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Important SN update for SouthlandPreston's NRLW Bulldogs dream decades in the making
Jasper Bruce, AAP • June 30th, 2025 1:00 pm
Tayla Preston is confident her beloved Bulldogs can reach the NRLW decider in their debut season | Photo: Bianca De Marchi/AAP
When Tayla Preston became Canterbury's inaugural NRLW signing, her mother went out to the garage and rummaged around for a specific family treasure from 20 years earlier.
The last time Canterbury won the NRL premiership in 2004, the Preston family - Canterbury tragics living in Bulldogs heartland - had framed a signed poster of the iconic team.
NRL legends Sonny Bill Williams, Jonathan Thurston, Hazem El Masri and Willie Mason were in the team that pipped the Sydney Roosters in a classic grand final that day.
Two decades on, the Prestons hung the photo frame back up in the family home as a reminder of what Tayla could achieve blazing a trail with the club's first NRLW team.
"We kind of said, 'We'll have to put that up around the house to set a goal'," Tayla Preston told AAP ahead of round one this weekend.
"It's pretty cool to be able to look at that. I'd love to be able to lift the trophy up for the Bulldogs one day."
Tayla Preston, who played two NRLW seasons in Sharks colours, launches a bomb on the Gold Coast | Photo: Dave Hunt/AAP
Along with the Warriors, Canterbury are one of two new NRLW franchises pushing the competition to 12 teams this season.
But for co-captain and playmaker Preston, playing for the Bulldogs is an opportunity many years in the making.
She grew up playing touch football and idolising the likes of Josh Reynolds, Trent Hodkinson and Josh Morris as they wore the famous blue-and-white strip.
Her brother Jarryd was as keen a Canterbury fan, too, and used to run around wearing a pair of Mason's oversized footy shorts he'd been gifted after a game when the siblings were young.
Tayla has since crossed paths with Mason when he's dropped into training for the NSW Women's Premiership team.
"I wasn't game enough to tell him we had a pair of his shorts at home. Maybe one day," she said with a laugh.
So after a lifetime dreaming of playing for the Bulldogs at first-grade level, Preston is determined to make her chance count.
Tayla Preston takes on the Titans defence during her debut NRLW season with Parramatta in 2022 | Photo: Joel Carrett/AAP
Preston insists a grand final appearance, just like that one from 2004, should not be off the cards for the youthful Dogs roster coached by ex-NRL player Brayden Wiliame.
Veteran prop Holli Wheeler, co-captain alongside Preston, and Kiwi Ferns trio Alexis Tauaneai, Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa and Ashleigh Quinlan will be essential to helping Canterbury realise that goal.
"There's no reason why we can't be there on grand final day. We believe we've got the squad to do so," Preston said.
"For us it's just about building that legacy and holding those standards really high for the young girls to be able to see there's a proper pathway now and they can play for the club that they idolise too."
