Canterbury Bulldogs General Manager Phil Gould has revealed more information on the infamous leaked Viliame Kikau photo, while also taking to social media to confirm Kikau is joining the club after the leaking of his contract.

Viliame Kikau is set to join the Bulldogs in 2023, with the club signing the 26-year-old behemoth to a reported $3.2 Million, four-year deal. But this wasn't announced through a promotional video or a photo of Kikau patting a bulldog in a Laundy hotel.

No, it was that photo that revealed the move, beginning the second-rowers journey with the club with a scandal.

โ€œNothing was planned. It was strictly confidential and meant to be private," Kikau told The Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

โ€œYou canโ€™t get away with anything these days. It was pretty disappointing. I was really disappointed about it actually.

โ€œIt was only meant to be put out once everything was made official and to let everyone know I had signed.โ€

Gould apologised at the time.

During Nine's 100% Footy on Monday, he provided more information on how CCTV footage leaked.

"It was a rogue security guard.

"We took some photos of him in the shirt because he'd be going to the World Cup at the end of the year and we probably wouldn't see him until January and we needed something promotional."

Gould wasn't supposed to be a part of the photo and was unaware it could or would be made public.

"Trent [coach Trent Barrett] wanted a photo with him, and then they asked me to come into the photo.

"When I went upstairs to see where the camera was I said 'who's got access to that?' And it just turned out to be a fan, who happened to be a Panther fan.

"He didn't leak it - he sent it to another bloke who was a Panther fan, and he leaked it."

The employee was later fired for the indiscretion and while Gould remains certain the image could have remained secret, the damage had already been done.

Gould has also been forced to spend most of Tuesday batting away questions on social media over Canterbury's salary cap and whether both Reed Mahoney and Kikau will join the club as speculated in 2023.

It followed a signing spree this year and constant speculation surrounding Canterbury's salary cap.

Gould was forced to go as far as to say that the signing has been announced to members.

Kikau has started the season in excellent form with the Panthers, the defending premiers sitting with four wins from four games.

1 COMMENT

  1. Kikau will not have any impact at the Dogs as the do not have a 7 or a 9 – the 2 most important players in the team followed by the 1, 13 and front row – all spots NOT competently filled – they will need to make Burton a 7 and make sure they bring Maloney in at 9 – let’s see how that all works but to me it all looks like fruit salad

Comments are closed.