Locker Room: Phil Gould’s six words that should frighten the rugby league world

On Tuesday night, Phil Gould held an extraordinary gathering of 850 guests and Bulldogs luminaries in the palm of his hand for six minutes, revealing a mission statement that should frighten the rest of the NRL, writes DAVID RICCIO.

Phil Gould isn’t a scary man.

He likes watching old episodes of Seinfeld, a Saturday punt and as he told us recently on X, going for a swim after a productive day.

Fairly normal stuff.

‘Gus’ doesn’t mind sharing random facts about himself either, as was the case when for the six-minutes he held 850 guests in the palm of his hand, during the Bulldogs’ extraordinary 90th anniversary gala at the Sydney Town Hall last Tuesday night.

“The last time I was here, I was 11 years of age singing in a combined high school choir,” Gould began.

“I only did it to get out of school and it didn’t go too well.

“So I hope tonight goes a bit better.”

Not scary at all.

Phil Gould had a meeting of Bulldogs powerbrokers in the palm of his hand.

Yet just after 10pm, following a dinner menu of wagyu bresaola and pasture raised chicken breast and ice cold Asahis, the Canterbury Bulldogs GM of football used six words that should frighten the hell out of the rest of the NRL.

And if ‘Gus’ gets his way – remembering what happened when he took charge all those years ago at Penrith – it will shake the foundations of the rest of the rugby league world.

“This is our 90th year celebration,” Gould said.

“It’s our aim, certainly our goal, for when we come together in 10 years time for our 100th year anniversary, that we’re not just recognised by the people in this room as the biggest and best club in rugby league, but throughout the world.

“That the Bulldogs, is the number one club in rugby league. That’s our aim.’’

Number One. Club. In. Rugby. League.

Look out Penrith, look out Broncos. Look out world.

Gould’s bold mission statement says everything about where the Bulldogs believe they are headed – and where they’ve come from.

Which is exactly what the extravagant gala event was about last Tuesday night.

To a backdrop of Steve Mortimer’s 1980 grand final jersey and rare footage showing 90 years of the Bulldogs proud history, guests watched as former captain Steve Price cried in announcing the induction of the legendary Steve Folkes into the Hall of Fame.

This was a night that had to be witnessed to be believed.

They laughed when fellow Hall of Fame inductee Hazem El Masri joked about his first day of Bulldogs training.

Gould told the event he wants the Dogs to be the No. 1 club in league. Credit: Supplied.

“Up on the wall of the gym were the letters A, B and C,” the great El Masri said.

“A was train hard, B was play hard and C was drink hard.

“For a nondrinking Muslim, I was wondering if I would ever fit in here.”

By far, this was the most lavish NRL club function this columnist has witnessed in 25 years of covering the great game.

It was a night that you walked away thinking that if the current Bulldogs squad didn’t walk into training on Wednesday feeling taller, then coach Cameron Ciraldo is wasting his time.

So big was the planning of the event, Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton created an event organising committee six months ago.

It rivalled the glitz and glamour of the Dally Ms.

In front of a huge invite list, all seated inside the 156-year-old building and included past Canterbury players, coaches, board members, CEO’s, sponsors, club legends and fans, who had paid $90 for a seat in the Town Hall mezzanine, Gould delivered a mic-drop speech that should have every Dogs fan salivating for 2025 and beyond.

Without so much as a doodled napkin or post-it note of scribbled words, Gould’s off-the-cuff speech wasn’t even on the run sheet until that morning.

“I’ve had the good fortune throughout my career to attend a number of these types of nights at different clubs,” Gould said.

“Milestone nights and season launches, but nothing quite like this.

“That comes as no surprise given that we’re the Bulldogs.

“We are the biggest and we are the best.’’

The crowd lapped it up.

Gould continued.

“In the last couple of years that I’ve been back at the club where we’ve been working on recruiting players and coaches and encouraging them to come along to the Bulldogs in what was a difficult time for us, the thing I kept saying was this is the biggest and best club in the league,’’ he said.

“And that, you’re going to get a taste of it at some stage.

“You got a taste of it last year when the boys worked so hard to get a few wins for us and the fans came out to support us.

“We got a feel of the buzz and what the supporter base is like.

“But something like this tonight, is next level.

“We can talk to the players about the past and we always try to.

Reed Mahoney and Matt Burton celebrate a try last season.

“Everything that we talk about in our pathways programs and to also our top 30 roster is we try to get them to connect with the past and what this great club means and its history.

“But to enjoy a night like this, to hear from our ex-players, it’s an eye opener for our players.

“It’s a club that once you’ve played here, it gets into your heart, it gets into your blood, it gets into your bones.

“No club has had a 90-year night like this one, to boast the legends that we have, the ups and downs we’ve had, the battles, the great eras and the very tough eras.

“Whilst everyone has spoken about the past, I just want to make a brief reference to how I see the future, or at least what future we’re trying to build.

“Our pathways program in such a short space of time has been outstanding.

“This weekend in our first grade (NRL) trial against Western Suburbs (Wests Tigers), a lot of our top first grade players won’t be playing, we’re saving them for the week after.

“We’ve named 28 players this weekend.

“I looked at the list this morning, 21 of those have come through the recent pathways programs at the Bulldogs.

“That’s no fluke.

“Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog. That is our program.

“To coach the Bulldogs DNA into our club, to make this the biggest and best club in the world. That is our program.

“And when we come back in 10-years time, we can celebrate that fact.”

You can’t say we haven’t been warned.

Originally published as Locker Room: Phil Gould’s six words that should frighten the rugby league world