The gospel according to Gould
Influential league personality Phil Gould has plenty of people to see and plans to make when he finally makes it to New Zealand. David Long reports.
‘‘We need the New Zealand national team strong, we need to develop more players, we need the Warriors to be strong.’’ Phil Gould
On May 18 Phil Gould will make his first trip to New Zealand since taking up his job as a consultant for the Warriors. Gould started working for the Warriors last year in a wide-ranging role to look at various aspects of the club.
Over the past few months he has spent plenty of time with the NRL team at their base in Terrigal, but he will be making his first trip in a couple of weeks to meet key New Zealand stakeholders in the game.
‘‘I’ve arranged to come over on May 18 and I’ll be there for three or four days,’’ Gould told Stuff.
‘‘Then I’ll come over for a couple of days each month and spend time with the development team and other people I need to talk to.’’
Gould, one of the most important figures in rugby league because of his coaching, administrative and broadcasting background, has been looking at how to improve the Warriors’ NRL team on the field and also the commercial aspects of the club.
He’s also charged with the development of the game in New Zealand.
‘‘I’ve already set up meetings with New Zealand Rugby League, Auckland Rugby League and I’ll get to meet the people at the Warriors on the ground over there,’’ Gould said of his trip.
‘‘In particular, I’ll be talking to Tony Iro and Stacey Jones, who are in charge of the current development programmes there.
‘‘I’ll get a lead from them on who the other people in New Zealand I should be meeting and making contact with.’’
Gould officially came on board with the Warriors last September. At his first press conference he said he was prepared to spend ‘every waking hour’ to improve the Warriors.
But because of border restrictions between Australia and New Zealand due to the coronavirus pandemic, he hasn’t been able to make the trip across the Tasman.
‘‘It’s been mainly done by email and Zoom,’’ Gould said.
‘‘I’ve kept in contact with Greg Peters at the NZRL [CEO] and Shane Price at the ARL [chair].
‘‘Obviously, the Warriors are based
here in Australia, so I get to their sessions a couple of days a week and I’m in constant contact with their CEO, Cameron George.
‘‘It has been good to have access to the Warriors over here the whole time right through the summer and I’ve been able to watch how they handle things, the way they go about their preparations and training.
‘‘It’s a great club, they’re really nice people to work with and very cooperative.’’
This week, ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys suggested that there could be a second New Zealand NRL team in the future as the competition looks to expand.
A second Brisbane team is expected to join the NRL in 2023 and the ARL Commission is looking at introducing an 18th team a few years after that, with New Zealand highlighted as a possible destination for it.
But both the Warriors and NZRL
have said more work needs to be done at the base of the game, to set up pathways, before it can be a realistic option.
Gould said it was still early days for the prospect of a second New Zealand NRL team. ‘‘It’s all just speculation at the moment,’’ he said.
‘‘There isn’t anything concrete in the thoughts of the NRL on where an 18th team might come from in the future.’’
The work Gould does will be pivotal to a second Kiwi team coming to fruition. When Gould speaks, people listen and he has been able to convince the NRL to focus more on New Zealand.
‘‘I’ve been very adamant with the NRL over the last 12 months about the importance of investing in New Zealand and then even into the Pacific Islands,’’ he said.
‘‘But New Zealand especially, because we need the New Zealand national team strong, we need to develop more players, we need the Warriors to be strong.
‘‘Now that many of the Pacific Island boys are choosing to play for their country of heritage, we don’t want that to weaken the New Zealand national team. A lot of these boys develop in New Zealand and have lived there. But I think the commission has got its head around the fact that it needs to invest in the development of rugby league in New Zealand.
‘‘We got some extra funding to start the national under-20s competition in New Zealand.
‘‘That’s a real start and it’s only in the embryo stage. But that can be an important development pathway.
‘‘The Warriors need to play their part as well, they need to be actively involved in helping out with participation and development of league talent in New Zealand.
‘‘The ARL Commission is really only chartered with running a competition here in Australia, it’s current charter doesn’t involve international football or investing in international programmes.
‘‘I’m saying they should change that constitution and I think there’s a fair appetite from the NRL now to take responsibility for the development of all rugby league, throughout the Pacific Islands and New Zealand.
‘‘That would be good news for New Zealand, because hopefully it would lead to extra funding and resources.
‘‘The new owner of the Warriors, Mark Robinson, he’s in for the long haul and understands the importance of the development of the game.
‘‘So that’s where I come in, that’s what most of my trips to New Zealand will be about, getting around and representing the Warriors in all parts of New Zealand, for the development of the game – the coaching of coaches, the participation from kids, the Ma¯ ori tournaments.’’