Bulldogs teammates 'fed-up' with Adam Elliott after bathroom tryst
Adam Elliott's latest indiscretion at the Bulldogs leaves his NRL career hanging in the balance and teammates reportedly "fed up" with the controversial forward.
Elliott's future remains in the balance after he was kicked out of a Gold Coast restaurant after he and NRLW star Mille Boyle visited a bathroom together.
HOLD ON: Why Wayne Bennett must be stopped amid expansion bid
'LOW ACT': Sacked Raider's sinister claim against former club
Boyle has since confirmed there was no foul play or drugs involved, and that the pair had snuck away for a kiss after having grown up together.
Regardless, Canterbury general manager Phil Gould reaffirmed on Wednesday that Elliott could still be sacked as he remains stood down pending an NRL integrity unit investigation.
Gould has also made no secret that the forward is paying the price for a multitude of issues, including a 2018 Mad Monday scandal.
Making matters worse for the 26-year-old is the fact that rumblings of discontent are growing louder at the Bulldogs, where a section of the playing group is understood to be furious with the forward.
The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis backed up reports from colleague Dean Ritchie than “an influential pocket of dissenting Bulldogs players” want the club to take strong action against Elliot after his latest off-field drama.
“They’ve just got to go through the process,” Carayannis said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“Phil Gould’s come out and said that his future is on the line, there’s no doubt about that.
“While Adam might consider what he did was a minor offence, it just gives everyone an opportunity to regurgitate his history, and it’s becoming a long history.
“The rap sheet is getting longer, you can’t argue with that.
“There’s no doubt there’s sections of the Bulldogs camp absolutely fed up with Adam Elliott’s behaviour.
“They still need to work through the process to understand if what he’s done is a sackable offence
“They don’t want it to blow up on the club in terms of potential litigation down the line.”
Some Bulldogs powerbrokers are reportedly pushing for Elliot's contract to be torn up, and a report from The Australian’s Brent Read claims that could be done to ease salary cap pressure on the club.
However, newly appointed Bulldogs football manager Phil Gould denied salary cap issues would have any bearing on the outcome of Elliot's future.
NRL Integrity Unit investigating Adam Elliott incident
“That is not the right reason to terminate any contract. The Adam Elliott matter will be dealt with once NRL Integrity concludes its investigation, Gould said.
“That’s the first step here. Let’s see how that unfolds.”
Gould couldn't rule out sacking Elliot, however, when discussing the matter on Channel Nine's 100% Footy.
“In Adam’s case, and what I tried to explain to Adam, while you think this might not be a major issue, it is actually because it allows the media to regurgitate all that stuff, and that’s apart from ‘what the hell were you thinking anyway’ and ‘why did you put yourself and get yourself into this position’,” Gould said.
“You may think that it’s only a minor issue but it’s actually not and they’ve got to learn to understand why that happens.
“In isolation sometimes they’re not major issues but they accumulate over time and sponsors and members and fans and, as I say, staff, everyone starts to get worn by it and tired by it and when it’s the same culprits all the time, that’s when they start to get intolerant of it, to be honest.”
Elliott's latest drama couldn't have come at a worse time for the Bulldogs.
They are in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, and face Manly this week after the 66-0 drubbing they copped form the Sea Eagles in round 16 was the Bulldogs' biggest loss in 86 years.
with AAP
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
