Based in Belmore, a suburb of Sydney, the Bulldogs in 1935 were admitted to the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) competition, a predecessor of the current NRL competition.
At the time it made them the quickest club (barring the founding clubs) to win a premiership after admission to the competition, a record which was only recently beaten in 1999 by the Melbourne Storm.
During the 80s, the Bulldogs were a dominant force in the competition appearing in five Grand Finals, 1980, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1988, winning four of them which was 1980 (18-4 against Eastern Suburbs), 1984 (6-4 against Parramatta Eels), 1985 (7-6 against St. George Dragons) and 1988 (24-12 against Balmain Tigers), only to lose in 1986 (4-2 against Parramatta Eels).
In the 90s they featured in the 1994, 1995 and 1998 Grand Finals, winning in 1995 (17-4 against Manly Sea Eagles), but losing in 1994 (36-12 against Canberra Raiders) and in 1998 (38-12 against Brisbane Broncos).
The tryscorers were Hazem El Masri and Matt Utai, and the Clive Churchill Medal winner was Willie Mason.