‘Never believed him’: Family prophecy behind Bulldogs star’s astonishing transformation

Heading into the 2024 season, Canterbury were labelled the “utility Dogs”.

Cameron Ciraldo hit the open market after taking over in 2023, joining football boss Phil Gould as the pair underwent a roster rebuild.

They had landed some marquee signings in Viliame Kikau, Reed Mahoney and Stephen Crichton, but it was their versatile recruits that caught the most attention.

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Connor Tracey, Jaeman Salmon, Josh Curran, Kurt Mann, Blake Taaffe and Drew Hutchison all joined the club for 2024. Puzzling, right?

Wrong. The first four of that group have become integral figures in a Bulldogs side that boasts the ability to plug holes at will, evidenced by Curran’s shift to the centres in Round 8.

But what if there was a player who took the opposite trajectory?

Harry Hayes is that man, having started his rugby league career at the Bulldogs in development squads as a fullback.

From there current assistant coach Luke Vella, who led Canterbury to a Jersey Flegg premiership in 2023, shifted the 23-year-old to the centres and the back row.

Hayes found himself on an edge in NSW Cup the next year before one chance moment sparked his emergence as a key cog in Ciraldo’s forward pack.

“Maybe for like 10 or 15 minutes I played in the front row in one of the games, I was a bit surprised because I never had before,” Hayes said to foxsports.com.au.

“A couple weeks later... I debuted, and that was pretty much my first time playing front row.”

A utility turned into a specialist player — maybe the “utility Dogs” moniker doesn’t fit this Bulldogs side?

Yes, Hayes can still ply his trade on an edge, but he has been given a clear and simple path to succeed and he is doing just that, being one of Canterbury’s most reliable players.

What’s more is his grandfather, Merv Hicks, always knew he would be a prop one day.

“It kind of goes back, my pop always told me I’d be in the front row at some stage, he played lock,” Hayes explained.

“And I never believed him, of course because I was a little skinny white kid, but it’s funny how it’s turned out. You got to trust the family, they know what’s the go.”

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That same grandad has ties to the Bulldogs. It’s almost as if Hayes was made to be a permanent member of the Dogs’ pack, even if he couldn’t see it.

“He played back in the 60s when they were the Berries and then he played in the ‘67 grand final when they lost to Souths,” Hayes said.

“That’s kind of special through my family and trying to live on his family legacy.”

It’s lucky Ciraldo could see it, handing Hayes his NRL debut in Round 20 of the 2024 season before a breakout year in 2025 where he played 23 of the team’s 26 games.

That “Bulldogs pedigree” was also an important factor in Hayes being handed a new contract until the end of 2029 — the second-longest of any player alongside Leo Thompson.

“Harry has Bulldog pedigree through his grandfather Merv, and he consistently shows a Club-first mentality every day when he arrives at Belmore,” Phil Gould said in August last year.

In 2026, as aforementioned, Hayes is one of Ciraldo’s first names on the team sheet and is held in incredibly high regard for his attitude and willingness to go to the contest.

So how does Hayes see his role? Especially when he’s partnered in the middle by the likes of Thompson and Sitili Tupouniua, two powerful forwards who make an impact with tough carries.

But not all middles can play that role, some need to just get the hard work done.

“I just want to do my job, whatever the boys need me to do, whatever Ciro (Ciraldo) and the staff need me to do,” he said.

“It’s just making my tackles and getting good carries in for the boys to do their stuff out the back. I feel like it’s a straightforward role for me.

“If something special happens, that’s great, but I don’t feel like I go out there wanting to throw flick passes and all that sort of stuff.

“(Ciraldo) just wants me to compete. He just wants me to go out there, work harder than everyone else and just do my job.”

But sometimes in the NRL, players who have shifted positions aren’t too pleased about it.

Take Zac Lomax for an example. Most could see he was most effective on the wing, but he was disgruntled at the Dragons after being shifted from centre, his preferred role.

That’s not to say he was wrong to feel that way, sometimes it’s just the right thing to do — and it’s lucky for Ciraldo his fullback turned prop loves the rough and tumble of the middle.

“I love it, I love it,” Hayes said of his life as a prop.

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“You’re in the midst of it all. You’re either running at three or four blokes or you’re tackling one big bloke and you’ve got the other boys right next to you.

“It’s pretty fun, you’re always doing something. It gets hard for sure but I think that’s the fun part about it.

“It’s fun getting used to, you feel like you’re part of the game at all times... it’s a whole different fitness to what I was used to.”

In order to fully commit to his role, Hayes also put himself through a rigorous off-season schedule in a bid to bulk up before pre-season.

“I did, yeah. I lost a little bit of it after running through pre-season, but I’ve kept it on a little bit,” he said.

“Obviously at the end of the season you’re still feeling sore and stuff like that, everyone’s got little niggles and I had some I just wanted to maintain.

“I was actually going to Presto’s (Jacob Preston) brother’s gym, a little spot in French’s Forest and he helped me out over the eight weeks.

“I was feeling pretty good going into pre-season so it helped me out a lot.”

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