There are about 6 or 7 loser clubs, and the only thing they can do about it is start winning.
The style or timing of press comments ends up being irrelevant in the face of wins/losses. NRL supporters of other clubs won't start respecting you just because you do or don't make certain statements in public.
Bulldogs haven't earned respect just because Gould denies everything, including publicly-confirmed facts.
There is almost no such thing as a private rejection in NRL - the media will find out and they will print the story. Michael Chammas is already saying today that Ciraldo has definitely been pursued by the Bulldogs, despite Gould's protests to the contrary. (and don't forget Gould is aligned with Fairfax who own SMH and Ch 9).
I don't realistically see that if Ciraldo turns down Tigers and Bulldogs, that Tigers come out worse some how because we admitted in public that we were pursuing Ciraldo.
Because the only alternative, apart from a fantasy world where Tigers speculation never hits the media, is to pursue very modest or ordinary targets, i.e. never aim high, and then be less likely to receive a public rejection. For example I am certain if Tigers pursued Steve Georgallis to replace Madge, they could have done a very quiet very fast deal, and it wouldn't be a "PR nightmare", but we'd have signed a very ordinary coach.
