He has been given permission to leave the club.
Canterbury Bulldogs captain Raymond Faitala-Mariner has been given permission to leave the club, but is yet to find any concrete offers to play elsewhere in 2024.
Appointed club captain at the start of 2023, Faitala-Mariner, who was inspirational in coming back from a foot injury that nearly ended his career, struggled to stay on the field again.
He played just 14 games in 2023 due to injuries and sickness that saw him spend a considerable amount of time in hospital.
In the games he did play, he seemingly struggled to find a role within Canterbury’s side. Overtaken for second-row spots by Jacob Preston, Viliame Kikau and others, he found himself either occupying a spot in the middle third, or coming off the bench for coach Cameron Ciraldo, who endured a difficult rookie season in charge at Belmore.
That, as well as other problems around the club’s culture and training workloads, led to the Bulldogs allowing him to negotiate elsewhere for 2024.
However, News Corp is reporting he is yet to receive any concrete offers to lock up his future, despite the fact his name is believed to have been mentioned at a number of clubs.
As it stands, Faitala-Mariner is on contract with the Bulldogs until at least the end of 2025, so he isn’t in a rush to exit if he doesn’t want to, or can’t.
He was at one point late in the season linked to a move to the New Zealand Warriors after he took an impromptu trip across the ditch, but as with most rumours surrounding the Bulldogs, director of football Phil Gould shut it down promptly.
That means Faitla-Mariner is still at Canterbury and will report for pre-season training when the club returns in November, although it’s unclear if he will still have captaincy status heading into the new campaign.
As it stands, Faitala-Mariner would be even further down the pecking order for a spot on the edge at Belmore given the recent signing of Josh Curran, while the middle third could also be propped up if reports regarding Siosiua Taukeiaho – who has been released by Catalans in the English Super League – signing on come to fruition.
