‘He gets targeted’: Phil Gould launches fiery defence of Reed Mahoney

Phil Gould has launched to the defence of Reed Mahoney after the rugged Bulldogs hooker was charged for two incidents over the weekend.

Canterbury supremo Phil Gould has launched a passionate defence of firebrand Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney, declaring he’s unfairly targeted by opposition players, coaches, fans and the media.

Mahoney will be available for the Bulldogs when they take on Newcastle at Accor Stadium on Sunday after he escaped suspension despite being charged twice in last week’s win over Cronulla.

He was cited when he collected Toby Rudolf high and again when he dived on Daniel Atkinson, who was on the ground trying to retain a bouncing ball.

The Atkinson incident divided opinions about whether Mahoney had hit the Sharks half in the head.

Throughout his career, Mahoney has proven himself one of the hardest workers – last year he made the most tackles in the competition by a margin of 128 – but has also been noted for his niggle and penchant for getting under the skin of opposition players.

Reed Mahoney was not sin-binned for his dive on Daniel Atkinson.

On his Six Tackles with Gus podcast on Wednesday, Gould, the Bulldogs’ general manager of football, launched a strident defence of the rugged Queensland-born No.9.

Asked by co-host Matthew Thompson why Mahoney was charged for the Atkinson incident, Gould said: “Because he’s Reed Mahoney … I think he’s one of the most committed and courageous players that I’ve ever seen.”

Gould described Mahoney as one of the hardest-working players in the game and said “his body of work is nearly unsurpassed”.

Gould said Mahoney sometimes “sails a little bit close to the wind” but insisted he had worked hard on his discipline.

“Reed Mahoney gets targeted by opposition coaches, opposition players, opposition fans, he gets targeted by the media,” Gould said.

“They all scream at the referees to target him, but I think a lot of it is unwarranted.

“Every now and then he has a bit of a slip-up, but most players do. If they’re going to be out there for 80 minutes and competing every week, you’re gonna sail close to the wind.

Mahoney was not suspended over two incidents against the Sharks. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

“But that doesn’t make you a bad person or that you’ve done the wrong thing.

“And what he did the other night, there wasn’t much in it at all. But because it’s Reed Mahoney, it creates headlines.”

Mahoney was not sin-binned for either of the incidents against the Sharks.

And the NRL this week said he was one of four players who should have been sent for 10 minutes during round 4 for direct forceful contact with the head.

Gould said the NRL was “sensitive” to collisions and was critical of the penalty awarded to the Warriors in their 24-22 win over the Wests Tigers.

Canterbury general manager of football Phil Gould has launched a passionate defence of Reed Mahoney. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard.

Tigers forward Alex Seyfarth was penalised for a high tackle on Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad that allowed Luke Metcalf to boot the winning penalty with seven minutes on the clock.

Gould described it as a “ridiculous penalty” while also criticising the NRL’s promise to sin bin any player who collects their opposition high from round 5 onwards.

“Forceful collision – that is the name of our game,” Gould said.

“So things are gonna go wrong. People are going to get hurt. Doesn’t mean that people have to be punished for it and it doesn’t mean teams and fans have to be punished for it by sending a player to the sin bin.

“Because a player to the sin bin these days for 10 minutes is a huge, huge loss and it’s a massive thing to overcome and we see teams that can’t overcome it … Sending players off, suspending players, that is not the solution.”

Originally published as ‘He gets targeted’: Phil Gould launches fiery defence of Reed Mahoney