NRL 2023: Trent Robinson, Phil Gould trade barbs over Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii rugby move

Phil Gould and Trent Robinson’s vicious verbal stoush has escalated in a stunning back and forth between two of rugby league’s most powerful figures. READ IT ALL HERE.

(L-R) Trent Robinson and Phil Gould.

A slanging match has erupted between NRL heavyweights Trent Robinson and Phil Gould over Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s impending defection to rugby union.

The war of words has taken the spotlight away from the Sydney Roosters’ blockbuster Thursday night clash with Parramatta at Allianz Stadium.

Roosters coach Robinson let fly at Gould over his “ridiculous” suggestion that Suaalii should leave the NRL immediately, only for Canterbury’s general manager of football to fire back: “You mistake me for someone who cares what he says”.

Robinson on Wednesday spoke publicly for the first time since Suaalii’s three-year, $1.6 million deal with Rugby Australia from 2025 was confirmed.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s rugby defection has caused angst. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

He declared Gould should worry about his own backyard at Belmore, while also giving the youngster’s management a little clip over the way the star centre’s code switch contract negotiations were handled.

Here’s how rugby league’s latest feud played out.

THE INITIAL OUTBURST

Gould led the outrage brigade on Channel Nine’s 100 Per Cent Footy on Monday night.

Gould: “Go now. Don’t let the door hit you on the arse on the way out. Go. Go now. Gone. He’s made his decision. You sign a contract for rugby 18 months before his league contract ends.

“He’s a tremendous athlete and is great for the game. But he’s decided to be a rugby player. Bye bye. Off you go.”

Robinson: “It’s a ridiculous comment. That’s a guy who is looking after another club, yeah a ridiculous comment to say about Joey and what he (Gould) would do. He can stick to his turf and we can stick to ours and how we want to deal with it.”

THE FEAR FACTOR

Robinson then questioned where Gould’s comments were coming from.

Robinson: “It (Gould’s comments) showed a bit of fear for me about another code. Lots of players sign a year out. Coaches go between rugby union and league. To come out against Joey as a 19-year old shows a bit of fear about the building (Rugby Australia) across the road from us.

Roosters head coach Trent Robinson has hit back at Gus.

“I feel like there has been a lot of back and forth between the two codes.

“But the fact is we have the best rugby competition, league or union, in the world. That’s what the NRL is, it’s by far the best competition.

“They know it, and we know it. They all know this is the hardest, longest competition in the world. There’s no fear. We are always going to attract players that want to be their best. Players will come and go.

“So stay cool, relax. Don’t come out with fearful comments about other codes. Stand tall on what our game is.”

Gould, speaking on the Six Tackles With Gus podcast, argued Suaalii’s signing would act as an incentive for other players to follow suit.

Gould: “I fear nothing, and I fear no one, so I don’t know what he’s talking about there.

“It is, it’s a competition between the codes. You can’t get away from that fact.

“I think it’s a kick in the guts for the Roosters, I really do, and I think they’ll be quite upset about it on the inside.

“It means nothing to me, but I’m quite sure it will be a kick in the guts for the people there who have nurtured him and brought him through.

“What I do have is a concern that when this happens it’s an incentive for other players to want to do the same. It’s going to blow our market out of the water, too. We can’t afford to be paying those sort of players $1.6 million (a year).

“Which means, what do we do with these fellas? Do we keep them in the system and spend our time... only to see them, even before they’ve reached the peak of their career, jump over there because they’ve got the money to do it?

Bulldogs general manager of football and Channel Nine commentator Phil Gould.

“I don’t want (the NRL) to be a feeder system to anything else. But I’ve predicted this all along.

“We’ve got some outstanding young players, we’ve spent a lot of money, a lot of time, put a lot of emotional effort into the development of young players. It’s my passion.

“What I don’t want is them thinking, ‘Ok that’s a stepping stone, because at 21 or 22 when I’ve made my name I can go and get myself a couple million dollars in rugby’.

“Don’t be using rugby league as a stepping stone to that. I don’t like that, and I don’t believe anyone would.”

RUGBY PROMOTION

Robinson has had the likes of former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika and France rugby international Freddie Michalak on his staff as he looked for any possible advantage for the Roosters. While Gould last month interviewed Wallabies coach Eddie Jones to promote rugby on Stan.

Robinson: “I really like rugby union, it’s ok to say as a rugby league guy you like the game.”

Gould: “I don’t care that Trent Robinson loves rugby. I don’t love rugby, I don’t even watch rugby. I have no interest in it whatsoever.”

SUAALII’S RUGBY NEGOTIATIONS

Questions have been raised about the way Suaalii’s management negotiated the rugby deal, with claims the Roosters were kept in the dark.

Robinson: “There are two parts to it. There is a protection of your own players and wanting to look after them because they are not going to stand up and have that really strong voice.

“But also, at some point Joey does need to stand up and have a voice because he has also put himself in the spotlight by the way he plays, just purely from his action. Also, from the way they have negotiated the contracts. He needs to talk about that and his desires at some point.

“If you’re going to be the best, I have seen some guys in my past that have put themselves out there like this and they have had to back it up on the field and they’ve had to cop criticism but ultimately it has got the best out of them if they have handled it well.”

Robinson has challenged Suaalii to improve his on-field performance.

ROBBO’S REAL CONCERN

Robinson said he never expected Suaalii to a be “10-year player”, but in his remaining time with the Roosters, has challenged him to improve his game after switching from the wing to centre this season.

A Fox Sports Lab analysis showed Suaalii is lagging behind the game’s elite centres, like Brisbane’s Kotoni Staggs, Newcastle’s Dane Gagai, North Queensland’s Valentine Holmes and South Sydney’s Campbell Graham, on key statistics like; tries, try assists, run metres and linebreaks.

Suaalii has scored one try in three games to Staggs’ four from four matches, and is 12th in average try assists (0.3) per game for starting centres behind Gagai and the Dragons’ Zac Lomax.

He’s 11th for average run metres per game (131metres) which is led by Holmes (154m) and Suaalii is seventh behind for linebreaks (0.7) behind leader Graham.

The area he is standing tall in is tackle busts where Suaalii is second with an average of 4.7 behind teammate and right centre Joseph Manu (5.5).

“He’s about to be four games into the centre role, he’s in a learning phase. He’s going to push for his best and so are we,” Robinson said.

“(I like) the intensity he plays with both offensively and defensively. I have seen stuff I want him to improve on, we have discussed that. The simple daily coaching meeting you have, we are on a path to getting better than what he was in the first three rounds, we want big improvements over the next couple of years.”

Originally published as NRL 2023: Trent Robinson, Phil Gould trade barbs over Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii rugby move