Widely regarded as "one of the greats", he was instrumental in the Bulldogs' success during the early 1990s, Pay was a skillful ball-playing forward and an especially strong defender.

At the end of the 1994 NSWRL season Pay played at second-row forward for the Bulldogs in their Grand Final loss to the Canberra Raiders.

After winning the 1995 ARL Premiership with the Super League-aligned Bulldogs, the club lost Pay, along with other key players, Jim Dymock, Jason Smith and Jarrod McCracken, to the ARL-loyal Parramatta Eels.

In the following minutes, the Eels suffered one of the worst collapses in finals history occurred when they conceded three tries and ultimately lost the match in extra time 32–20.

[6] Pay launched his coaching career in 2007, at the helm of Dubbo CYMS who went on to claim the Group 11 Rugby League premiership title.

On 6 June 2018, Pay said to the media that he felt sorry for the supporters of the club after Canterbury suffered a humiliating 32–10 loss against the Gold Coast Titans at Belmore Sports Ground.

Canterbury had started the 2019 season suffering heavy defeats against the New Zealand Warriors and arch rivals Parramatta and there was speculation that Pay might be relieved of his duties.

[13] By the midway part of the 2019 NRL season, Canterbury-Bankstown found themselves sitting last on the table and in real danger of finishing with the wooden spoon.

However, for the third straight season, Canterbury achieved four upset victories in a row over Penrith, the Wests Tigers, South Sydney and Parramatta who were all competing for a place in the finals series and were higher on the table.