[2] Also playing in that year's Grand Final, he narrowly missed out on a premiership in his debut season as the Bulldogs beat the Dragons by just one point.
In 1987 Linnane was suspended for 20 weeks by the NSWRL judiciary for eye gouging Penrith Panthers's Greg Alexander.
During the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australasia Linnane was selected to play for the Country New South Wales team against the tourists.
He quit in June 2000 to join the Super League club, Halifax Blue Sox as assistant coach to Gary Mercer.
Following Mercer's resignation in 2001 he was in temporary charge but was later appointed head coach of Halifax Blue Sox on a two-year contract.