Canterbury footy boss Phil Gould sporting ‘new eye’ after gruesome surgery

Rugby league legend Phil Gould is recovering after undergoing surgery on his eye.

The Canterbury footy boss, who is very active on social media, told his X followers on Monday that he would be taking some time off to have the procedure done.

As well as his role with the Bulldogs, Gould also features as a prominent commentator and panellist, and hosts an NRL podcast.

“Undergoing eye surgery tomorrow…,” he wrote on Monday.

“Taking the rest of the week off. There will be a special replacement for the Six Tackles with Gus podcast on Wednesday.

“Hopefully I’m back on deck for 100% Footy next Monday night. Enjoy the weekend round of football ahead everyone.”

On Tuesday, the 67-year-old shared the results of the operation in a gruesome image, sporting what he called “a new eye”.

“And there it is … A new eye,” he wrote, alongside three laughing emojis.

The photo was seen by over 50,000 people in less than 24 hours, and was flooded with messages of support.

“Mate — that’s no good. I’ve had a couple of eye ops and they hurt like hell. Take some good pain killer and take it easy,” Wayne Goldsmith said.

Gould has been at the centre of lots of drama this NRL season, having overseen the recruitment of Lachlan Galvin from the Wests Tigers.

The Bulldogs announced Galvin’s signing late last month after the Tigers officially released the want-away five-eighth earlier in the day to end a saga that spanned six weeks of headlines.

Gould was also highly critical of Queensland coach Billy Slater for his decision to drop Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans for State of Origin II.