Did Phil Gould get an attack of the guilts over how Bulldogs have treated Raymond Faitala-Mariner?
Phil Gould knows better than most how the media works, so his whinge about being pictured at an awkward meeting says plenty about where the Bulldogs are really at, writes BRENT READ.
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Phil Gould isn’t exactly renowned for his sense of humour but the Bulldogs head of football gave us a good old laugh this week. A real side splitter.
It all began when Gus caught up with once-exiled forward Raymond Faitala-Mariner last weekend only days after he had been told to stay away from training.
It just so happened the meeting was caught on a phone camera by someone who was sitting in the vicinity.
Gould was apparently unimpressed so he - or someone close to him - pored over CCTV footage to identify the culprit.
Even shared the footage with a member of the media from a rival publication, perhaps in an attempt to help identify those with their hands on the offending phone.
Having satisfied himself that it was a professional photographer, Gould then took to social media to let the world know.
Not that he had an issue of course. No big deal in his eyes. It’s just that members of the Canterbury League Club were gravely offended and wanted to track down the culprit.
Gould even took to social media to explain how the whole thing played out, insisting he wasn’t really bothered by it all.
“I never care about these things, however, the club is rightfully unimpressed,” Gould wrote.
“Leagues Club CCTV has recorded the person responsible. He has now been identified. I am told that he is a professional photographer.
“I have an image of him, and we also have his name. Again, these things never worry me.
“But I just wonder why a professional photographer happened to be at that particular venue, at that time of day, in a very quiet lounge of the club, and prepared to take the photo that he did? I find it hilarious.
“But I guess that’s the world in which we live. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.”
😂😂😂 A photo was taken of me yesterday, in a meeting at Canterbury Leagues Club, and sent to the media for publication. I never care about these things, however, the club is rightfully unimpressed. Leagues Club CCTV has recorded the person responsible. He has now been…
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) November 12, 2023
Several of my Chinese meetings have found their way into the public domain. If a meeting is supposed to be secret, it usually remains that way. I find the obsession laughable though. Particularly the media’s hunger for such stuff. Maybe I should publish my itinerary each morning… https://t.co/1vvehRRrb9
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) November 12, 2023
The responses to Gould’s diatribe were insightful.
This, after all, was a man who once said that if you see him in a meeting in public, it’s because he wants to be seen. Or words to that effect anyway.
Some suggested if Gould was hellbent on keeping the meeting private, perhaps he should have used his office. Maybe even the boardroom.
Anywhere but a lounge at a very public cafe.
Another pointed out that for a bloke who didn’t care, Gould went to an awful lot of trouble to track down the person responsible and then share his findings with the world.
It’s all very contradictory. Gould, as a high-profile member of the media, makes a living out of dissecting the machinations of other football clubs and their teams.
Many consider him a genius.
It’s not uncommon to find the inner workings of his own football club on his own network, in the pages of another newspaper or in a certain Sunday column.
Yet Gould was quick to jump on his high horse on Sunday when this paper got the jump on the Dogs dealings with Faitala-Mariner, which on the face of it appear appalling.
A man who was club captain only a matter of months ago is being squeezed out, although he was thankfully welcomed back to training this week while he remains on their books.
The about-face may have had something to do with the intervention of the players union, which has been monitoring proceedings on multiple fronts at the Bulldogs.
Perhaps someone pointed out to Gould and the Bulldogs that they were arguably in danger of breaching their contract with Faitala-Mariner had they continued to make him stay away.
Or maybe the club and Gould realised there is a way to treat people and Faitala-Mariner deserved better.
Perhaps when he took a break from the one-liners, Gould got an attack of the guilts.
Who knows? At least Faitala-Mariner is now being treated with a level of respect, something his time and service in the game warrants.
The other intriguing thing about the Faitala-Mariner situation is the Bulldogs remain active in the player market even though they have 30 players already under contract for next season.
That’s not including prop Sio Siua Taukeiaho, who is apparently yet to secure a release from French Super League club Catalans.
There are others on their radar as well. It suggests the clean out at the Dogs is far from over. Faitala-Mariner may not be the last player to cop the rough end of the pineapple.
Gould, meanwhile, continued his one-man comedy act later in the week.
“I’m in the Chinese restaurant if any photographers are looking for me,” he wrote on social media on Tuesday.
Sorry Gus, you’re actually not that interesting. But feel free to let us know next time you sit down with one of your players for a difficult conversation.
More than happy to send a snapper along to capture the moment.
I’m in the Chinese restaurant if any photographers are 👀 looking for me … pic.twitter.com/ArkVDtSe3E
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) November 14, 2023
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The AFL attempted to jump on the front foot this week as they announced they would launch their season with four games in NSW and Queensland.
What a time to be alive. The AFL launching a full-blown attack on rugby league heartland by scheduling games in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
They even came up with a catchy name for it. ‘Opening Round’ it’s been dubbed. A stroke of genius.
NRL officials were so concerned ……. they said nothing. Asked for a reaction to the AFL’s latest incursion into rugby league’s backyard, they didn’t think it worthy of a comment.
Might have been a different story if the AFL had launched their season a week earlier while rugby league eyes were on Las Vegas.
Instead, they waited until the NRL was in full swing and booked in four games for NSW and Queensland.
Round 1@NRL goes to Las Vegas
— Mason Cox AFL (@masonsixtencox) November 15, 2023
AFL premiers go to….
A showground for livestock… pic.twitter.com/7v63P5nejr
By then, the NRL will have returned from their Las Vegas sojourn and sharpened their focus on home soil.
Their opening round features games at Parramatta, the Gold Coast, as the Titans make their official bow under Des Hasler, and Brisbane, where the new-look Dolphins feature in a Queensland derby against North Queensland.
Collingwood ruckman Mason Cox didn’t miss the AFL as he enviously eyed off the NRL’s incursion into his homeland.
He then claimed GWS’s home ground was a home for livestock, another pointer to the lack of respect for a club that is yet to make a dent in a region where rugby league reigns.
Others suggested the AFL may have made a mess of their dates. Bizarrely, they could have had clean air.
Instead, they waited for rugby league to come home, potentially flying off the back of a week in Vegas. Whatever the dates, there was little concern at NRL headquarters. ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys isn’t afraid to sink the boot into the AFL. Seems to get a kick out of it actually.
Even he declined to comment. No doubt, he just sat back and smiled.
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