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As a take-no-prisoners second rower, hard-hitting TV analyst and highly successful coach Phil Gould is without peer. If he is to repeat this success as an administrator, he cannot bring dressing room thinking to the boardroom, as he did this week in his email spat with David Gallop.
‘Gus’ is one of the sharpest minds in Rugby League, and is usually articulate and thoughtful in his musings about what happens on and off the field.
He is also one of the most ardent critics of the NRL, and Gould and NRL CEO Gallop have history.
His hobby horse is the salary cap and the impact it has had on retention of players, both by clubs and by the game at large, as players seek bigger deals in the UK or in Rugby and AFL.
Generally, Gould makes some very good points on the issue (such as the need to give dispensation for home grown talent) but is also prone to hyperbole and invective.
The classic example was when Melbourne was kicked out the 2010 NRL competition due to widespread and systemic salary cap cheating. Rather than focus on the Storm’s rotten core, Gould used it as a stage to attack the salary cap and more specifically Gallop.
Around that time David Gallop quite bravely fronted up to an extended interview with the Footy Show – where Gould was always going to be out for blood. It was actually hard to watch as Gould continually spoke over and bullied the studious looking ex lawyer.
Perhaps Gould is of the view that only ex-players truly understand the game, and he comes close to saying as much on occasion. Andrew Demetriou, Gallop’s equivalent in the AFL, is an ex-player and seems to garner a lot more respect in the AFL playing community.
Gould was also a chief critic of the News Limited-led Super League. When he looks at Gallop, I think he still sees a News Limited executive rather than someone who has the best interests of the game at heart.
Indeed, Gould should know better than anyone that the salary cap in its very restrictive current form is still a reaction to the massive salary increases that Super League unleashed.
For all its shortcomings, the salary cap has produced one of the most even competitions in professional sport – as evidenced by the fact that since 2001, nine different teams have won the Premiership.
Compare this to the current blow outs the AFL is having and the Premier League, which kicks off this week but they may as well present the trophy to Man United now.
I do not propose delivering a full critique on the salary cap here, suffice to say there are arguments on both sides and Gould’s repeated character assassination of Gallop over the issue is overly simplistic.
This brings us to this week’s email stoush. While this is undoubtedly a storm in a tea cup, it reflects poorly on Gould.
As a Rugby League forward, if you do not get your opponent on one carry, you go back and run the ball up even harder next time hoping to break the line. He is clearly still lining Gallop up.
In business you have to be able to have differences of opinion with people (as he clearly does with Gallop) without being disagreeable.
Gus the coach would have been used to giving players who did not follow his orders a bollocking. Apart from the late Kerry Packer and some other notable exceptions, most people do not get that luxury in business.
Gould seems incapable of treating Gallop with the respect the game’s top administrator deserves. He has no evidence that Gallop or anyone from the NRL leaked his little doodle from the Club Chief Executives’ meeting.
Broadcasting his email tirade to all other attendees at the meeting was designed to embarrass Gallop, it was classic bully-boy behaviour.
It may be that Gould is assuming that Gallop is not in the job long-term with the impending imposition of an independent commission to run the game.
However the point is not about Gallop but the tool kit that Gould needs to develop if he truly wants to nurture the game.
He was offered the job of coach at Penrith, but decided he could have more impact as the Club CEO. He now needs to start acting like one.
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