The Newcastle Knights have come under fire for allowing players to head to Bali on a mid-season holiday despite being flogged by the Eels on the weekend.
While the rest of the league will descend on Brisbane for Magic Round, the Knights have the bye.
The Daily Telegraph reported some players were travelling interstate or going along the NSW coast with family while a small group headed overseas to Bali.
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Kalyn Ponga is understood to have stayed in the Hunter to continue training.
According to the report, the Knights made the decision in the pre-season to give the players an extended break.
Bulldogs boss Phil Gould, however, was stunned by the decision.
“You are paid to train and play, that’s what you are paid to do. Find something else to do, find another job if you don’t want this job,” he said on Six Tackles with Gus.
Speaking on NRL360, co-host Paul Kent ripped into the Knights.
“The thing about it is this, it is a professional game and I get the need for players to get time away from the game,” he said.
“But we are in the middle of the season and the Knights were given nine days off after the Parramatta game, nine days just eight weeks into the season, which I think is extreme.
“The pendulum has probably swung given the Knights are sitting 14th. I think those nine days, eight weeks into competition could have been better spent going and working on their game rather than holidaying in Bali or wherever else they’ve gone.
NRL great Braith Anasta was equally shocked and shed light on how his clubs approached bye rounds during his career.
“We used to get flogged when the bye came,” he said on Wednesday.
“You might get three or four days off, a long weekend but you would get toweled up.”
Fox League’s James Hooper, meanwhile, said the club should have cancelled the time off after the Knights surrendered against the Eels,
“After what they dished up I would have said those nine days are off,” he said.
Kent agreed.
“They were playing like they were already thinking about their nine days off.”
“They didn’t earn the time off. After the game Adam O’Brien or someone at the club should have said, ‘you know what guys, 43-12, not good enough’.
“It was a shocking performance and they had every right to say ‘guys you blew your holiday, you’re coming back to work on Monday’.”
