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Deal to bring Phil Gould to the Warriors could be announced within days

Author
Newstalk ZB / NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Thu, 6 Aug 2020, 8:09PM
Former Penrith Panthers general manager of football Phil Gould. (Photo / Getty)

Deal to bring Phil Gould to the Warriors could be announced within days

Author
Newstalk ZB / NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Thu, 6 Aug 2020, 8:09PM

The New Zealand Warriors could announce the appointment of NRL commentator and former coach Phil Gould as Director of Football within days, in a move designed to help the struggling NRL club "rediscover its mojo".

Gould confirmed on Thursday night that he had been in talks with the Warriors about a role to "overhaul the club's pathways and development systems".

According to Australian media, Gould would assist the club with strategic direction, while also looking after the development of young talent by "taking on a consultancy role with the club aimed at helping them rediscover their mojo".

The 62-year-old former player and coach, who has had a similar role with the Penrith Panthers, told NZME he would "have more certainty" within a week.         

The Warriors, who are 12th on the NRL table with four wins from 12 games this season, are on the hunt for a new head coach after the sacking of Stephen Kearney in June.

Interim head coach Todd Payten earlier this week turned down the job, in favour of applying for the vacant North Queensland Cowboys coaching position.

When asked about the situation ahead of Friday night's clash against the Manly Sea Eagles, Warriors captain Roger Tuivasa-Sheck said Gould would add value at any club.

"He brings a lot of wisdom with him, and if the club is looking to bring him on board then I could see it as a positive to have him as a mentor around the club," Tuivasa-Sheck said.

"I know he has a big impact in the rugby league community, especially in Australia, so it would be interesting to see the type of work he could do for us.

"That's a decision the organisation would need to make. I'm just focusing on my team here and the players that are here today to make sure we're all ready for a game this weekend."

Gould has a long history in the game as a player, coach, general manager and broadcaster and has recently been in discussions with Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys about undertaking some projects to help the game grow in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands in a development role with the NRL.

When asked about that earlier in the week, Warriors chief executive Cameron George said he would "support Phil in any capacity around development pathways, consultancy roles and so on".

"There's a lot of people that think they know what's wrong with the game, but probably only two or three, I reckon, that do know what is wrong with the game and he's one of them, ad equally knows how to fix it," George said.

"He's an asset to the game the NRL should explore utilising because we can all benefit from expertise like that and I would highly support Phil joining the NRL in whatever capacity they deem fit."

Earlier this season, Gould blasted the Auckland club on Twitter, saying the Warriors should be in the top four every year but face another 25 years of pain.

"After 25 years, the Warriors really should be the strongest club in the NRL. Should be regular top 4. It's a whole country. Unless someone starts now, we will be saying the same thing in another 25 years," Gould tweeted.

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