Gould to take a leadership role. Souths finished as runner-up in the minor premiership and Piggins was awarded Dally M coach of the year. Overall, in his playing career, Gould made 103 first-grade appearances across four clubs. Post-retirement weight gain led to the nickname 'Gus' due to the resemblance to the Mr Squiggle character. Coaching career A successful coaching career followed for Gould. His first five coaching seasons brought two premierships (with Canterbury in 1988 and Penrith in 1991) and a loss in a Grand Final (with Penrith in 1990). Following their 1991 grand final victory, Gould travelled with the Panthers to England for the 1991 World Club Challenge which was lost to Wigan. In 1992, Gould took over as coach of New South Wales in the State of Origin series. The Blues were victorious for the next three series. In 1995, at the start of the Super League war, Gould's NSW side lost 3–0 to the Paul Vautin-coached team of relative unknowns patched together from the ranks of Queenlanders loyal to the ARL. The following year, NSW completed a series whitewash of its own with the Brad Fittler-captained Blues becoming the first and only team to go through a series with the same unchanged squad of 17 players. Gould then stood down, having inspired four NSW series wins in five years. While coach of the Panthers, during a 1994 match Gould was sent from his seat on the sideline to the dressing room by referee Bill Harrigan. Gould left Penrith for the Sydney City Roosters in 1995 (actually officially coaching the Roosters for the final game of the 1994 season after having departed Penrith mid-season), at a stage when the once high-flying Roosters club was continually dwelling at the bottom of the ladder. Before joining Easts, the Roosters had made the finals only once since 1983. A long rebuilding phase followed under Gould, enabling them to make some quality signings, one of the most important being Brad Fittler, the champion five-eighth/centre who had a close association with Gould at Penrith and with the NSW Blues. The Roosters were consistent semi-finalists from 1996 to 2004, though no Grand Final appearances came until 2000, the year after Gould had stepped down as coach and been replaced in the top job by Graham Murray. Further Grand Final appearances followed in 2002, 2003 and 2004 under Ricky Stuart, who won a premiership in