Phil Gould’s annual State of Origin rant against NSW Blues smacks of hypocrisy, writes Phil Rothfield

PHIL ROTHFIELD: Here we go again. Like a broken record, Phil Gould does his mid-July Origin review and slams the leadership of the NSW Blues.

The NSW players have every reason to feel fed up. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

SO HERE we go again. Like a broken record, Phil Gould does his mid-July Origin performance review and slams the leadership of the NSW Blues.

The same as last year when it was Paul Gallen and Robbie Farah’s fault.

“I have been astonished by the selfishness around this camp and around this team and in the leadership group and I don’t think it has allowed the team to evolve and to have its own culture and its own chemistry,” Gould said this time last year.

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The NSW players have every reason to feel fed up. (Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

So we change things. Gus’ mate Peter Sterling replaces Bozo Fulton as chief adviser and actually spends time in camp with the team.

John Cartwright comes in as assistant coach. Victoria Cross recipient Mark Donaldson joins the Blues as an assistant manager.

Boyd Cordner replaces Gallen as captain. Mitch Pearce becomes chief playmaker. And Farah gets rissoled.

All we ignored was Gus’ call for his Penrith forward Trent Merrin to be made NSW captain.

Considering he’s not even skipper at the Panthers (behind Matt Moylan) it was a ridiculously stupid suggestion in the first place and rightly disregarded.

So another Origin series has been run and won.

The Blues finish second like they have for 11 of the last 12 years.

How does Laurie Daley feel about Gus’s outburst? Photo: Jenny Evans

This time Gould describes the Blues leadership as a “dog’s breakfast” and declares “the culture of this team is not right and it all starts with leadership”.

Goodness me. Why not just replay last year’s spray. Save us the newsprint.

Seriously you’d stop and listen if Gus was doing even a half decent job at the Penrith Panthers. His club has had its own culture and leadership issues under his watch.

Like Bryce Cartwright and that awful abortion story. Like having to sack Moylan and two other players for breaking a team curfew in Melbourne. It’s not like he’s got a team of choirboys himself.

Then we flashback to Gus’ own days as coach of the NSW State of Origin team.

Like in a May 2004 bonding session when Mark Gasnier sent a drunk and lewd 4am phone message to a woman and had to be sacked from the team.

Roosters fullback Anthony Minichielo was also axed for being out on the town with him.

Mark Gasnier was sacked after sending abusive text messages. Photo: Brett Costello.

The same year five of Gus’ players — Willie Mason, Trent Waterhouse, Craig Wing, Craig Gower and Mark O’Meley — were fined a total of $20,000 for disobeying team orders.

Or we can go back further. Like under Gus’ watch in 1993 when prop Glenn Lazarus was involved in a fracas at a Sydney pub and charged with assault.

Where was the leadership and culture back then? Sounds like it was a bit of a dog’s breakfast as well.

So now to the current set-up and coach Laurie Daley.

Understandably his future as NSW coach is the subject of serious debate.

He’s been let down by two players — Blake Ferguson and Josh Dugan — who are even themselves admitting it was an error of judgment to be at the Lennox Point Hotel on the booze during a team camp in the build-up to arguably NSW’s most important Origin game in history.

Let’s not forget this Blues outfit was three minutes away from winning the series.

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That if Jarryd Hayne had passed the football to Brett Morris at ANZ Stadium on June 21 we’d be celebrating a Blues triumph and not even questioning the culture or the leadership.

Daley has been publicly criticised for not addressing the issues in the media this week.

He has been ordered by the NSWRL management not to comment until a full review of the Blues’ performance is complete. He will answer the annual Gould rant when the time is right.