Des Hasler and Canterbury could face off in court after the veteran coach was sacked by the NRL club.

Hasler paid the price for missing the finals for the first time in his past 14 seasons as an NRL coach and was told he would not be at the club next year.

The news comes just under six months after the Bulldogs announced the veteran coach had signed a two-year extension to keep him at the club until the end of 2019.

But on Tuesday, the club’s chairman Ray Dib claimed in a statement that deal was never legally binding.

“The heads of agreement reached with Des Hasler for an extension of his contract were non-binding and a decision has been made not to renew his contract for next year,” he said

According to News Corp Australia, Hasler is said to have waited the whole season for a finalised $2 million contract that never arrived from the club.

In turn, it meant the Bulldogs believed they could simply make the decision not to retain Hasler into next season, potentially without the hefty payout that would have accompanied his sacking.

The axing comes ahead of next February’s crunch board elections at the NRL club, where conjecture over the decision to re-sign Hasler was set to be a key factor.

But outgoing captain James Graham told Fox Sports’ NRL 360 on Tuesday night the move to sack Hasler was the wrong one.

“His quest for a premiership became almost dogmatic,” Graham said.

“There was no stone left unturned. His analytical side of the game was forensic. There was not much more he could have humanly possible given.

“As a captain, as part of the playing group we’ve got to bear some of the burden. I do feel like we’ve let him down a bit.”