Never one to pull his punches, Phil Gould has offered some entertaining thoughts on the rumoured Saudi-backed Rugby 360 project, or R360, and rugby union in general.
Discussing R360 on the Six Tackles with Gus podcast, the Canterbury Bulldogs boss acknowledged he’s been aware of the concept for a while, but seemed far from concerned.
“It’s been bubbling away for a while,” Gould said.
“It’s a bit like a LIV Golf or an IPL, a short-term competition, its own standalone broadcast rugby product.”
MORE: Rugby 360—Everything you need to know about the new Saudi-backed rebel rugby competition
Gould, as dry as ever, then pointed to the irony of rugby union once again being in the news because of associations with rugby league.
“To be honest the only thing that sells Australian rugby (right now) is when they get an Australian rugby league player to go across and play there,” he said.
“That’s the only thing that gives them publicity as it stands at the moment.”
‘If you need the money that bad, go and do it’
Discussing the huge contracts supposedly being offered to lure NRL players, co-host Mathew Thompson joked Gould’s next ten player negotiations at the Bulldogs would feature managers saying ‘we’ve had interest from Rugby 360’.
“Good luck,” Gould responded shortly.
“Don’t let the door hit you on the *rse on the way out—if you need the money that bad, go and do it.”
Asked specifically about reports of former All Black and current Warriors star Roger Tuivasa-Sheck being offered $1 million a season by the new competition, Gould again was loathe to buy into the speculation.
“It could well just be scuttlebutt, I take all of that with a grain of salt,” Gould said.
“He (Tuivasa-Sheck) may have had an approach, but I don’t know what his situation is with the Warriors, none of us know.
“You’ll hear some more names coming up in the next little while too I imagine.”
In other words, batten down the hatches NRL fans, this is just getting started.