It was a night of firsts for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Wednesday, June 24 as the Club’s second NRLW season was officially launched at the Canterbury League Club.
Set in The Showroom, MC Marlee Silva – daughter of Bulldogs legend Rod – hosted the event in front of the 180-strong crowd featuring current and former players, coaching and commercial staff as well as proud sponsors, as well as the wider Bulldogs community.
The night opened with an address from Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton, before Head Coach Brayden Wiliame took the stage to join Marlee for the first Q&A of the night, providing a unique insight into the side’s preparations ahead of their second season in the competition.
As guests enjoyed canapés and relaxed atmosphere, the 2026 NRLW squad was officially unveiled one by one onto the stage.
Reigning Player of the Year Andie Robinson as well as Co-Captains Tayla Preston and Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa were then called upon for the second Q&A session, detailing their own personal preparation and thoughts ahead of kick-off.
Robinson, the 2025 Player of the Year, spoke about her career-best season, citing Wiliame’s contribution as a factor in her blistering form.
“Last year was definitely my favourite of my career so far,” Robinson said.
I was the most confident I have been and it was the first year I took the field without any fear. That’s because Brayden and the coaching staff and my team instilled so much confidence in me. That allowed me to play my style of footy, go out there and really enjoy it.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work in the off-season and I'm really lucky to have Brayden. He’s put in so much work, probably more than any other coach I’ve had. He’s really helped me work on the things I’ve needed to work on and highlights all of our strengths.”
Preston and Teakaraanga-Katoa were queried on the side’s pre-season preparations – which included a high-intensity army-camp – highlighting the growing sisterhood among the squad.
“We’re focused on ourselves. We know what we have inside these four walls and that's what is most important,” Preston said.
“It’s about the connection and the sisterhood that you form here. We’re building that system and we’re excited to work for each other.
We’ve put a lot of hard work into the pre-season, and we don’t care what the other teams are doing. We just care about ourselves. here’s no better story than being underdogs, and I think that’s what we thrive off.
“We want to do the coaches and the Club proud this season.”
“It [army camp] was definitely a cool experience, and we saw the girls pushed outside of their comfort zone,” Teakaraanga-Katoa added.
“We got to see younger players step into leadership roles, and it was exciting to see them put into that position. I think we can take a lot from that camp.
For us, sticking to our standards and our systems we can will put us in the best position to be a successful team and to achieve that success.
The night was rounded off with the annual Player’s Draw, which saw a number of the Club’s proud partners committing their brands to supporting the NRLW program.
The Bulldogs will play their first match on Sunday, July 5 at FMG Stadium in Waikato, New Zealand at 1:45pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, before returning to Accor Stadium on Saturday, July 11 in a double-header with the NRL side.
