Connor Tracey in 'really bad' Bulldogs development as full extent of injury revealed

Bulldogs fans have been delivered another brutal blow, with Connor Tracey's ankle injury appearing far worse than first reported. Phil Gould revealed the Bulldogs' new signing had injured his ankle in one of his last training sessions with the Sharks before announcing the move to Canterbury.

Gould answered a social media question and confirmed the brutal setback about their new backline recruit. "Unfortunately Connor injured himself at Sharks training on Monday," Gould wrote on Platform X. "He won't start running again until mid January."

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"Not ideal. But we will get him 100 per cent right and he should be ready to trial in February. He can play anywhere in the backline."

The injury was most likely in Tracey's final Sharks' session with the club, with the announcement the back would be heading to Belmore coming less than 24 hours later. However, SEN reporter Michelle Bishop has claimed Tracey could be out for a lot longer than first feared. While originally set for a round one debut for his new club, Bishop said Tracey could be set to miss a number of rounds at the beginning of the season.

“Connor Tracey had a bit of an accident at training,” Bishop said on SEN Radio. “24 hours before he actually did the deal (and) signed the new contract at the Bulldogs, he rolled his ankle.

“It’s not just an average roll, it was a really bad roll, he will be out. He will definitely miss the (first) five, six weeks of next season. (He) can’t do much preseason which is a massive blow and you hate to seeing this with rugby league players.” Bishop was full of praise for the Bulldogs having claimed the club has been very supportive of their new recruit, despite the injury happening at a rival club.

Connor Tracey a big inclusion for struggling Bulldogs

Tracey has played every position in the backs in his short 66-game NRL career, the last 64 of them with the Sharks after he made his debut at South Sydney in 2019. Bulldogs general manager of football Gould has a high regard for Tracey and hailed the signing.

"I've always admired Connor as a footballer and I'm very excited he has joined our club," Gould said. "We are really looking forward to welcoming him to the squad." Gould is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to return the Bulldogs to finals football for the first time since 2016. Canterbury finished 15th last season under rookie head coach Cameron Ciraldo, an unacceptable result for such a proud club.

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