Welcome to the first edition of our Member’s Update – a special Christmas-New Year edition where we reflect on recent business developments and look ahead to what promises to be an exciting 2023.
Here you will hear from Chairman of the Board, John Khoury and CEO, Aaron Warburton as an update on general business before we close out 2022 and as we prepare for the 2023 season.
The Bulldogs have been building towards better and in 2023 our goal is to unleash better value for our Members, provide greater access to players, more exclusive matchday experiences and an unparalleled connection for our Bulldogs family.
Thank you for being a part of this journey with the Bulldogs over the past 12 months and we look forward to what lies ahead in 2023.
For now, our players and staff are currently enjoying a well-deserved break and are recharging the batteries before we gear up to go again in 2023. Our players are due to return to pre-season training on Wednesday 4 January 2023, and our office will re-open the following week on Monday 9 January 2023. For full office closure details and Team Store Holiday Trading hours, please see HERE.
We look forward to what promises to be a huge 2023 and as always, we thank you for your ongoing support and loyalty.
We are as proud as ever to be a Bulldog. #ProudtobeaBulldog
A message from Chairman of the Board, John Khoury:
The past twelve months have been rewarding, exciting and encouraging for the future of the Bulldogs.
The signing of a host of quality players and the appointment of high calibre Football, Pathways, and Administration staff throughout the 2022 season has helped us to lay a solid foundation that I have no doubt will see us bolster our successes in 2023 and beyond.
With a strong development side and some great potential train-and-trialist team members running with the pack in 2023, we are steaming ahead into a new and exciting era for the Bulldogs on and off the field.
We have been building our Bulldogs Pathways Academy and supporting the next generation of future Bulldogs stars including in the women’s competition space, and we are taking great strides toward the future sustainable success of this Club that we all love.
Whilst not a new development, our junior league competition has gone from strength to strength in 2022 and this year celebrated its 101st season and a return to the first full season again since the pandemic. We are truly grateful to all of our local Junior Club officials and volunteers who continue to make our junior league competition a fun and welcoming environment so that kids can enjoy playing football with their friends at a grassroots level. Thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who make this possible.
In another exciting development for the future of the Bulldogs, we also have the Centre of Excellence (COE) to look forward to. I am pleased that we have now confirmed the Government Funding for this all-encompassing, community-orientated, high-performance facility to be built in Belmore. The COE will be a world-class facility where all our teams can come together and be housed under one roof. This is an exciting prospect where our junior representative teams across both the men’s and women’s competitions can rub shoulders, train alongside one another, and continue to inspire the next generation of football talent here as one club and as the Bulldogs family.
Bulldogs are the ‘Family Club’ and there is none more central to the core of our family, than you, our Members. I would like to say a huge thank you to all our members and fans for your support in 2022.
As a Club, we are in a really positive and stable position leading into the 2023 season and beyond.
I am looking forward to our Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is to be held on Sunday 19 February and to further discussing the great strides that our Board and management have taken over the past 12 months. Once again, I would like to invite any questions to be sent in advance so that we can discuss these at the AGM. You can submit questions by emailing Monica Shakya at shakyam@bulldogs.com.au or via post, at PO Box 123, Belmore NSW 2192.
I look forward to seeing a lot of you in the new year, but in the interim and on behalf of everyone involved with the Bulldogs, from Board, Management and staff, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and best wishes to you and your families for a very safe and happy holiday period. Happy New Year and I look forward to turning our attention to a successful season in 2023.
Thank you.
John Khoury
Chairman of the Board
A message from Chief Executive Officer, Aaron Warburton:
When I look back over the past 12 months, what we have managed to achieve as a Club is extremely pleasing. We came from sitting at the bottom of the ladder ten rounds into the 2022 season, to ending on a positive note and with a win against Manly.
The air of optimism that surrounded us, from our players and our staff, to you, our Members, and our fans in that last game is what speaks volumes about what is to come. Your ongoing loyalty and support have been unwavering, and we thank you for bringing the passion that you do to this great family of ours.
We can only ask that you bring that same passion once again in 2023 as we build toward some exciting times as a Club.
Looking back at 2022, we have achieved a great number of positive developments for our Club. Our loyal partners have been integral to these achievements, and I would like to thank all of our Corporate Partners for their ongoing support.
Our commercial and sponsorship department delivered an outstanding outcome in 2022, with the majority of our partners returning in 2023. All our 2023 apparel positions have been sold with the average jersey sponsorship term sitting at three years. In more great showings of support, Laundy Hotels has re-signed as our major partner for an incredible five-year term, and we have welcomed many new partners to the Bulldogs family in 2023 such as KFC and Future Form.
Excitingly, we have even more corporate partnership announcements to make shortly and in the New Year.
Bulldogs in Business, a new initiative in 2022, has proven hugely popular as a great business networking opportunity for Bulldogs fans and organisations alike. Bulldogs in Business has allowed a great number of companies to cultivate key relationships over the past year, facilitating business amongst themselves and matching like-minded business leaders and executives. It has been a privilege to provide these affiliated organisations with access to a variety of match-day experiences and I look forward to welcoming even more companies to the program in the year ahead.
If you would like to get some more information on how to get involved or the great work that Bulldogs in Business is already undertaking, please reach out to the Club.
As 2023 dawns on us, we know we have laid some solid foundations for future success.
New recruits, Ryan Sutton, Reed Mahoney as well as a host of quality players have joined the squad at Belmore, and our team’s preparation under the expert guidance of our Football Department is now well and truly underway. With current stars, Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Burton, Luke Thompson and Viliame Kikau due to join the squad in January following time off from their recent Rugby League World Cup campaigns, I am sure we can expect them to bring a further injection of excitement, experience and focus to the team.
Our Club culture has been strengthened by the retention and return of Bulldogs greats like Willie Mason, Andrew Ryan, Mark O’Meley, Hazem El Masri, and most recently, our retired skipper, Josh Jackson, who have each taken up official posts within the Club. With great mentors like this around our team, we know we have much to look forward to.
We are fortunate to have received an extremely family-friendly draw in 2023, playing mostly on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. And we hope that this means that more families like yourselves will be able to come along and support your favourite players at convenient times.
The Bulldogs will play three matches at Belmore in 2023, kicking off with a preseason trial against the Cronulla Sharks in February. Outside of Belmore, the majority of our games will be played locally at Accor Stadium and we are really excited to welcome this space as our new home ground for the season ahead.
CLICK HERE to see the full Bulldogs 2023 season schedule, including our regional match which will see us return to Bundaberg. In 2022, we enjoyed a sell-out success in Bundy and enjoyed immense support from the locals. In 2023 we have promised even more grand-stand seating and greater access for locals and travelling Bulldogs Members and fans to come along and enjoy the regional round, but I do encourage you to be sure to secure your Membership to avoid disappointment and to guarantee your entry. Membership will also be important to securing tickets to our Belmore matches, so be sure to get in early and join the pack officially for 2023.
You can view our Membership options, HERE.
It would be great to have you all join us at as many games as possible, either at home (Accor Stadium), here in Belmore or on the road. The boys would love the support and the large, enthusiastic crowds that our Bulldogs fans and kennel are renowned for, make our Bulldogs squad proud and lifts them to perform at an even higher level. I know they would be grateful for the support as our 2023 season kicks off.
With a powerful new design for our home and away jerseys, which are available today (see HERE), I cannot wait to see our army of blue and white grow. Our merchandise sales throughout 2022 have been incredibly strong, comparable to 2015 - the year following a grand final appearance.
There is a real sense of pride and optimism about being a Bulldog again.
Thanks again for your support. For those who celebrated, I hope you enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you and your families a happy New Year.
Aaron
