‘A job for an experienced man’: Gould wants veteran coach to replace Barrett
By Christian Nicolussi and Michael Chammas
Updated May 16, 2022 — 8.55pmfirst published at 2.49pmBulldogs boss Phil Gould has given the biggest hint yet as to who will replace Trent Barrett, indicating he believes the next coach will have to be an “experienced man” to lead them out of what he described as rock bottom for the once-proud club.
Speaking on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night, Gould provided a detailed insight into Barrett’s departure from the Bulldogs and where the club goes to now as it looks to return to finals football in the coming years.
Gould admitted his preference was to appoint a caretaker coach for the rest of the year before bringing in an experienced coach to lead the club from 2023.
“My thought at the moment is we put an interim coach in for the rest of the season and then the long-term version of the Bulldogs coaching is a discussion for another time,” Gould said on 100% Footy.
“I don’t have anyone in mind .... I really don’t. We’ll handle the interim role for the rest of the season, then it will be up to how quickly the board will want to know, the sponsors will want to know, players will want to know, future signings will want to know.
“I think it’s a job for an experienced man. It’s not an easy situation. I can remember on this show two years ago, I wasn’t involved with the Bulldogs but I recommended to Trent Barrett that it’s a tough job and I wouldn’t be taken it if I was him. Unfortunately it’s worn him out.“
Shane Flanagan and Paul Green are premiership-winning coaches who are on the open market, but Gould didn’t limit himself to just those two candidates.
“I’m sure they’ll be in the mix,” he said. “I have to see who applies first. No one has applied as yet. Over the next couple of weeks people will start to get busy making applications about what they want to do. They’ll probably want to have a look inside the Bulldogs and see what they’re up against the next 18 months. It’s not going to be an easy time.
“I’d like to think we hit rock bottom today. I’d like to think it doesn’t go any further back from here. There’s still certainly a tough 18 months ahead. In 2024 we only have five or six signed in our top 30 so there’s a real chance to build a roster in the next 18 months.”
Gould had earlier in the day revealed how Barrett “poured his heart out” during a “raw” phone conversation on Sunday night before he resigned as Canterbury coach.
The Bulldogs football manager hopes to have an interim - and internally appointed - coach by Wednesday, and described how the club felt like they had failed Barrett because of his decision to quit.
Speculation went into overdrive over the weekend about Barrett’s future after Friday night’s loss to Newcastle.
Gould had most Dogs fans assuming Barrett was safe after he declared on 100% Footy a fortnight ago: “Trent Barrett will be the coach of the Bulldogs long after I’m gone – long after I’m gone – and he’ll be the long-term coach of the club”.
When asked by the Herald on Monday what had changed in that short time, Gould, who stopped at the gates of Belmore to address the giant media pack, said: “It was Trent’s decision. I certainly wasn’t going to sack him. It’s sad it’s come to this.
“I think the performances and pressure, he got the feeling he didn’t have the solutions for what was going wrong. That’s how he felt at the time. He made the decision on Sunday night. It was a rollercoaster through Saturday and Sunday. Late last night after I had finished the commentary on Nine, we had a long discussion, it was a very difficult discussion, it was pretty raw, he poured his heart out a bit, and he put his heart into this job. It’s sad the way it has ended. Hopefully he finds a bit of respite now and a bit of peace.
“He wanted to end the speculation and any pressure on the board to make a decision, so he took it upon himself [to resign].”
Barrett was cut loose by Manly and now lasted just 18 months into a three-year deal at Canterbury, but Gould said fans had not seen the last of Barrett as a head coach.
Barrett attended a funeral on Monday and was not at Belmore, while several players struck down by flu learned of the news via text message.
“He’s as good a young coach I’ve seen coming through the system, he’s just been in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gould said.
“He’s taken on big jobs because he backs himself and he’s very confident in his own ability. He works extremely hard - he’s the most hard-working young coach I’ve seen.
“He put his heart and soul into it, he gave his best, but he said, ‘I can’t see a way clear now, and I don’t want the club to suffer’, so he made the decision himself.”
Cameron Ciraldo was mooted as a possible replacement, but sources with knowledge of his situation told the Herald the 37-year-old was no chance of leaving Penrith in the middle of this season.
Like Craig Fitzgibbon who refused to cut and run on the Roosters mid-season after taking Cronulla’s top job last year, Ciraldo wants to finish what he started at the premiers and win back-to-back titles.
He also remains good friends with Barrett and any chance to succeed him so soon has zero appeal for the Panthers assistant.
Gould had no interest in coaching and said there was “not a chance in the world” he would take the top job.
Canterbury won just five out of their 34 games with Barrett in charge. He did well to recruit decent players like Matt Burton, Tevita Pangai jnr and Josh Addo-Carr, but there have been little on-field improvements.
Paul Vaughan, who is unwanted by the Dogs at season’s end - and has no interest from rival NRL clubs - made a point of bagging the media as he drove out of Belmore early.
Canterbury must regroup before Friday’s clash against the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval. Tigers pin-up Jackson Hastings was keen to play against Barrett after he pulled the trigger on him at Manly and forced him to pick up his career on the other side of the world in the Super League.
Pressed on his interest in Ciraldo, Gould said those discussions would take place in good time, and the board did not think they would be put into this position so soon.
“We never thought we’d be in this position today ... there is a lot of shock and a lot of sadness,” Gould said.
The club released a statement earlier on Monday to say it would “sincerely like to thank Trent for all of his hard work and effort over the past 18 months in what has been a very difficult time for the club”.
The Bulldogs were the second club Barrett had taken charge of at NRL level, having previously walked out on Manly with a year to run on his contract after taking them to the finals once in three seasons.
Canterbury sacked coach Dean Pay in the final months of the 2020 season and moved quickly on Barrett, who had been instrumental in Penrith’s grand final run that year as an assistant to Ivan Cleary.
