fijianlarrki86
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Gus and his hidden truths
By Phil Rothfield
25mar05
I AM not in the business of wasting space in this column on people with little or no significance remaining in the game but a shamefully inaccurate attack on the former South Sydney management in a column under Phil Gould's name in a Sunday newspaper needs to be addressed.
Gould was critical of the management for looking for a quick fix when they were reinstated to the NRL instead of concentrating on setting up a junior system with long-term plans.
He wrote: "The football club panicked. Instead of being patient ... and introducing an extensive junior development program system, Souths wanted instant results and paid the penalty."
Now let's cast our minds back to the days when Souths won their court case, and to what Gould forgot to mention.
George Piggins was the man in charge and the first person he hired was Phil Gould. Gould was in charge of player recruitment. He answered to no one. He had the open chequebook and signed whomever he wanted. And he even appointed Adam Muir the captain.
"Gould and Paul Dunn were in charge of all the recruiting, I had nothing to do with it," Piggins confirmed this week.
"I was keen on looking back through the Australian schoolboys teams to see what younger players were available.
"But they went the other way."
Coach Craig Coleman could not sign anyone without going through Gould, who was even behind the move to get Dunn as chief executive.
He spent around $3million on players, paying outrageous amounts for what was proven to be a pretty ordinary player roster.
So it looks like it was Gould, and not the Souths management, that lacked the foresight and the vision to put money aside for a promising batch of younger players who would be coming through now.
Not that he stuck around to see it through. Shortly after the money was spent the great man walked out to rejoin the Sydney Roosters.
And not that it was the first time he's walked out early. I can recall him doing the same at Penrith, at Canterbury and at the Roosters before.
Now let's examine his claims of being an independent commentator in his media work for Channel 9 and his Fairfax newspaper column.
This is another load of rubbish.
Here is a man who has used his position to positively talk up employers and mates whenever it suits.
Not so long ago, Nine's publicity department was pestering newspaper reporters, offering various angles for positive Footy Show stories to arrest a ratings slide.
All of a sudden Gould devotes an entire column to write what a wonderful, sincere, misunderstood person the host Paul Vautin is. Even Fatty, who loves publicity, would have measured it a 7.3 on the Cringe Factor.
When his Channel 9 boss Kerry Packer was trying to drum up business with the international sports betting firm Betfair, Gould dedicated an entire page to praising the organisation.
Another dreadful piece of journalism at a newspaper organisation that allegedly prides itself on playing it down the middle. Cringe factor 8.5.
He has written complimentary columns about player manager Wayne Beavis while not always declaring he, too, is managed by Beavis.
A 6.8 on the Cringe Factor.
And then there are the columns he has written about his Roosters boss Nick Politis. Once Gould revealed Politis had sent him a fruit bowl to his Gold Coast holiday destination because he appreciated him so much.
For the highly respected Politis, it was a solid 8.9 on the Cringe Factor. How embarrassed must the poor bloke have been?
How many of Gould's anti-NRL, anti-News Ltd stories have anything to do with the fact he was on the ARL pay-roll and made millions himself out of the Super League war combined with his coaching payments at the Roosters.
We could go on and on but I must own up to being light on research here, as I try not to make a habit of reading his depressing views.
Senior and influential figures in rugby league no longer take much notice of what he writes or says.
Privately, those he claims to be closest to are now bagging him behind his back.
I cannot reveal their names here because I have been told in confidence. His Channel 9 employers are gravely concerned about Gould's negativity and constant talking down of the game.
So much so that he has been hauled in by Nine boss David Gyngell and told in no uncertain terms that he is not to comment on rugby league politics - just stick to analysing the football.
Week in, week out he writes negative stories about rugby league and the NRL management, conveniently overlooking the fact that the game is enjoying record crowds, record sponsorships, record TV ratings and that the players are producing the best and most spectacular brand of football we have ever seen.
And the best example of his acrobatics happened after the Blues State of Origin camp last year when Mark Gasnier and Anthony Minichiello were sacked from the team over the phone message scandal.
"I am not a football coach anymore and I don't want to be," he wrote in his independent column. "Some of my players have done the wrong thing and I am filthy.
"Two of the players come from my club, the Roosters, and I cannot begin to tell you how much that hurts. With others I knew the risks and, unfortunately, they have lived up to my expectations."
A week later, he had changed tune: "The media will probably now say that I am over-reacting to the situation, but if anyone has over-reacted it is them. I think the general public know what a huge over-reaction this has been."
But it was too late. He had quit and there was no way Geoff Carr and Colin Love were going to ask him back. They immediately made overtures for Ricky Stuart to take over. And there lies the problem we are facing now.
As one of his bosses told me recently: "It's always a worry when Gus drops out of the limelight. He really struggles with it. He can't handle it.
"It's usually at these times that he'll say anything or write anything to get his name in the newspaper or his head on television."
And I guess I've just fallen for it again.
By Phil Rothfield
25mar05
I AM not in the business of wasting space in this column on people with little or no significance remaining in the game but a shamefully inaccurate attack on the former South Sydney management in a column under Phil Gould's name in a Sunday newspaper needs to be addressed.
Gould was critical of the management for looking for a quick fix when they were reinstated to the NRL instead of concentrating on setting up a junior system with long-term plans.
He wrote: "The football club panicked. Instead of being patient ... and introducing an extensive junior development program system, Souths wanted instant results and paid the penalty."
Now let's cast our minds back to the days when Souths won their court case, and to what Gould forgot to mention.
George Piggins was the man in charge and the first person he hired was Phil Gould. Gould was in charge of player recruitment. He answered to no one. He had the open chequebook and signed whomever he wanted. And he even appointed Adam Muir the captain.
"Gould and Paul Dunn were in charge of all the recruiting, I had nothing to do with it," Piggins confirmed this week.
"I was keen on looking back through the Australian schoolboys teams to see what younger players were available.
"But they went the other way."
Coach Craig Coleman could not sign anyone without going through Gould, who was even behind the move to get Dunn as chief executive.
He spent around $3million on players, paying outrageous amounts for what was proven to be a pretty ordinary player roster.
So it looks like it was Gould, and not the Souths management, that lacked the foresight and the vision to put money aside for a promising batch of younger players who would be coming through now.
Not that he stuck around to see it through. Shortly after the money was spent the great man walked out to rejoin the Sydney Roosters.
And not that it was the first time he's walked out early. I can recall him doing the same at Penrith, at Canterbury and at the Roosters before.
Now let's examine his claims of being an independent commentator in his media work for Channel 9 and his Fairfax newspaper column.
This is another load of rubbish.
Here is a man who has used his position to positively talk up employers and mates whenever it suits.
Not so long ago, Nine's publicity department was pestering newspaper reporters, offering various angles for positive Footy Show stories to arrest a ratings slide.
All of a sudden Gould devotes an entire column to write what a wonderful, sincere, misunderstood person the host Paul Vautin is. Even Fatty, who loves publicity, would have measured it a 7.3 on the Cringe Factor.
When his Channel 9 boss Kerry Packer was trying to drum up business with the international sports betting firm Betfair, Gould dedicated an entire page to praising the organisation.
Another dreadful piece of journalism at a newspaper organisation that allegedly prides itself on playing it down the middle. Cringe factor 8.5.
He has written complimentary columns about player manager Wayne Beavis while not always declaring he, too, is managed by Beavis.
A 6.8 on the Cringe Factor.
And then there are the columns he has written about his Roosters boss Nick Politis. Once Gould revealed Politis had sent him a fruit bowl to his Gold Coast holiday destination because he appreciated him so much.
For the highly respected Politis, it was a solid 8.9 on the Cringe Factor. How embarrassed must the poor bloke have been?
How many of Gould's anti-NRL, anti-News Ltd stories have anything to do with the fact he was on the ARL pay-roll and made millions himself out of the Super League war combined with his coaching payments at the Roosters.
We could go on and on but I must own up to being light on research here, as I try not to make a habit of reading his depressing views.
Senior and influential figures in rugby league no longer take much notice of what he writes or says.
Privately, those he claims to be closest to are now bagging him behind his back.
I cannot reveal their names here because I have been told in confidence. His Channel 9 employers are gravely concerned about Gould's negativity and constant talking down of the game.
So much so that he has been hauled in by Nine boss David Gyngell and told in no uncertain terms that he is not to comment on rugby league politics - just stick to analysing the football.
Week in, week out he writes negative stories about rugby league and the NRL management, conveniently overlooking the fact that the game is enjoying record crowds, record sponsorships, record TV ratings and that the players are producing the best and most spectacular brand of football we have ever seen.
And the best example of his acrobatics happened after the Blues State of Origin camp last year when Mark Gasnier and Anthony Minichiello were sacked from the team over the phone message scandal.
"I am not a football coach anymore and I don't want to be," he wrote in his independent column. "Some of my players have done the wrong thing and I am filthy.
"Two of the players come from my club, the Roosters, and I cannot begin to tell you how much that hurts. With others I knew the risks and, unfortunately, they have lived up to my expectations."
A week later, he had changed tune: "The media will probably now say that I am over-reacting to the situation, but if anyone has over-reacted it is them. I think the general public know what a huge over-reaction this has been."
But it was too late. He had quit and there was no way Geoff Carr and Colin Love were going to ask him back. They immediately made overtures for Ricky Stuart to take over. And there lies the problem we are facing now.
As one of his bosses told me recently: "It's always a worry when Gus drops out of the limelight. He really struggles with it. He can't handle it.
"It's usually at these times that he'll say anything or write anything to get his name in the newspaper or his head on television."
And I guess I've just fallen for it again.
