By James Buckley and Cameron Mee
Unsettled Bulldogs forward David Klemmer has refused to guarantee he will remain at Canterbury beyond 2017, with club officials planning to meet on Monday in a bid to keep the rep forward at Belmore.
Klemmer has confirmed he is working through several issues at the Bulldogs, with a split from ex-player manager David Riolo believed to be at the heart of the situation.
Disgruntled forward David Klemmer has refused to commit to the Bulldogs beyond 2017.Credit: Getty Images
The 23-year-old had long been managed by Riolo, but has opted for a change. Part of the player-manager split means Canterbury paying Riolo out his share of the rest of Klemmer's contract with the Bulldogs, which the club is willing to do.
After playing in Sunday's embarrassing 38-0 loss to Penrith at ANZ Stadium, Klemmer said he was hopeful of resolving his issues with the club.
"There's a couple of things me and the club are working through, we're just trying to put those in place and fix all those and get everything on track," said Klemmer, one of two Bulldogs backing up from Origin alongside Josh Jackson. "It was a bit frustrating but we're working together. I love the club, I don't want to leave here and obviously we're working in place to get everything all sorted.
"There's been back and forth with trying to get things right and a bit of frustration from my end. The club's been very helpful and we're on track to fixing all the things, it's a business thing.
"It's frustrating. I've got a player manager and it's part of the deal. I'll just leave it where it is now . . . the board and the club are trying to help out and it's just one of those things."
Canterbury chief executive Raelene Castle said she was "100 per cent" confident of retaining Klemmer beyond 2017 for the further three years remaining on his contract.
"It's just trying to help Klemmer exit his current player-manager contract and we've been working on that for a number of months," Castle said. "We're just trying to do the final piece in that to make sure he can separate ways with his player manager."
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler was adamant the Blues enforcer would not be leaving Belmore. When asked if Klemmer would be at Canterbury next season, Hasler replied: "Yes. There's no truth pertaining to that story."
Klemmer has three years to run on his contract after last season signing a four-year deal, reportedly worth more than $2 million. Should he leave, Klemmer has been linked with the Wests Tigers, where he would be a straight swap for his close friend Aaron Woods, who is leaving the joint-venture club for the Dogs.