Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney has confessed that he questioned his decision to join the club immediately after coming, while also dealing with a difficult debut season as captain.
The 25-year-old arrived in Belmore ahead of the 2023 season and was given the leadership role by rookie coach Cameron Ciraldo, drawing on his finals experience with the Eels.
But what awaited him was a far cry from Parramatta’s grand final appearance in 2022, as the Bulldogs finished in 15th place with only seven wins from 24 games.
Foxsports.com.au questioned Mahoney if it was tough switching from a team that was only one win away from capturing the premiership title to the Bulldogs.
Mahoney admits to temporarily questioning if his move was the right one, but revealed that the character of those around him assured he retained the faith.
“Well they (Parramatta) didn’t make finals either so that made me feel better, look mate you want to come here and think you’re having an immediate impact on the group,” he went on to say.
“I probably put too much pressure on myself to come here and achieve that, which was difficult.
“I believe Kiks (Kikau) and many other boys felt the same way: ‘Oh, I’m not sure I made the right decision.’”
“But when you have really good people around you, coaches and players, and you can see where we’re going and who’s coming, you just keep working every day.”
“You keep building brick by brick, and I think the last 12 weeks of pre-season we have done that and I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
Aside from the 2018 season, in which he only played eight games for the wooden spoon-winning Eels, Mahoney appeared in the finals four additional times while playing under Brad Arthur.
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