NRL grand final LIVE: Revealed: how Phil Gould ‘collapsed’ before shock hospital health scare – as he covers big match for Nine while hooked up to special medical device

The Bulldogs boss has explained that, contrary to several reports, he ‘never had a heart scare or anything like that’ when he was hospitalised for several days, starting on Monday.

Noting that he didn’t stop working through the ordeal and will be back with the Dogs on Tuesday, he said, ‘There were some things in my recent blood tests that required further investigation.

‘The doctors were just being thorough.

‘I was lucky I went to the hospital because I was able to get a range of testing done that could have [otherwise] taken weeks.’

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Gould ‘appeared to lose consciousness’ when he was at the funeral of his good friend, player manager Wayne Beavis, days before he was taken to hospital.

‘I hadn’t eaten or slept and I was dehydrated,’ said Gould (pictured below after a separate medical issue he suffered earlier this year).

The publication also reported that ‘Gus’ will be working the grand final for Channel Nine while fitted with a device that monitors his heart and will send an alert to a doctor if there are any problems.

A huge break out of dummy half on the first got the Broncos rolling there, and the Roosters are dropping off tackles.

The Chooks make a stand on their goal line and Ali Brigginshaw’s grubber is poor, bouncing off the opposition and being easily defused.

Still, promising signs for the Queenslanders.

Lauren Dam looked to be over for sure there, but the Tricolours clamped down hard right under the posts to deny her. That was desperation personified.

Great set from the Broncos off the back of a Roosters knock-on.

The Roosters go about 50 metres in their first set but don’t get much penetration with the kick on the last.

That was a very aggressive opening from the Chooks, who look like they are prepared to really chance their arm today.

We’re just minutes away from the big match, with the Roosters losing Taina Naividi on the wing. She’s replaced by Mia Wood.

The Broncos have brought Destiny Brill into the starting side, relegating rake Jada Ferguson to the bench.

This Reece Walsh fanatic has done an outstanding job of celebrating his hero’s infamous toilet water social media video, which initially infuriated the top brass at the Broncos but is now part of footy folklore.

Walsh, who is renovating his home, drank water out of the bowl before the brand-new dunny had been used, and referred to it in a post-try celebration you can see at the bottom of the picture below.

The Wahs were never headed, turning in a thoroughly impressive display to take the State Championship title.

The Bears, to their credit, never gave up despite being completely blasted off the field in the first half.

Incredible dummy half play set that one up. Cole Geyer grubbered, regathered and offloaded to make the initial break, then prop Fletcher Baker gave the last pass for Mitch Watson to get the try.

Broncos star Ali Brigginshaw (pictured left, below, with Isabelle Kelly of the Roosters) has told Channel Nine, ‘It’s just about us and starting really fast. The first 15 minutes is going to decide who wins today.’

Hooker Paul Roache delivered a miracle offload just short of the line there, and Josh Rogers did very well to handle it in heavy traffic. Conversion unsuccessful.

Luke Hanson gets his second, sliding over in the left-hand corner after Tanah Boyd orchestrated a nice break on the last.

And some good news for Ivan Cleary as his Jett runs on to make sure the family name is represented on grand final day for the sixth straight year.

Tanah Boyd lands the conversion.

The Roosters won it, and Brisbane will be kicking off come 4pm.

Jeez, that was far too easy for Taine Tuaupiki, who scores his second by stepping past four defenders in the middle of the field, freezing them with great footwork before cutting through the line. That’s the sort of running you just can’t teach. Boyd lands the conversion once again.

A beaut chip and chase by Josh Rogers and a partly accidental offload by Nicholas O’Meley set that one up for Ewan Moore, who goes over near the corner. Rogers nails the difficult conversion.

Teams often choose to stay in accommodation very close to Accor Stadium in Homebush, but not the Broncs. They’re holed up in Brighton, right on the shores of Botany Bay in Sydney’s south.

There’ll be no worries with traffic when they make their way to the ground, though, as NSW Police will be making sure everything runs smoothly.

Well, at least Burleigh have slowed them down a bit.

It took 11 minutes of second-half action before Luke Hanson scored the Wahs’ seventh try of the afternoon, with Tanah Boyd making no mistake with the extras this time.

And we have a very famous spectator, Ivan Cleary (pictured below), who is watching his son Jett play for the Warriors.

The Chooks are trying to go back-to-back in the NRLW decider, but Brisbane are the favourites, despite the fact the Tricolours are just 70 minutes of footy away from going through the entire season undefeated.

Roosters star Jessica Sergis just led her teammates off the bus, with the big match kicking off at 4pm.

That’s the second four-pointer for Setu Tu, who strolled over on the back of a lightning-fast last pass from Ali Leiataua, but Boyd can’t slot the two-pointer.

And that’s halftime. Bears coach Luke Burt, who starred for Parramatta in the early 2000s, will need to pull out an all-time-great speech at the break if his team are going to get out of Accor with a win.

Cole Geyer – the son of Penrith and NSW Blues legend Mark – crashes over to finish the first good set from the Bears all match, with Josh Rogers landing the conversion.

Freddy Lussick joins the procession in the 29th minute, sliding through a yawning gap after some good lead-up play by Tanah Boyd, who has an easy conversion from right in front.

Plenty of time for the Wahs to add to what is fast starting to look like an unbeatable lead before halftime. The Bears are getting carved up left, right and centre, with the Warriors scooting 80 metres on their set after receiving the kickoff. This is boys vs men stuff at the moment.

Setu Tu doubled the Kiwis’ lead in the 14th minute, and halfback Tanah Boyd has just notched a four-pointer to go with three conversions from three attempts.

The Burleigh Bears look badly outmatched by the Warriors’ size and power at the moment, and they just made matters worse with a bad fumble as they tried to bring the ball back after the kickoff.

The Wahs waste no time capitalising on that mistake, with Taine Tuaupiki carving through the defence out wide to score a meat pie straight off the scrum.

Boyd misses the conversion this time. It’s starting to get ugbly for the Queenslanders.

Mam crashed his Ford into an Uber in inner-city Brisbane in October 2024, leaving the Uber driver and his two passengers – a mother and daughter – with serious injuries, most notably a broken hip suffered by the five-year-old girl.

Now, as he prepares to play a starring role in the grand final, the mother and Uber driver have hit out at what they see as the star’s grossly lenient treatment from the court and the NRL.

The mother, Taylor Marshall, said Mam should have been hit with a far harsher outcome than being fined $850 and losing his licence for six months, in addition to being rubbed out for nine weeks and fined $120,000 by the NRL after cocaine was found in his system after the accident.

‘I’m in shock he’s playing,’ Marshall said.

‘I seriously thought he would get a year’s suspension. He got nine games. It’s not good enough.

‘I said on the day of his court case that the suit he was wearing would have cost more than the fine that he got.’

Uber driver Marcel Van Den Camp spoke through his lawyer, Kaitlyn Marsh, who said he finds it ‘re-traumatising’ to see Mam ‘continue to live comfortably’.

‘Our client does not agree with the consequences imposed by the NRL or the fact that Ezra is playing in this weekend’s grand final,’ Marsh said in a statement.

New Zealand’s Ali Leiataua has crossed in the ninth minute to give his team the opening try against the Burleigh Bears in the State Championship.

Tahah Boyd put on a great last pass and has also slotted the conversion for a 6-0 lead.

On Wednesday night, just as the Dally M red carpet was getting underway, news broke that the Bulldogs boss and Channel Nine star had been in a Sydney hospital since Monday with serious health issues.

‘Gus’ returned to the commentary booth on grand final day to lend his expertise to the State Championship match between the New Zealand Warriors and Burleigh Bears.

‘Just watch me drip, will you, please? Don’t tread on it,’ he joked to his fellow commentators.

Hello and thanks for joining the Daily Mail for our coverage of the 2025 NRL grand final.

Stick with us as we bring you all the action from Accor Stadium, where the Broncos will be trying to win their first premiership since 2006 as they face the Melbourne Storm in the biggest match of the year.