Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould has been the second powerbroker at the Belmore-based club to give his “blessing” to Tevita Pangai Junior to join a rival club.
Pangai Junior, who walked away from a big money contract with the Bulldogs at the end of last season to take up a boxing career, has reportedly met with the Brisbane Broncos to discuss a return to his former club in the second half of the 2024 according to The Daily Telegraph.
Gould has since broken his silence in the wake of this development, and says there are no hard feelings if Pangai Junior goes through with his NRL backflip.
We were all a bit shocked when he gave it away last year,” Gould told Nine News Sydney.
“If he’s had a second think about that and wants to come back to the sport, I think the sport will be better for it wherever he goes.
“He certainly has our blessing to go wherever he likes.”
Gould’s comments come a couple of days after Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton declared the club won’t block any move by Pangai Junior to make a shock return to the NRL.
Warburton, Gould and the Bulldogs don’t appear to be worried by the prospect of Pangai Junior returning to the NRL just a season after his ‘retirement.
We wish nothing but the best for Tevita and his family for their future.”
The rumours of a potential return to the game hasn’t sat well with former NRL stars Mat Rogers and Scott Sattler, who have questioned whether the Broncos should even entertain bringing back Pangai Junior.
There has been no deal offered by the Broncos as of yet. Pangai Junior started his NRL career with the club, playing 96 games before being released in 2021.
He then linked up with the Bulldogs in 2022, and while he was selected for the Blues for Game I of the 2023 Origin series, Pangai Junior’s two-year stint at Belmore was marred with inconsistency.
