Saint, Sinner, Shoosh: Gould must focus on fixing the Bulldogs, Nathan Cleary’s secret session

Gus Gould is earning $800,000-a-year at the Bulldogs yet he’s too busy with his other work to attend matches – no wonder Belmore powerbrokers were uneasy with his Origin ambitions.

Penrith Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary is the ultimate professional.

On Wednesday, the Panthers were given the afternoon off to relax and escape the media frenzy in the countdown to the decider.

Instead the 25-year-old half snuck in a secret session at Accor Stadium with legendary goalkicking coach Daryl “Radar” Halligan.

Cleary spent more than an hour at the venue working on his technique.

He had the stadium all to himself outside of a handful of ground staff. The only difference this afternoon will be 85,000 backsides on the seats – and the pressure of a grand final day.

The battle of the sharpshooters – Cleary v Brisbane’s Adam Reynolds – will be so crucial.

Reynolds has a fantastic goalkicking record at Accor and knows every blade of grass, having called the stadium home for all of his career at South Sydney.

Nathan Cleary attempts a conversion at Accor Stadium. Credit: NRL Images.

Both are in sensational finals form – Reynolds has landed 11 from 11 and Cleary 12 from 13.

Halligan has been a kicking consultant at the Panthers since Ivan Cleary returned in 2019. He also worked for Ivan in New Zealand from 2006 to 2011 when he coached the Warriors.

Halligan can remember all those years ago when a young Nathan would help out at goalkicking practice by returning the balls from behind the posts.

“Nathan’s one of the hardest workers I’ve seen,” Halligan said, “not just with his kicking but all parts of his game. His work ethic is one thing, but the talent is there too.

“Kicking a football is about getting into the right space and the right zone.

“You can work your strike out but then it’s your shape and the path. He works so hard at it.

“It’s going to be a great duel with Adam Reynolds. They are both outstanding.”

Dale Finucane and Michaela Baranov delivered a beautiful rendition of Simply the Best.

SAINT

Sharks star Dale Finucane and his outstanding guitar play at the Dally Ms for the moving tribute to the league greats who passed away this year. He sang Simply the Best beautifully alongside singer Michaela Baranov from Peking Duk.

SINNER

A terrible turn out from bottom-eight clubs at the Dally Ms on Wednesday night. We understand many players are on holidays but it’s still not good enough, especially Sydney- based players, coaches and officials from clubs like the Roosters, Rabbitohs, Manly and Parramatta who could have been there.

SINNER II

Sydney Swans captain Callum Mills has undergone shoulder surgery after wrestling a teammate at the team’s Mad Monday celebration in a Surry Hills pub. He ruptured his rotator cuff and will miss the start of next season. Could you imagine the outrage and media coverage had it been an NRL star.

Phil Gould caught Bulldogs officials off guard. Picture: Julian Andrews

SHOOSH

Canterbury officials were almost caught off guard by general manager Gus Gould offering his services to Freddy Fittler to replace Greg Alexander next year with the Blues. Gus, who is on $800,000-a-year at Belmore, doesn’t even attend all Bulldogs games because of his heavy load of commitments. Then he wanted to take on more. Then Freddy quit. Bulldogs’ directors are already nervous about February’s club elections and the reaction from members to another year of failure. At what point does Gus focus on getting his own struggling coach, Cameron Ciraldo, up to speed.

SPOTTED

It’s been a tough few weeks of depressing reviews for South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou since the Rabbitohs bombed out of finals contention. It gets even worse. He’s about to enter hospital for knee surgery to repair an old footy injury.

SPOTTED

A punter took his nine-year-old son to a barber shop on the south coast last week where they bumped into Dragons stars Jack Bird and Tyrell Sloan, who stopped for a chat and did selfies. As they were leaving, the dad went to pay for the haircut. It wasn’t required. Sloan had already paid for it before he left.