Trent Barrett QUITS as Bulldogs coach after the club sent an ominous warning sign just before announcement – and bad boy Paul Vaughan calls media ‘the worst kind of people’ in spray after news broke
- Barrett’s resignation was announced on Monday and is effective immediately
- Radio host Ray Hadley laid blame for his demise firmly at the feet of the players
- Hadley claimed footballers had white-anted Barrett to the club’s board
Trent Barrett has quit as Bulldogs after the club fell to the bottom of the table in a horror start to the 2022 season.
The move was announced by the club on Monday morning and is effective immediately.
His resignation comes shortly after the club cancelled all media appearances for the players on Monday in an ominous sign a big change was on the way.
Canterbury powerbrokers spoke by phone to discuss the 44-year-old’s future after they lost to Newcastle in round 10, allowing the Knights to snap a seven-game losing streak in a shocking performance.
Barrett took the Dogs to the bottom of the ladder with the NRL’s worst attack and worst for-and-against record. Canterbury will have a new coach for their clash with the Wests Tigers on Friday night
Bulldogs forward Paul Vaughan was the first player to speak out after the news broke, reportedly sledging the journalists who’d gathered at the club.
Sydney Morning Herald reporter Danny Weidler tweeted that Vaughan said, ‘Do you have to be here? You are the worst kind of people.’
Ray Hadley reported that Dogs football manager Phil Gould sent the players home once the decision was made, and claimed the club would say the training session was cancelled due to flu running through the team.
‘The players were also given tomorrow off and were told to return on Wednesday, leaving them just two days to prepare for the Wests Tigers on Friday night,’ Hadley said on Radio 2GB.
‘Earlier, players were dramatically hidden from media as speculation increased that Barrett would be sacked imminently. Well, now they are saying he resigned.
‘The players there have got to take the blame for all this.
‘I am told that some of the senior players that had spoken to Phil Gould and members of the board about how unhappy they were with Trent Barrett and his coaching ability.’
Adding a host of big-name players like Josh Addo-Carr (pictured in the loss to Newcastle), Matt Burton and Tevita Pangai Junior has done nothing to improve the Bulldogs
2GB’s Ray Hadley said Bulldogs players (pictured during the round 10 loss to Newcastle) have to take the blame for Barrett’s demise
The club released the following statement: ‘Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Head Coach Trent Barrett has today stood down from his role, effective immediately.
‘We would sincerely like to thank Trent for all of his hard work and effort over the past 18 months in what has been a very difficult time for the club.
‘As this is a challenging time for all parties, the Club would like to respect Trent’s privacy and wish him all the best for the future.’
Canterbury currently sit last on the ladder with just two wins from their first 10 games and the competition’s worst for-and-against record.
An off-season recruitment spree that drew big names Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr, Matt Dufty, Brent Naden, Tevita Pangai Jr and Paul Vaughan to the club gave fans hope that their miserable form of recent years would begin to turn around, but it’s been more of the same in 2022.
Barrett’s side have the worst attack in the competition and have lacked firepower and discipline.
Canterbury football manager Phil Gould is well known for moving on from coaches – even when they’ve been successful, as he did with Ivan Cleary at Penrith
In a worrying sign for the former Dragons and NSW star, Gould took over from him to run a training session in late April and gave the players a huge spray during a video session.
The former Penrith boss has become known for jettisoning coaches even when they’re seemingly performing well, as he did with Ivan Cleary and Anthony Griffin during his time with the Panthers.
With Barrett gone, the Dogs could turn to premiership-winning coach Shane Flanagan – whose son Kyle plays halfback for Canterbury – highly rated Penrith assistant Cameron Ciraldo or out-of-work ex-Cowboys mentor Paul Green.