'Go out and fix it': Phil Gould slams Dragons leadership after 'harrowing' experience for young players
Phil Gould has delivered a scathing assessment of the St George Illawarra Dragons' leadership, unleashing on the veteran core and telling them to take accountability for a disastrous 0-5 start to the 2026 season.
He insisted the pressure of the Dragons' rebuild is not to sit on the young players' shoulders, instead pleading with the older group to "go out and fix it" after their demoralising loss to the Cowboys that saw them handed their ninth straight loss.
"You can see this in the Dragons. It's progressively got worse each week to the point where they have a performance like that, and that might be rock bottom on the weekend," Gould said on 100% Footy.
READ MORE: Reborn NRL star making a mockery of former coach
READ MORE: Tigers youngster banned for act after horror injury
READ MORE: Aussie grills 'selfish' Tiger Woods act amid 'addiction' battle
"It'd be very interesting to see what he [Shane Flanagan] does with the team list on Tuesday... They've got some really outstanding young players in their club, but I've always been of the belief when you're in a rut like this, it's not up to the young blokes to come and pick you out of it.
"It's not their problem to solve.
Clint Gutherson of the Dragons reacts after conceding a try. Getty
"The other players that got them in this mess are the ones that have got to grind their way out of it and get your team going good, so then you can blood those young players and bring them into a better environment."
Gould admitted that the 32-0 thumping on Saturday would have been a "harrowing" experience for young players that found themselves caught in the crossfire of a frustrated home crowd.
"It would have been harrowing for some of those young players the other night to be standing in the middle of [Kogarah Oval] and being booed by a crowd when they've had no say in how the Dragons have got through this point in the competition."
Although the light at the end of the tunnel looks further away then ever, Gould admitted that all it takes is a week for the confidence and mentality of an NRL team to turn their luck around.
"They've got incrementally worse each week to the point where there was no confidence and no resilience in what they were doing the other night," Gould said.
Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and 9Now.
Phil Gould spoke on the mental toll of the Dragons situation. Nine
"But in the space of a week, you can turn that around. They're experienced footballers.
"There are a lot of those blokes that have played a lot of NRL football, and my belief is it's their job to turn it around, not bring kids in for the sake of keeping the fans happy or keeping the media happy or whatever the reason is for bringing them in.
"The people that got you in this mess are the ones that have got to get you out of it in the short term. Create a better environment and a more confident environment before you go blooding those kids and making it their problem.
"There were a couple of kids in that game the other night that were just deer in the headlights because of what was happening around them.
"There was no leadership and there was no direction from the senior players.
Shane Flanagan speaks to media. Fox Footy
"How do they respond when their senior players are playing like that? That can dent their confidence for years when that experience is bad.
"He's [Flanagan's] got a responsibility to those young players as well as the club that the people that they've bought and the people that they've got the most experience are the ones that should put their hand up and say, 'we'll dig you out of this and if not, it'll be us you can blame. But let us solve this'.
"Rather than bringing in some kids and just putting it on them."
Gould doubled down on unleashing on the veteran group for their lack of mentorship and leadership on the field in the historic low the club has found itself in.
It's their worst start to a season since the two clubs merged to make the Dragons in 1998.
The Sea Eagles celebrate following a try. Getty
"I just fear a little bit sometimes that they overreact... you put kids in it and it's not their problem to solve.
"Have a look at what Manly did last week. Can you imagine if Manly went out and did that the next Friday night with a team full of kids making their debut or in their second or third game?
"It's a harrowing experience. Put the old blokes out there and tell them to fix it. That's their job.
"They're the ones getting paid to do it. Go out and fix it."
The Dragons will host the Manly Sea Eagles on Friday in Wollongong.
Manly sacked coach Anthony Seibold after three straight losses to start the season, before stunning the Dolphins last week with Kieran Foran at the helm.
