The Canterbury Bulldogs are on the hunt for a temporary base after Belmore Sports Ground was ruined by the Sydney storms.
The club was forced to abandon its facilities after more than a metre of water damage from the downpour flooded its offices.
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Bulldogs General Manager Phil Gould issued an update on the state of affairs at the stadium on Saturday morning.
While initially stating the NSW Cup game would be postponed, he later noted the change rooms had been cleaned up and the game would be going ahead.
“Belmore is under water,” Gould wrote on X.
“The gym, dressing rooms and offices have been flooded. Up to a metre high. Unusable.
“Council coming to inspect and address clean up operations.
“It appears we will have to find alternate facilities for at least a week. We will have to assess damage. GPS and computer equipment potentially damaged. Quite a mess.
“Also, with the injury toll in NRL, we will now have to rest several NSW Cup players from the game to keep on standby for Melbourne. I will keep you posted on Belmore.”
Less than an hour later Gould confirmed the game would be played, but needed to be completed before it got dark.
“NSW Cup will now kick off at 5pm,” he wrote.
“Need to get game completed before it gets dark. Lights may be compromised due to rain. Anyway, now confirmed 5pm kick off Belmore Oval.”
The impact of having to shift to a temporary base could ruin the club’s preparations ahead of their Friday night clash against the Melbourne Storm.
The storm damage comes after the Bulldogs celebrated the 20-year anniversary of their last premiership team in style against the Sydney Roosters.
The Roosters lost a captain’s challenge in the opening 25 seconds before the Bulldogs scored three unanswered tries to open up an 18-0 lead against the premiership fancies.
And from there, it only got worse.
Halfback Sam Walker was forced out of the game after an accidental knee from Stephen Crichton when he fell off a tackle after Viliame Kikau had passed to his captain.
Minutes later, Roosters skipper Tedesco was knocked out after he got his head into the wrong position as he attempted a cover tackle on a rampaging Kikau.
In the 27th minute, the news got even worse when star signing Dominic Young was sent off after an ugly high shot on Bulldogs fullback Blake Taaffe.
At halftime, Yvonne Sampson called it: “Potentially the worst 40 minutes the Tri-Colours have ever experienced.”
But despite being a man down, the Roosters nearly pulled off the unthinkable, bringing the score back to 26-20 in the 57th minute as they looked like they were going to storm to the win.
In horrific conditions, players were dropping like flies with headknocks and injuries
When the Bulldogs’ Harrison Edwards was stretched off the field after falling off a tackle and seemingly being stepped on, Canterbury were able to right the ship with a Matt Burton try to get out to 30-20.
With eight minutes remaining, the job got even harder for the Roosters when Victor Radley was sin binned for a hip drop and yet the side was able to score through Daniel Tupou, setting up a grandstand finish.
However, the fairytale was not to be, as the Bulldogs held on for the win.
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