EXCLUSIVE: Phil Gould concedes 'something drastic has to happen' to save Super League
Phil Gould has weighed in on the NRL's potential bid to take over the Super League and concedes "something drastic has to happen" to save the competition.
A bombshell report from The Sydney Morning Herald dropped this week, which indicates the game's governing body could purchase a 33 per cent stake and also take over the management of the UK league as part of the agreement.
Secret meetings in Las Vegas between those at the NRL, along with big-money bosses from Warrington and Wigan, opened discussions for the potential takeover.
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During an in-depth conversation regarding the matter, Gould revealed "rumblings" have been going on for more than a year for a "rebuild" of the English version of the game.
"We're getting snippets of this story coming through and yesterday was the most significant," he said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles With Gus.
Bevan French of the Wigan Warriors. Getty
"I got several calls from prominent people saying that if the NRL ever wanted to take over the game, they would be pushing against an open door.
"It would be very well-received, perhaps not by the administration in the UK, but certainly by the big club owners. Peter V'landys is always open to new ideas to grow and expand the game and has probably thought about that for a while.
"The prominent owners have got their heads together. They've been a bit disillusioned with the Super League administration and management. They are looking for the NRL to show the way and invest. There needs to be some sort of revolution across there.
"There have been enough rumblings over the last 18 months. There has been an acknowledgement that something drastic has to happen and they have to change the way the game is administered ... it would be a rebuild of the Super League."
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The proposal would compose of a 10-team competition, which would include eight teams from England and two from France - most likely Catalans and Toulouse.
Gould also confirmed that Australian-based clubs had been sounded out by UK clubs regarding potential partnerships to boost their stocks on and off the field.
Phil Gould. Nine
"Over the last 12 or 18 months, there have been approaches to NRL clubs - we've had approaches [at the Bulldogs] - to merge or join Super League clubs," he said.
"I've been trying to encourage the NRL to buy the Super League and the management over there, but they're not going to go into it and waste a bunch of money.
"If the report is right of a 33 per cent stake and all management rights, that would be a good way to start that relationship."
Canterbury's head of football also called for an overhaul to the international system, pushing the NRL to help bring to life a rolling eight-year calendar.
