Gus says ‘no chance’ he’ll take the reins
Barrett feels the pressure and calls it quits at Bulldogs
CANTERBURY supremo Phil Gould has knocked back any suggestion he will immediately take over as Bulldogs coach after Trent Barrett quit the club on Sunday night.
Barrett stood down halfway into a three-year deal with the Bulldogs, with pressure building on the coach after last Friday’s disappointing 16-6 Magic Round loss to fellow strugglers Newcastle, where Canterbury slumped to last on the ladder.
“Not a chance in the world. Not a chance in the world,” Gould said when asked about taking over as coach on Monday afternoon.
Instead, Gould insisted the interim coach will likely come from within the club’s football department.
It’s believed former Tigers and current Mounties coach Mick Potter is an option to fill in as caretaker until a permanent solution is found.
Gould is meeting with coaching staff tomorrow to discuss how the side will prepare for Friday night’s clash against the Tigers.
“We’ll have to come up with an interim coach in the next 24 hours. I’ll meet with the coaches tomorrow and have lunch with them, and just discuss how we are going to do it going forward. There won’t be any external (coach), it will be internal,” Gould said.
Asked if the likes of Penrith assistant Cameron Ciraldo or NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler could take over at Canterbury, Gould would only say his “phone has been running hot” with interest from potential suitors for the job.
“They’ve thrown up a thousand names, the phone has been running hot,” he said.
“There are plenty of applicants. We need to get through the rest of this season, this week really, and things will be clearer on the weekend. “There is no decision about a future coach, we are not thinking about it. We didn’t contemplate having to find an interim coach today, that wasn’t on the agenda. We never thought we would be in this position today.”
Barrett’s resignation comes three weeks after Gould ran a scathing video review and training session, raising speculation about Barrett’s future.
At the time, Barrett said Gould was invited to lead the training session in a bid to elicit a response from the side to break a six-game losing streak. It worked, with the Bulldogs overcoming the Roosters 16-12 to register only their second win of the season.
Gould confirmed players had been given the next day off and would not return to training until Wednesday.
A number of players had to be notified by text after falling ill with the flu, and being asked not to come into Belmore on Monday morning.
“We are all suffering today. It’s not good but we have to turn up and get going again tomorrow,” Gould said.
“We actually have a huge flu going through the place.
“A number of players couldn’t be here today, we had to tell them by text message.
“Many of them have since phoned me.”