In July last year Phil Gould shot down reports he was set to return to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
At that point of the season the Bulldogs had won just one of their opening 10 games and former head coach Dean Pay paid the price.
Gould rubbished claims he would be the man to restore glory at Belmore but went on to set a challenge for whoever was tasked with that role.
“The Bulldogs are our biggest club in Sydney,” he told 2GB’s Continuous Call Team at the time.
“They need to start acting like the Bulldogs because right at the moment they’re not.”
Fast-forward to 2021 and on Friday it was confirmed he has officially joined the Bulldogs as general manager of football.
Those strong words from almost one year ago will now stick with Gould as a constant reminder of what he demanded of his former club and now will be used as a measure of his success.
The reality though is that the Bulldogs had already made several attempts to lure Gould to Belmore to no avail.
It was only once the club hit an all-time low earlier this year that a phone call was made and the Bulldogs’ rebuild scored its biggest signing yet.
Here foxsports.com.au reveals the “flashpoint” behind Gould’s switch to the Bulldogs and the four key areas to determined his success.
THE ‘FLASHPOINT’ BEHIND IT ALL
Gould had been approached by the Bulldogs before but he was committed to his job as a consultant at the Warriors.
That quickly changed.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic meant Gould could not travel to New Zealand to actually be there in person to oversee the development of pathways systems.
“It’s a long story because I’d actually had an approach initially from the Bulldogs before Magic Round,” Gould told Channel Nine on Friday night.
“At the time I politely declined it because I was committed to what the Warriors were doing and what my role was there, and I’d spoken to the Warriors owner Mark Robinson, who’s a tremendous man.
“And I’d been feeling guilty, because of COVID the things that I wanted to do at the Warriors were just impossible to do.”
Gould went on to explain that it was “just getting too hard” and that he spoke to Warriors owner Mark Robinson, who agreed it would best for him to work closer to home.
For so long though it looked like the Bulldogs would not get their man but after a 66-0 loss to Manly they simply had to try once more with The Australian’s Brent Read telling Triple M it was a “flashpoint” in the pursuit.
An offer was made to Gould 24 hours before the official announcement and by Friday night the Bulldogs landed their largest coup yet.
Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr, Brent Naden and Matt Dufty are on the way to Belmore in 2022 but Panthers great Mark Geyer says Gould’s signature trumps them all.
“They’ve made some good signings in Burton and the Foxx but their best is him by far,” he told Triple M.
“I can’t see any cons from him going there, I can’t find any negatives.”
It has been five years since the Bulldogs made the finals but Gould’s arrival signals a return to the post-season is not far away.
There are four areas in particular that Gould will make a difference.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Speaking on Friday night, Gould said that his immediate concern would be addressing the current roster as it stands - and there is no-one better to do it.
“Right at the moment, our priority is to make the best of what we’ve got at the moment, to make sure the young fellas that are on our roster and playing at the Bulldogs get the opportunity to be the best that they can be and then we’ll take it from there,” he told Channel Nine.
“There’s already been a lot of hard work done at the Bulldogs club that you probably don’t see.
“Financially for licensed clubs it’s been a tough time with close downs last year and they’re closed down again, so whilst they’re strong financially we’ve got to be careful about that.
“The salary cap is looking good and there’s opportunities to make changes over the next few years, if they need to make changes to the roster, but all that will happen as times goes on.”
If Bulldogs fans have any concerns over Gould’s ability to address the strengths and weaknesses of a roster they only have to look to his role in the Penrith rebuild.
Gould left the Panthers in 2019 but had already left a considerable mark by that point.
He oversaw the departures of a host of big names including Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis, Wade Graham, James Roberts, Jamie Soward, Bryce Cartwright and Matt Moylan.
Gould did not get all of those decisions right - Lewis and Graham would have proven invaluable leaders for the club during its rebuilding stage.
At that point of the season the Bulldogs had won just one of their opening 10 games and former head coach Dean Pay paid the price.
Gould rubbished claims he would be the man to restore glory at Belmore but went on to set a challenge for whoever was tasked with that role.
“The Bulldogs are our biggest club in Sydney,” he told 2GB’s Continuous Call Team at the time.
“They need to start acting like the Bulldogs because right at the moment they’re not.”
Fast-forward to 2021 and on Friday it was confirmed he has officially joined the Bulldogs as general manager of football.
Those strong words from almost one year ago will now stick with Gould as a constant reminder of what he demanded of his former club and now will be used as a measure of his success.
The reality though is that the Bulldogs had already made several attempts to lure Gould to Belmore to no avail.
It was only once the club hit an all-time low earlier this year that a phone call was made and the Bulldogs’ rebuild scored its biggest signing yet.
Here foxsports.com.au reveals the “flashpoint” behind Gould’s switch to the Bulldogs and the four key areas to determined his success.
THE ‘FLASHPOINT’ BEHIND IT ALL
Gould had been approached by the Bulldogs before but he was committed to his job as a consultant at the Warriors.
That quickly changed.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic meant Gould could not travel to New Zealand to actually be there in person to oversee the development of pathways systems.
“It’s a long story because I’d actually had an approach initially from the Bulldogs before Magic Round,” Gould told Channel Nine on Friday night.
“At the time I politely declined it because I was committed to what the Warriors were doing and what my role was there, and I’d spoken to the Warriors owner Mark Robinson, who’s a tremendous man.
“And I’d been feeling guilty, because of COVID the things that I wanted to do at the Warriors were just impossible to do.”
Gould went on to explain that it was “just getting too hard” and that he spoke to Warriors owner Mark Robinson, who agreed it would best for him to work closer to home.
For so long though it looked like the Bulldogs would not get their man but after a 66-0 loss to Manly they simply had to try once more with The Australian’s Brent Read telling Triple M it was a “flashpoint” in the pursuit.
An offer was made to Gould 24 hours before the official announcement and by Friday night the Bulldogs landed their largest coup yet.
Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr, Brent Naden and Matt Dufty are on the way to Belmore in 2022 but Panthers great Mark Geyer says Gould’s signature trumps them all.
“They’ve made some good signings in Burton and the Foxx but their best is him by far,” he told Triple M.
“I can’t see any cons from him going there, I can’t find any negatives.”
It has been five years since the Bulldogs made the finals but Gould’s arrival signals a return to the post-season is not far away.
There are four areas in particular that Gould will make a difference.
RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
Speaking on Friday night, Gould said that his immediate concern would be addressing the current roster as it stands - and there is no-one better to do it.
“Right at the moment, our priority is to make the best of what we’ve got at the moment, to make sure the young fellas that are on our roster and playing at the Bulldogs get the opportunity to be the best that they can be and then we’ll take it from there,” he told Channel Nine.
“There’s already been a lot of hard work done at the Bulldogs club that you probably don’t see.
“Financially for licensed clubs it’s been a tough time with close downs last year and they’re closed down again, so whilst they’re strong financially we’ve got to be careful about that.
“The salary cap is looking good and there’s opportunities to make changes over the next few years, if they need to make changes to the roster, but all that will happen as times goes on.”
If Bulldogs fans have any concerns over Gould’s ability to address the strengths and weaknesses of a roster they only have to look to his role in the Penrith rebuild.
Gould left the Panthers in 2019 but had already left a considerable mark by that point.
He oversaw the departures of a host of big names including Michael Jennings, Luke Lewis, Wade Graham, James Roberts, Jamie Soward, Bryce Cartwright and Matt Moylan.
Gould did not get all of those decisions right - Lewis and Graham would have proven invaluable leaders for the club during its rebuilding stage.
