Phil Gould has revealed his staggered reaction to Eddie Jones’ name drop of Cameron Murray as an NRL star he would love to see on pull on the Wallabies gold.
Gould reflected on his fascinating Stan Sport interview with Jones during the season opening edition of Six Tackles with Gus on Wide World of Sports.
In the interview at Coogee Oval, Gould asked Jones which league players he would have loved to have seen make the switch to rugby.
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“Oh, we had Andrew Johns done mate, in 2005,” Jones replied.
“We had him done, he was going to come. He would have made a hell of a difference.(Billy) Slater would have been handy, that Cameron Murray would be pretty handy at 12 (inside centre)… if you’re a State of Origin player in rugby league and you’re an outside back, you can definitely make it in rugby. And I think you know, Matty Rogers, Wendell (Sailor), Lote Tuqiri have all shown that, Andrew Walker.”
Gould, now chatting to Nine commentator Mat Thompson on ‘Six Tackles,’ still couldn’t believe what he’d heard.
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“That sounded a bit ominous,” Gould mused.
“We’re talking Andrew Johns, Billy Slater… Cameron Murray – where does that come from? That just didn’t fit. I’ve got no doubt he’s a target, after listening to that.
“He loves rugby league, played rugby league as a kid and he’s a South Sydney fan.”
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Thompson pointed out that was a conflict of interest.
“Russell Crowe just fell out of his chair. Woah! He can’t poach Cameron Murray then, if he’s a Souths fan. Go and get some of the Roosters!”
Gould: “Well, he said it… he couldn’t get it out quick enough.”
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Murray was a gun schoolboys rugby player but is contracted to the Rabbitohs until the end of 2025.
“As far as I’m concerned my loyalty is with my next three years at the club – I’m contracted here that’s where my focus and energy is,” Murray told 9News after the Jones interest emerged this month.
Gould also shared some interesting memories of speaking with Jones during his previous stint as Wallabies coach from 2001-05.
Gould said Jones was – and still is – “very worried” about league’s superior development pathways compared to rugby.
“And so, Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri, Mat Rogers, Andrew Walker all found their way from rugby league over to there,” Gould said.
“And I can remember too, around that time we recruited a young bloke called Ryan Cross. He was a champion schoolboy rugby player and his father had played rugby league for the Roosters and we spoke to him and his aim was to be a Wallaby.
“He wanted to go and be a Wallaby. And I remember saying to him as a teenager, saying ‘if you want to be a Wallaby, come to rugby league for six or eight years first and that will get you ready to be a top class rugby player’.
“That’s how we viewed it at the time and that’s what he did, he went and played for the Wallabies and he was a very good rugby league player.
“And that’s where Eddie Jones admitted that rugby league gets it right – rugby league gets the pathways much better than than rugby union at the moment.”
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