NRL 2023: Canterbury boss Phil Gould’s fresh attack on referees in withering Channel 9 spray

After another weekend filled with contentious on-field calls, Canterbury boss Phil Gould has renewed his attack on NRL referees in a withering spray.

Canterbury Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould in Toowoomba to visit St Mary's College rugby league program students and staff, Tuesday, November 29, 2022. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Canterbury head of football Phil Gould is set to test the patience of the NRL after renewing his attack on the use of the bunker and suggesting referee Gerard Sutton loves sending players to the sin bin.

Gould, who has been asked to tone down his commentary around incidents involving Canterbury by the NRL, also insisted he would not be silenced when it comes to discussing the Bulldogs.

“I can talk about Bulldogs any time I like, particularly when they get it wrong, and they get it wrong a lot,” Gould said.

“You can single out incidents in every single game. You know why they are getting so much wrong, it is the nitpicking.

“It is the nitpicking in the bunker. They must have a giant magnifying glass to pick up stuff no one can possibly see, it goes on every week.

Phil Gould has been outspoken in his criticism of referees this season – and the NRL has taken notice. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Glenn Campbell

“They want to find something that no-one else can find. They want to find it and just spoil the moment, it is ridiculous and it is just ruining the game.

“The problem with it is our officials keep supporting it and saying you can’t criticise it, and they should be allowed to continue what they are doing.

“That is ruining the game as well.”

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo spoke to Bulldogs chief executive Aaron Warburton recently about Gould’s outspoken view on the game, particularly when it came to live incidents involving the Bulldogs.

Abdo made it clear he wasn’t trying to silence Gould. However, his preference was for Gould to be more selective in his commentary, particularly when it came to the Bulldogs.

Gould said leading referee Gerard Sutton loves sending players to the sin bin. Picture: Getty

Gould couldn’t contain his frustration on Monday night. The Bulldogs boss has been a strident critic of the game’s increasing use of technology and he vented his fury after another weekend when the bunker came under the microscope.

Gould suggested the referees themselves were divided over the use of technology and said the referees had been given too much power.

He also pointed to some of the inconsistencies at the weekend, in particular the decision to penalise Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney for what was deemed a hip drop and then to ignore an incident involving Tino Fa’asuamaleaui that forced Mahoney from the field for a head injury assessment.

Mahoney escaped sanction from the match review committee but Fa’asuamaleaui was charged on Monday morning.

“No-one is in control,” Gould told 100% Footy on the Nine Network.

“They have given the referees too much control of the rule book, you have given the referees too much control of the game.

Reed Mahoney stands over Gold Coast Titans player Moeaki Fotuaika before being penalised for a ‘hip drop’ tackle. Picture: NRL PHOTOS

“The one thing that was advised to me 30 years ago by very smart people in this game (was) do not give them control of the rule book, do not give referees control of video refereeing. He said at the time it will be a disaster for the game.

“Well, it has been a disaster, an absolute disaster. So old mate (Mahoney) here gets put on report here for a hip drop that is not a hip drop.

“He gets put on report and is penalised. Two minutes later he gets hit on the jaw with an elbow. No penalty but he (Fa’asuamaleaui) gets charged the next day.

“How do you justify all that?”

Manly’s Sean Keppie is sent to the sin bin. Picture: Getty

Gould also took aim at Sutton after he sin-binned Manly forward Sean Keppie and Canberra’s Hudson Young in the nation’s capital on Sunday.

“You have to simplify the whole lot,” Gould said.

“There is a whole lot there to unravel. The referees are extremely divided on this. Go and talk to referees and retired referees about the process and everything that happens down there.

“They hate it. We had an incident there where a bloke (Victor Radley) head butts a bloke – put on report, penalty, no sin bin.

“Old mate (Young and Keppie) pushes each other over in the in-goal there when the game is over and he wants to send two to the sin bin.

“Why? Because that referee loves sin bins. It’s on his record. He sin bins more than any other referee. They look for it.”