NRL Integrity Unit investigating Meninga over claims he courted Bulldogs duo |
NRL Integrity Unit investigating Meninga over claims he courted Bulldogs duo
May 31, 2026 — 5:00am
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The NRL Integrity Unit is investigating comments made by Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga, who has publicly courted top players including Bulldogs pair Jacob Preston and Matt Burton in pursuit of a marquee star for the expansion franchise.
The NRL-owned Bears last week flew a News Corp journalist to Perth to try and get positive publicity for the club. However, the move has backfired after the Bulldogs complained to the NRL about Meninga openly courting their players, who are under contract until the end of 2027.
Meninga told News Corp the NRL-owned Bears would “be in the picture” to pursue the likes of Preston, Burton and Nathan Cleary if they hit the open market on November 1.
“There has also been a heap of noise around Matt Burton,” Meninga said. “Jacob Preston, he’s someone coming off contract after 2027, we’ll be in the picture. We will have enough money in our cap to maybe chase a Nathan or a Jake if they come onto the open market.”
Meninga’s comments have left him in an awkward position with his employer, the NRL.
The Integrity Unit is investigating the matter. The Panthers told this column they were happy to leave it with the NRL to sort out.
The Bears haven’t managed to land a marquee player for their debut season next year. However, the NRL last year introduced a strict policy about public comments from clubs around signing players, essentially an anti-tampering crackdown that prevents club officials or player agents from publicly courting players who are under contract.
Ironically, the rule was introduced because clubs had a whine about Canterbury boss Phil Gould after he declared Lachlan Galvin was “the best teenage footballer I’ve ever seen” while he was at Wests Tigers. Galvin subsequently joined the Bulldogs after a public fall-out with the Tigers.
The Bears’ public stumbles are becoming all too frequent. You won’t see officials from the NRL’s other newcomers, the Papua New Guinea Chiefs, being quoted about targeting specific players as they are more savvy in the marketplace.
If Gould had said what Meninga did, it would have been back-page news for days and the Bulldogs general manager lashed on TV panel shows. Instead, because Meninga is a Fox Sports darling and a recent employee of the network, nothing has been said.
The Bulldogs – not Gould – have expressed their dismay. Texts and emails have been sent to the NRL about what they see as breaches of the policy.
The Dogs know keeping Burton will be a challenge and have started conversations to let him know their position and what they expect from him over the next year. Preston also remains a priority.
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