Canterbury Bulldogs coach Dean Pay has paid the ultimate price for his side's long stretch of poor NRL form.
The club has 'mutually agreed' to part ways with Pay, effective immediately, during what looms as a third straight season without a playoffs appearance.
Pay's departure opens the door for the clear frontrunner to take over the role - Penrith assistant and former Manly coach Trent Barrett - while ex-Queensland coach Kevin Walters and Brad Fittler are also understood to be on the short list of contenders.
Meanwhile, current assistant Steve Georgallis will step in as interim coach, starting with Saturday's match against St George Illawarra.
Pay, whose contract was set to expire at the end of this season, has expressed gratitude for the chance to coach the team, after 108 appearances as a player from 1989-95.
"I'd like to thank the Bulldogs for the opportunity to be the head coach at a club that has always meant so much to me," Pay says.
Since taking over from Des Hasler in 2018, Pay has overseen consecutive 12th-place finishes, before slumping to the bottom of the NRL ladder through the 2020 season so far.
Bulldogs chief executive Andrew Hill says call was difficult, but had to be made with the long-term interest of the club in mind.
"These decisions are always tough, particularly when they involve someone who has been part of the Bulldogs family for a long time," says Hill.
"The fact is, though, that the club and Dean have decided that we needed to move in a different direction to take the team forward, and Dean was in agreement that now was the right time for both parties to part ways."
