Furious NRL clubs want Phil Gould punished for his outbursts on Channel Nine and social media

There is growing frustration among NRL clubs over what they perceive to be the NRL’s reluctance to censor Phil Gould for his controversial comments on key issues within the game.

The Canterbury Bulldogs general manager and Channel Nine commentator is also a panelist on 100% Footy and his opinions are often polarising but attract plenty of viewers.

However, some clubs are complaining about perceived double standards from the NRL, which is meant to hold the coaches accountable for their comments on a weekly basis. 

They want Gould and the Bulldogs to face breach notices for some of the things he says both on TV and radio and on social media. 

But despite many comments made on television and social media that could attract breach notices, the NRL has not acted to date. 

NRL boss Andrew Abdo is being pressured by clubs to issue breach notices to Gould in the same way other coaches and officials would be punished for rubbishing the game

In recent times, Gould has been at the centre of controversy with his opinions on a range of NRL issues,  one of the latest being his suggestion to reduce serious injuries in the NRL by introducing a five-meter rule instead of the current ten-meter rule.

‘I had a report done for me by my good mate, who was the Panthers doctor for a long time… he came to me and said we have to go back to a five-metre rule,’ Gould said.

‘The 10-metre rule was giving too much momentum into the collisions, and we needed to cut that down. We see a lot of injuries to players bringing the ball back from kick-offs.’ 

Gould also added to the furious backlash surrounding the decision to penalise Broncos forward Martin Taupau over his accidental but sickening blow to the head of Canberra winger Jordan Rapana. 

He claimed that referees are trying their best to award a penalty every time a player gets injured, which has become ‘toxic’ in the game.

And the wife of Dragons premiership-winner Rod McGregor recently called out Gould following his shocking comments on concussion.

Gould blew up over Marty Taupau’s hit on Jordan Rapana (pictured), saying: ‘It’s actually become toxic in our game, that every time someone gets hurt, someone’s got to get blamed and punished for it’

When Bulldogs star Viliame Kikau (pictured) got injured Gould said the 10-metre rule should be changed to protect players from injury

Lynn McGregor was horrified after the Bulldogs general manager claimed on Channel Nine that the NRL’s use of the independent doctor in round one across eight matches was ‘the greatest abomination perpetrated on our game in history’.

The NRL is aware of the angst among the clubs, and pressure is mounting on NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys to intervene. 

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that several complaints have been made from clubland.

Rival clubs have even been allegedly recording Gould’s comments and screenshotting social media posts with the aim of presenting them to the NRL if they try to fine one of their coaches for comments they deem inappropriate.

NRL rules prohibit club employees from publicly criticising registered officials within the game, but the governing body is yet to act on any of Gould’s comments.

That includes his comments on the Good Friday game when Bulldogs back-rower Jacob Preston was sin-binned and placed on report for an alleged hip-drop tackle, despite it being a live investigation.

Gould declined to comment when contacted by the Sydney Morning Herald.