Bulldogs lock Travis Norton admitted the club's salary cap woes were part of the the reason he signed with North Queensland for next season.

But the 27-year-old was also lured to the tropics by the Cowboys' improvement and the chance to be near his Mackay-based family.

The Bulldogs are struggling to retain all their off-contract players under a reduced salary cap of $2.9 million for 2004.

All players took a pay cut at the end of last season after the club lost 37 competition points for massive breaches of the salary cap.

"I wouldn't say (the salary cap problem) was a major part but it was part and parcel of (the decision), I suppose," Norton said today.

"Everyone knew the Bulldogs were going to have lose players for next season, so someone was going to have to leave.

"I saw the opportunity to go up there and the Cowboys seem to be playing some pretty good football."

Norton does not believe he signed away the chance to play finals football when he agreed to a three-year contract with the habitual cellar-dwellers.

"I wouldn't have signed with them if I thought they were going backwards and I see them as going places in the future and I want to be part of that," he said.

"Just how rapidly that comes about will be up to the players."

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