Gould's meeting revealed after player takes leave

Canterbury football boss Phil Gould has met with the management of a player who took leave from the club due to mental health reasons.

Gould confirmed on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus podcast this week that an unidentified player had requested leave a week after an incident at a training session.

Multiple outlets have reported a player was ordered to wrestle up to 20 teammates as punishment for arriving late to a training session.

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The Sydney Morning Herald now says Gould met with the player's representatives on Thursday to discuss the welfare of the athlete in question.

The general manager of football earlier revealed his concerns medical records may have been leaked, resulting in the information landing in the hands of media.

""It's not as though he walked out after the event, he was still with the club for another week and then decided he needed to take some leave, and he's been doing that," Gould told the podcast.

"We've been waiting on some reports from medical people which we now have in our possession.

"My suspicion is that details of that report have been leaked out in some way, shape or form, which is why the media has now suddenly seized upon the story.

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"Our priority is the welfare of the player, it's as simple as that."

The report about the player in question followed other stories claiming a number of Bulldogs players had raised concerns about the workload under first-year coach Cameron Ciraldo.

Ciraldo and Gould defended the expectations put on players, while club legend Willie Mason teed off on anyone complaining about the workload.

"It's f–king soft as shit," Mason said on the Levels Network podcast.

"If you can't deal with it, you're not going to be f–king there. Because there's high standards at the club, regardless of what's happening right now with where we're coming on the ladder."

The Bulldogs finish their season against the Titans on Sunday.