Inside Barrett’s final hours with the Bulldogs… and the “stunned” moment the players had
After a disastrous start to the Bulldogs’ season, Trent Barrett resigned as head coach.
In a statement released on Monday, the Bulldogs acknowledged that the troubled coach had “stepped down” with immediate effect.
In what has been an extremely trying time for the club, we would truly like to thank Trent for all of his hard work and effort over the past 18 months, the statement said.
“The Club would like to respect Trent’s privacy and wish him all the best for the future, as this is a challenging time for all parties.”
It followed reports that the club was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting to discuss Barrett’s future following the Magic Round loss to the Knights, which was viewed as the breaking point.
The Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio revealed players began arriving at Belmore around 7 a.m. on Monday and were left “stunned” after being told Barrett had quit the night before.
A 9.30am training session was cancelled and the players were sent home; their schedule for their upcoming clash with the Wests Tigers was abandoned.
The playing group was reportedly told to return to training on Wednesday, when a new coach would be in place. They were also instructed not to speak to the media.
Forward Paul Vaughan, however, couldn’t resist a swipe at the waiting media pack.
“Do you have to be here? You are the worst kind of people,” he said.
Barrett, meanwhile, was not at Belmore on Monday as the club held a series of meetings with head coach Phil Gould and captain Josh Jackson in attendance.
