Cantebury general manager Phil Gould has been laid low after contracting COVID-19, posting on social media that “it’s no fun at all”.
The Channel 9 commentator put up a message on Twitter on Wednesday morning to thank his well wishers for their support.
“Thank you for all the kind messages. Means a lot. Unfortunately Covid has really got me at the moment. It’s no fun at all. I know people report they hardly had symptoms, but it’s far from that with me. I sincerely hope none of you get what I’ve got. Best wishes, stay healthy,” he wrote on Twitter.
Gould’s Bulldogs started the season with an encouraging win over the Cowboys but have crashed to three straight defeats, the worst of which was a 44-0 shellacking at the hands of the Storm last weekend.
They travel to Penrith on Sunday with halfback Kyle Flanagan recalled to the top grade for the first time this season.
ARL making power play for Origin from NSWRL
The NSWRL has been served a legal letter from the ARL Commission threatening to pull its funding in a move which could lead to the NRL taking control of the State of Origin team.
Both parties have been feuding since the controversial NSWRL boardroom elections in late February when Roosters supremo Nick Politis and Bulldogs legend George Peponis quit over Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta being told he was ineligible to be a director over a “conflict of interest”.
The ARL Commission has told the NSWRL that it has until Friday to call for a new election or its multimillion-dollar funding will be pulled.
In the letter signed by Commission chairman Peter V’landys, he has also warned the NSWRL that they would be contacting the state body’s members to consult them on a direct funding model.
This means they would basically cut the NSWRL out of the loop so that NSW Cup clubs and other community bodies would be part of the ARL Commission’s set-up rather than the state organisation.
It has the potential to lead to the NSWRL losing control of the men’s and women’s State of Origin sides, which is its largest source of revenue.
“If the NSWRL fails to remedy the matter, the Commission can have no confidence that the NSWRL is capable of properly discharging its obligations under which the Commission provides funding to NSWRL in respect of the administration for rugby league in NSW and the State of Origin respectively.”
NSWRL CEO David Trodden is yet to respond publicly to the demands.
Gallen says Tigers need to back or sack Maguire
Former NSW captain Paul Gallen would re-sign coach Michael Maguire for “another three or four years” if he was in charge at the Wests Tigers.
Gallen told Wide World of Sports Radio that nobody appears accountable at the club for its current state of disarray and the roster needs a major overhaul.
“I think they’ve got to back him or move on, back him or sack him, so to speak, back him and say he’s going to be the coach,” Gallen said.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
“I’d sign him for another three or four years. It’s going to take this club, in my opinion, another two or three years to get out of this because of the contracts they have at the moment.
“So, back him and sign him for a longer-term deal and let him try to get the club out of this and play on through it, or otherwise you’re going to have to move on.
“You’re better ripping off the band-aid sooner rather than later.”
Source link
