dying minutes of the game. In 1998 the Bulldogs won the President's Cup competition. The Salary Cap The Bulldogs fallout from a disappointing 2000 season saw a "new breed" of players coming through for 2001. The Bulldogs' outfit aged badly in 2000 with many players past their best and a massive cleanout happened with several new players on the way including Nigel Vagana, Luke Patten, Brett Howland and Darrell Trindall. The Bulldogs finished the Minor Premiership in second position but crashed out of the Finals. The Dally M Rookie of the Year that season was Braith Anasta. Mark O'Meley was signed up for the 2002 season as the club said farewell to captain Darren Britt and his deputy Craig Polla-Mounter. With both of those gone, Steve Folkes opted for Steve Price as captain ahead of the more experienced Darren Smith. Trouble returned in a big way in 2002, with the Club being found guilty of salary cap breaches described by NRL Chief Executive David Gallop as "exceptional in both its size and its deliberate and ongoing nature". The club received a $500,000 fine, and was stripped of all 37 competition points; the club, who were poised to take the Minor Premiership and had won 17 consecutive matches, won the wooden spoon as a result. Club legend Steve Mortimer was brought in to save the club, and the Bulldogs then finished one game short of the Grand Final in 2003. Gang rape allegation At the start to the 2004 season a major off-field scandal allegedly involving Bulldogs players in Coffs Harbour. A number of unidentified players were accused of gang raping a 20-year-old woman at a resort in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. The woman filed a complaint with Coffs Harbour police alleging that she had been vaginally, orally and anally raped by multiple members of the Bulldogs team in the pool area of the Pacific Bay Resort, where the team had been staying, in the early hours of Sunday 22 February. On 27 April, New South Wales Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery informed detectives that he did not believe there was sufficient evidence to prosecute any Bulldogs players. The police accordingly decided not to lay charges. Following the incident Football Manager Garry Hughes was sacked and Steve Mortimer stepped aside as Chief Executive. Former Test forward Bradley Clyde was named the new Football Manager and News Limited Executive Malcolm