Phil Gould has hit back at suggestions Canterbury are not using enough high-tech methods in their coaching by posting drone footage as a show of support for coach Trent Barrett.
The wooden spooners are under pressure to rise up the ladder this season after a high-profile recruitment drive which includes Josh Addo-Carr, Penrith duo Matt Burton and Brent Naden, and forward enforcers Tevita Pangai jnr and Paul Vaughan.
NRL 360 panel member Phil Rothfield on Monday night claimed unnamed recruits were surprised by Barrett’s lack of detail during pre-season training and said the Dogs were not as high-tech as rival clubs with technology such as using drone footage to monitor training.
Gould, the Bulldogs’ head of football, hit back with a tweet showing drone vision of a Bulldogs skill drill.
“Use of drone observation is a popular coaching tool with all NRL clubs. Bulldogs video all training sessions from NRL, right down through the club grades, into the Bulldog Academy.”
Rothfield said Barrett was the most likely candidate to be the first coach sacked this year.
“He’s under big pressure,” Rothfield said. “There’s a couple of new players that have arrived at the club — I’m not going to name them — they’re not critical of Baz but they’re surprised that their pre-season wasn’t as detailed as what they’ve come to from their other organisations.
“I’m giving players up but even different drills, there’s a lot more camerawork that goes on with drones at the clubs they came from and then they’ll go and sit down and go through it all.”
Canterbury open their 2022 campaign on Sunday night with a trip to Townsville to take on fellow 2021 strugglers North Queensland.
Chiefs say NRL wrong to backflip on Latrell ban
The majority of NRL’s chief executives and chairmen think the judiciary got it wrong when they allowed Souths star Latrell Mitchell to have the All Stars game included in his high tackle ban.
According to the second instalment of a poll of club bosses by the SMH, 61% believe Mitchell should not have been able to count the pre-season game in his six-week suspension for a high shot on Roosters centre Joey Manu.
Mitchell sat out the Rabbitohs’ playoff campaign last year, including the grand final loss to Penrith, and was not due back until Round 3 until the NRL recently agreed to a request from his club to include the pre-season game in the Indigenous All Stars stalwart’s punishment.
He will now be able to suit up for Souths in Round 2 against Melbourne.
The poll also revealed Cronulla are the team most favoured to return to the finals in 2022 ahead of Canberra and the Dragons, the club chiefs believe junior development is the biggest issue facing head office and almost three-quarters of executives think salary cap relief should be introduced for teams that lose players they had developed.
There was a split in votes for the topic of the Magic Round high tackle blitz with 52% saying it was over the top and 48% of the opinion that the NRL should have persisted with the crackdown.
Arthur confident Eels can make grand leap
Eels coach Brad Arthur is confident the lessons learned from last season’s playoff campaign has them “very close” to being on the verge of breaking the club’s 36-year title drought.
Parramatta have made the second round of the playoffs in four of the past five seasons under Arthur, finishing fifth last year before beating Newcastle and then being eliminated 8-6 by eventual premiers Penrith.
“I feel, from what I’ve seen, the drive in our pre-season, we approached those finals last year differently,” he said on NRL 360 on Monday night.
“I thought we played and respected the finals with the right level of intensity and we went after the game defensively in both those games.
“People talk about belief, well we walked away from there knowing that we were very close and that we’re good enough. I’ve seen that in the pre-season whereas maybe in the past, bowing out in week two it was the fashion that we bowed out,” he added, saying the bounce of the ball cost them against the Panthers.
“I just feel like we’re better placed on the back of it and I’ve seen it throughout the pre-season that there’s more about that we actually know. We know that we’re very close.”
Coates can be buy of the year at Storm
Former premiership-winning forward Scott Sattler believes Brisbane will live to regret not re-signing Xavier Coates.
The young winger, who represented Queensland last year, has the potential to be the buy of the year at Melbourne, according to Sattler.
“Josh Addo-Carr leaves and they sign who I believe will be the best signing by the end of the year and his name is Xavier Coates,” he said on SEN Radio on Tuesday morning.
“He’s played plenty of Origin matches for Queensland, he’s still only 20, but the kid’s a superstar. He’s 6 foot 4 and is a tremendous athlete.
“The Melbourne Storm, I believe, will be in the top four again and getting through to the final stages of the season.”