Phil Gould (rugby league)

Phillip Ronald GouldAM(born 24 January 1958), also nicknamed "Gus",is an Australianrugby leaguebroadcaster, journalist, administrator and formerly a player and coach. He works as the General Manager of Football for theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogsin theNational Rugby League(NRL).

Phil Gould
AM

Personal information
Full name	Phillip Ronald Gould
Born	(1958-01-24)24 January 1958 Sydney,New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1976–80 Penrith Panthers 23 2 49 1 105 1981–82 Newtown Jets 17 2 7 0 20 1983–85 Canterbury Bulldogs 40 3 1 0 13 1986 South Sydney 23 1 0 0 4 Total 103 8 57 1 142
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1988–89 Canterbury Bulldogs 47 29 2 16 62 1990–94 Penrith Panthers 115 64 4 47 56 1995–99 Sydney Roosters 125 77 2 46 62 Total 287 170 8 109 59 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1992–96 New South Wales 15 9 0 6 60 2002–04 New South Wales 9 5 1 3 56
Source:

Background

Gould was born inSydney, New South Walesin January 1958. He played junior rugby league withWentworthville Magpies.

Playing career

Graded byPenrithin 1976, he spent two years in the lower grades, before becoming a regular first-grader in 1979.Following the retirement of Penrith's British import starMike Stephenson,Gould was selected as captain of the Panthers at the age of 20, becoming the youngestNew South Wales Rugby League premiershipcaptain sinceDave Brownled Easts in the 1930s. The 1979 season marked the beginning of injury troubles for Gould which ultimately kept him on the sidelines for most of 1980 and which recurred later in his career. Specifically Gould suffered an eye injury which posed a risk of separation of the retina.

Gould moved toNewtownin 1981,whereWarren Ryanwas still honing his innovative coaching approach that transformed the way that top-grade rugby league was played in Australia throughout the next decade. After being also-rans for many years, a turnaround was achieved when Newtown made the1981 Grand FinalagainstParramatta,though losing 20–11.

Gould signed withCanterburyin 1983underTed Glossop,losing in the final to Parramatta 18–4. By now Gould had become regarded as an astute ball-playing forward. Years of playing "smart" to avoid further eye damage had tuned his ball distribution and organising skills.In 1984, under Warren Ryan at Canterbury, Gould was expected to be selected for City Firsts. However, he broke his ankle the afternoon before the selections were announced and did not get back to first grade before season's end,taking no part in the club's 6–4 Grand Final win over Parramatta.

Injuries also took a toll on Gould's 1985 season with Canterbury. He played only 14 first-grade gamesthat year and captained the reserve-grade side into the semi-finals.

After leaving Canterbury at the end of that season, Gould played the final year of his career withSouth Sydneyin 1986, taking the field in 23 first-grade games.It was a springboard to his coaching career as Souths coachGeorge Piggins– himself in his inaugural coaching year – welcomed Gould's opinion and insight on tactics and encouraged Gould to take a leadership role. Souths finished as runner-up in the minor premiership and Piggins was awardedDally Mcoach of the year.

Overall, in his playing career, Gould made 103 first-grade appearances across four clubs.

Coaching career

National Rugby League

A successful coaching career followed for Gould. His first five coaching seasons brought two premierships (with Canterbury in 1988 and Penrith in 1991) and a loss in a Grand Final (with Penrith in 1990). Following their 1991 grand final victory, Gould travelled with the Panthers to England for the1991 World Club Challengewhich was lost to Wigan.

While coach of the Panthers, during a 1994 match Gould was sent from his seat on the sideline to the dressing room by refereeBill Harrigan.Gould left Penrith for theSydney City Roostersin 1995 (actually officially coaching the Roosters for the final game of the 1994 season after having departed Penrith mid-season), at a stage when the once high-flying Roosters club was continually dwelling at the bottom of the ladder. Before joining Easts, the Roosters had made the finals only once since 1983. A long rebuilding phase followed under Gould, enabling them to make some quality signings, one of the most important beingBrad Fittler,the champion five-eighth/centre who had a close association with Gould at Penrith and with the NSW Blues. The Roosters were consistent semi-finalists from 1996 to 2004, though no Grand Final appearances came until 2000, the year after Gould had stepped down as coach and had been replaced in the top job byGraham Murray.Further Grand Final appearances followed in 2002, 2003 and 2004 underRicky Stuart,who won a premiership in 2002, the Roosters' first since 1975.

State of Origin

In 1992, Gould took over as coach ofNew South Walesin theState of Originseries. The Blues were victorious for the next three series. In1995,at the start of theSuper Leaguewar, Gould's NSW side lost 3–0 to thePaul Vautin-coached team of relative unknowns patched together from the ranks of Queenlanders loyal to the ARL.The following year,NSW completed a series whitewash of its own with theBrad Fittler-captained Blues becoming the first and only team to go through a series with the same unchanged squad of 17 players. Gould then stood down, having inspired four NSW series wins in five years.

Gould returned toState of OrigincoachingNew South Walesfrom 2002 to 2004, winning two series and drawing the third. To date, he has been the most successfulNew South Walescoach.

Coaching director

During Ricky Stuart's tenure as coach at theSydney RoostersGould filled a role as Coaching Director at the club.

In May 2011, it was announced that Gould would take up the role of General Manager with thePenrith Panthers.The role was said by club chairman Don Feltis to include direct involvement in all aspects of the football club management particularly the coaching and team support operation. He left the club in 2019.

On 6 September 2019 it was announced that Phil Gould had joined theSt. George Illawarraclub as part of the end of season review and would take up a permanent spot at the club in 2020He would not end up fulfilling this role.

In August 2020, Gould was announced to be joining theNew Zealand Warriorsas a club-wide consultant.

It was announced on July 16, 2021, that Phil Gould had been released from his official role with the Warriors to become the General Manager of theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[1],Gould would continue to have a link with the Warriors to provide assistance to their pathways staff.

On 2 May 2024, Gould was fined $20,000 and given a breach notice by the NRL after going on a rant during a live Channel 9 broadcast about the current state of the NRL. Gould said "Who sits and makes up these rules?… We are so stupid with our rules". Gould also went on to say "Leave the game alone. We are tearing it apart, It is really frustrating watching our game be torn apart by everybody bar the coaches and the players, it just drives me mad. Doctors, lawyers and fans on social media, that's all they listen to. They don't listen to players". After handing down the fine, NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said "Destructive attacks on the game itself will not be tolerated".

Commentary

Gould currently works as an expert for Channel 9 andTriple Mradio during rugby league telecasts, including NRL, State of Origin and International football contests. He also does a weekly podcast called ‘Six Tackles with Gus’ co-hosted by Mathew Thompson. He also writes for theSydney Morning Herald.He is considered controversial within rugby league fan circles for his blunt opinions about the playing and administration of the game. Many of his repetitious commentarycatchphrasesare used to criticise refereeing decisions: they include "dear oh dear oh dear", "no no no no no" and let the ball bounce, you invite disappointment into your life,.

Honours

In the2014 Queen's Birthday Honours List,Gould was appointed as a Member of theOrder of Australia(AM), for "significant service to rugby league football as an administrator, commentator, coach and player, and to the community".

Gambling

In 2011, Gould spoke at a rally in favour ofpoker machinesin which he calledJulia Gillard"the worst prime minister in Australia's history" in part because of her proposed gambling reforms.The same year while commenting on a game for Channel Nine Gould announced "the proposed mandatory pre-commitment that they’ve put forward is rubbish policy. It won’t work, it won’t solve the problem they say they’re going to target, and it will do irreparable damage to the hospitality industry. It won’t work, and it will hurt. You’re 100 per cent right. I’ve never seen a more stupid policy in my life.”This comment was the subject of a complaint to the ACMA who ruled it was not political comment.

External links

• Phil GouldatIMDb