Phil Gould

Phil Gould

Personal information
Full name	Philip Ronald Gould
Nickname	Gus
Born	(1958-01-24) 24 January 1958 (age 59) Sydney, Australia
Playing information
Height	179 cm (5 ft 10 1⁄2 in)
Position	Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1976–79 Penrith Panthers 24 2 49 1 105 1981–82 Newtown Jets 17 2 7 0 20 1983–85 Canterbury 40 3 0 1 13 1986 South Sydney Rabbitohs 23 1 0 0 4 Total 104 8 56 2 142
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1988–89 Canterbury 47 29 2 16 62 1990–94 Penrith Panthers 115 64 4 47 56 1994–99 Sydney City 125 77 2 46 62 Total 287 170 8 109 59 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 1992–96 New South Wales 15 9 0 6 60 2002–04 New South Wales 9 5 1 3 56
Source: NRL Stats

Philip Ronald "Phil" Gould, AM, (born 24 January 1958), nicknamed "Gus", is an Australian rugby league broadcaster, journalist, administrator and former player and coach. Since the 1990s he has had a prominent role in Channel 9's coverage of rugby league, as a commentator on their match-day coverage, and writes for Sydney's Fairfax paper, The Sun-Herald. Gould is also the General Manager of Football for the Penrith Panthers. Before his media career, he was a State of Origin series and NSWRL Premiership winning coach, and before that, player, captaining Penrith and also playing for Newtown, Canterbury-Bankstown and South Sydney.

Born in Sydney in July 1958, Gould played junior rugby league with Wentworthville Leagues. Graded by Penrith in 1976, he spent two years in the lower grades, before becoming a regular first-grader in 1979. Following the retirement of Penrith's British import star Mike Stephenson, Gould was selected as captain of the Panthers at the age of 20, becoming the youngest New South Wales Rugby League premiership captain since Dave Brown led Easts in the 1930s. The 1979 season marked the beginning of injury troubles for Gould which ultimately kept him on the sidelines for most of 1980 and which recurred later in his career. Specifically Gould suffered an eye injury which posed a risk of separation of the retina.

Gould moved to Newtown in 1981, where Warren Ryan was still honing his innovative coaching approach that transformed the way that top-grade rugby league was played in Australia throughout the next decade. After being also-rans for many years, a turnaround was achieved when Newtown made the 1981 Grand Final against Parramatta, though losing 20–11.