Phil Gould has questioned Parramatta’s decision to allow Reagan Campbell-Gillard to move on, despite the front-rower taking out the club’s player of the year award.
The 31-year-old received the honour earlier this week, but the Eels would soon confirm Campbell-Gillard had been granted an early release from his contract.
It has left many within the game scratching their heads and perhaps none more so than Gould, who was dumbfounded by the blue and gold’s decision.
“[He was] easily the best player of the year,” he said on Wide World Of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus.
“I cannot understand how they are letting him go, it just doesn’t make sense to me.
“I must watch a different game, I really must. I think he’s got two or three clubs that he’s talking to at the moment, but he’s rejected an offer from the Dragons.”
At this stage, Campbell-Gillard is yet to formally sign with a new NRL club, but rumours are swirling that the experienced prop could be headed up north to the Broncos.
The contract call from the club and new coach Jason Ryles is strange on the surface, especially given the timing of the awards ceremony this week.
In a year where the majority of his teammates struggled, Campbell-Gillard remained a consistent force through the middle of the park.
Across his 24 appearances, Campbell-Gillard averaged 124 run metres and 28 tackles per game, as well as breaking 45 tackles throughout the course of the campaign.
The other interesting factor is that a large majority of the Eels’ forward pack were coming off-contract at the end of next year at the same time as Campbell-Gillard, and none of those players performed at the same level of the moustached mountain.
Shaun Lane, Joe Ofahengaue, Ryan Matterson and Wiremu Greig are all unsigned beyond 2025 and could become available to rival clubs in November, while representative enforcer Junior Paulo has two years to run on his deal.
Money was almost certainly a factor in Campbell-Gillard’s exit and with so much of the club’s salary cap tied up in their superstar halves combination, something had to give.
But at a time where the Eels are desperate for leadership and consistency, allowing Campbell-Gillard to walk out the door without putting up a fight is an odd choice.