Bulldogs coach Dean Pay has assembled a group of the once-feared NRL club’s premiership-winning captains to help return the side to glory.

Past stars George Peponis, Steve Mortimer, Peter Tunks, Terry Lamb and Andrew Ryan will mentor current players at training and on match days.

They will also speak regularly with Pay, who was named coach in September after Des Hasler was sacked and is himself a former Bulldogs premiership player.

Pay says the “captains circle” will provide players with a crucial link to the past.

“There have been so many quality players that have passed through the club in recent years that we would be crazy not to take advantage of their experience and skills,” he said on Thursday.

Pay has said he wants the Bulldogs to have an aggressive and physical playing style, similar to the one he was part of in his seven seasons at the club in the late 1980s and 1990s.