 112 games for the Roosters and Titans since his debut that year, and he moved to the Gold Coast in 2023. For Canterbury, the meeting at Magic Round is the clearest sign yet that hooker help is on the agenda before the season slips further away.
