Bulldogs CEO explains decision to change logo

Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton has given some insight into the club’s recent decision to change the club’s logo.

On Thursday, the Bulldogs unveiled their new logo for the 2026 season, marking the first time (outside of decade anniversaries) since 2010 that they have changed their logo.

The new iteration now features the head of a bulldog with what is described as a proud and determined look, while the collar maintains the club’s inaugural insignia.

Reaction to the new design has been swift, with many fans voicing their concerns, believing that the bulldog “looks like Paw Patrol from Temu” and that it had been AI-generated.

However, the CEO has explained that the design was submitted to the NRL 18 months prior to the announcement being released.

“We actually submitted it as you have to do to the NRL about 18 months ago,” Warbuton said on SEN 1170’s Breakfast.

“So, I guess two years ago, on the back of a couple of lean years in terms of the rebuild of the club and where we wanted to head, but really, we had a really complex logo put aside the heritage logo of this year.

“It didn’t embroid well, it didn’t rank well digitally, so we knew we wanted to change our logo, particularly as we head into what is our penultimate decade heading towards 100 (years).

“We didn’t want to do it in halves; we didn't want to change it (now) and then have to change it again in four years.

“We were well behind the pack when it came to what was a clean and bold digital logo.”

One of the other criticisms that was expressed online was that there had been no consultation with fans.

And while Warburton admitted there wasn’t a dedicated fan committee on the logo, he did say that fans were consulted throughout the process, albeit not directly, due to the potential of it leaking.

“We had an internal committee, we did a heap of fan surveys that weren’t directly saying that we’re getting a new logo, but we wanted to get a pulse check for what logos over the 90 years resonated most with the fans and why,” he explained.

“We definitely raised the concept of having a fan committee.

“But the in-house nature of making sure that there weren’t any leaks and we built this with a professional designer that had lots of feedback that was directly pulled from fans around the logos they loved."

The logo will officially take effect from November 1.

Photo credit: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Media