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Sonny Bill Williams; too much pressure says Folkes

STEVE Folkes concedes the Bulldogs have been too dependent on Sonny Bill Williams and has promised an attacking overhaul in 2008 to help salvage a season already mired in controversy.

Kick off can’t come soon enough for Folkes and his Bulldogs after one of the more turbulent off-seasons in recent NRL history.

The Dogs lost two of the game’s better props – Mark O’Meley and outspoken Willie Mason to fierce rivals Sydney Roosters – while a boardroom coup cost CEO Malcolm Noad his job and left Folkes in serious danger of not having his contract renewed beyond this season.

With premiership-winning halfback Brent Sherwin also released in the off-season, Folkes must find new spark in his attack despite losing three players who were so pivotal to their bulldozing style.

Guilty of relying too heavily on young superstar Williams in 2007, Folkes wants the lesser names to take ownership of the team.

Paging potential gamebreakers Ben Roberts, Willie Tonga, Daniel Holdsworth and Reni Maitua. That means you. No longer can players hide behind the proven ‘pass it to SBW’ game plan.

“Sonny can do some things that I’ve never seen other people do so he’s a very talented player for sure,” said Folkes.

“(But) we don’t want to make him the focal point, other guys have to take some responsibility as well.

“We don’t want to lump it all on his shoulders and I guess that’s what most of the stuff that surrounds the structure we’ve introduced is to take focus off him and share the workload with the ball and give ourselves a few more options than just going to him.

“I think we were ranked first in linebreaks (in 2007) but we were a little one dimensional and we sort of faltered at times on the opposition line.

“That’s why we introduced the structure. To give the ball players and ball carriers more options and try to move the defence around a little bit more.

“We certainly were inconsistent from week to week and from minute one to minute eighty a lot of the time.

“I think just the accountability of the structure that we have introduced will mean that if guys don’t play their role then we will be asking them why and if they haven’t got a suitable answer well then they might be spending some time with the reserve grade team.”

While the loss of Mason and co has resulted in the Bulldogs going from traditional pre-season favourites to underdogs, skipper Andrew Ryan said the squad were still confident of fighting for the title.

“We definitely want to be in the top eight to give it a shake,” said Ryan. “We think with the pre-season and squad we have we can definitely be a challenger for it.

“The main thing for us, as with every team, is consistency. We need to improve our home game percentage. Last year we were really good away but at home we were pretty poor.”

The Bulldogs will start 2008 with their first four matches at ANZ Stadium against Sydney clubs before travelling across the ditch to play New Zealand Warriors.

And Folkes has plenty of incentive for a quick start, told he has just seven weeks to prove he deserves another contract at the club.

“It’s a solid start with Parramatta, Souths, Wests and the Roosters,” said Folkes.

“We’ll certainly know how things are going after that. We want to jump out of the blocks nice and quick and just bring good form from the start, both to get some points on the board on the competition table but to also give us some confidence.

“I don’t expect what we’ve been doing to click immediately but that first month will certainly give us a fair idea of how we are going and where individuals are at.”

Sonny Bill pivotal to Bulldogs NRL results

With only a month to go until the Bulldogs face the Parramatta Eels in what should be a blockbuster NRL game, Sonny Bill Williams is reported to be well on track with training and condition for his assault on the 2008 NRL comp.

Completely over his injury concerns, Sonny Bill has made a point to stay out of the limelight and put his focus on pure conditioning for his big upcoming year.

As a senior player in the Bulldogs ranks now with Willie Mason and Mark O’Meley gone, NRL Results are hinging on Sonny Bill and his ability to guide the Bulldogs through tough times. Coach Steve Folkes knows the blow torch will be applied early on and he personally needs the Dogs to fire or it could be a disaster all round in 2008.

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Sonny Bill Williams big ask in 2008

It probably is the toughest year the Bulldogs have faced in a long, long time. Their NRL campaign has been thrown off course before it has already begun; player revolts, leading players leaving the club and infighting by management – the Bulldogs aren’t a happy Rugby League home right now.

The pressure to perform will no doubt fall back on Sonny Bill Williams, a new level of pressure too from the gap left by former big name Willie Mason.

Fresh from injury late in 2007, Sonny Bill Williams will be looking to up the ante and continue his meteoric rise in the Rugby League ranks. The Dogs will also look to some boom rookies to assist SBW in his tough ask this year and they usually are able to unearth some decent talent, generally when the chips are down.

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