Canterbury may have lost the element of surprise, but veteran halfback Brett Kimmorley believes the Bulldogs have enough new tricks up their sleeve to remain an NRL premiership force.

The Bulldogs went within a whisker of achieving the unthinkable in 2009, with only a Steve Clark video refereeing clanger preventing them from becoming the first side to rise from the wooden spoon the previous season to take out the minor premiership.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the club, as rookie coach Kevin Moore worked miracles with a playing roster which had undergone a dramatic off-season makeover.

"We started the year last year with everyone playing us down a bit and not expecting us to go as well as we did," Kimmorley said.

"We probably got the jump on everyone ... we probably don't have that any more.

"Obviously it's going to be hard for us, but we'd like to think we can achieve everything we achieved last year and get better."

Yet, as Kimmorley looks back, even he is amazed with what the club accomplished in 2009.

"A lot of players were coming from lots of different clubs and it was Kevie's first year as coach, I suppose we were thinking hopefully we'll go okay and have not too bad a season," Kimmorley said.

"Obviously our expectations changed and we came together very well ... the tightness of the club helped with our success.

"That's why I think it was fast-tracked, because we got back to the strengths of what the club was about five or 10 years ago."

While the latest recruiting drive may not have been as widespread as last off-season, the Bulldogs have managed to fill holes with quality players.

Wingers Steve Turner (Storm) and Junior Tia Kilifi (Panthers) were brought in to battle for the sport vacated by retired point-scoring genius Hazem El Masri, while Dene Halatau (Tigers) is a like for like replacement for departed backrower Greg Eastwood (Leeds).

The spine of the side remains the same, with Kimmorley confident fans will see the benefits of he, fullback Luke Patten, five-eighth Ben Roberts and hooker Michael Ennis having spent 12 months together.

"We haven't had to go back to basics and learn each other's plays," Kimmorley said.

"We've got a base to work off.

"We've tinkered with our game to make sure we've got a few extra bows up our sleeve to make sure we're a better footy side ... we've been able to expand our game a little bit."

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