History of The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs - Decline As A Power

Decline As A Power

Remarkably - though largely due to the influence of World War II - Canterbury fell from premiers in 1942 to wooden spooners in each of the following two seasons. As players returned from service in the war, the club did regain its strength, finishing sixth in 1945 but third in 1946 and finished on top of the table in 1947. They finished the competition 3 points clear of the Balmain Tigers with Newtown and Wests making up the four. They beat Newtown 25-15 in the first semi but lost to Balmain 25-19 in the final. As they had been minor premiers, they had the right of a rematch to force a Grand Final. However, Canterbury were unsuccessful, going down 13-9 after leading 7-4 at half time.

However, their loss of the 1947 campaign was, more than the lapse of 1943-1945, the end of their first successful period. With the retirement of the famous front three of Eddie Burns, Roy Kirkaldy and Henry Porter (remarkably, none ever played for Australia owing to the war), the club was unable to develop top-line players or attract them to their ranks. Ron Willey was their sole Australian international between 1948 and 1962, and never played a Test match.

In 1948 they won only seven games, and from 1954 to 1959 never won more than six in a season. Between 1952 and 1959 they were second last on five occasions (only Parramatta denying them the wooden spoon in the last four cases) but in 1960 they made the semis in an unparalleled four-way play-off. However their finals campaign only lasted one match a they lost to Easts 16-9 in the second semi-final. In the following years, they slipped back down the ladder quickly: after beating Easts in 6 July 1963 they did not win again until 25 July 1964. However, the emergence of skilful fullback Les Johns gave them hope, and despite finishing third last in 1966, the next year they made the Grand Final.