Canterbury Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould has slammed Newcastle Knights players for taking a mid-season trip to Bali.
The Indonesian capital is a well-known tourist hotspot for Australians, and with a bye over magic round, Knights' players took advantage of a few days off to head away from the Hunter.
While reports suggested some players headed up or down the New South Wales coast, a handful of players ended up in Bali for a quick break after the club's horror show last Friday night against the Parramatta Eels.
The final 43-12 scoreline ultimately could have been anything, with the Eels taking their foot off the gas during the second half and bombing a number of try-scoring opportunities prior to that.
Ultimately, the Knights, in their worst performance of the season, completed just 25 of 39 sets, ran for over 600 less metres and missed a scarcely believable 61 tackles.
Coach Adam O'Brien said post-game that the Knights were in high need of the upcoming bye, with injuries and set backs impacting the club during the first nine rounds of the competition, but Gould said on his Wide World of Sports Six Tackles with Gus podcast that a trip to Bali was not the way to go about it.
โI'd always use the bye round โฆ for me that was always a time to go back and refresh, to look at some things that maybe we're not doing as well as we would have liked, or maybe there's some things we can add to our game, or maybe we need a refresher course,โ Gould said on the podcast.
โFor me the benefit of the bye was not getting busted on the weekend, was not going out. It gave you two weeks to get ready for your next game instead of one week.
โIt just wouldn't have happened in my day. For me, it was two weeks to get ready for your next game, and you shouldn't lose if you had the two weeks to get ready.โ
Gould admitted there could be some benefit in it, but suggested if the Knights do it three times across their byes, then it won't help.
โIt might turn out to be the best thing, getting over there with some warm weather and sun on their backs. It might be the answer, I don't know. And if they come back (and win) they will say it is the answer.
โBut there's three byes this year, you do it three times I guarantee it's not going to help you."
The Knights will next play on Sunday, May 14 against the Gold Coast Titans.
