Phil Gould shocked the rugby league world in mid-October by sacking then coach of the Penrith Panthers, Ivan Cleary.
It came out of the blue, it was unexpected, and it was almost mystifying.
It went about everything Gould had been building the Panthers to since joining the club as Executive General Manager in 2011.
As a fan, you questioned whether the much hyped five-year plan, which Cleary had been brought in to kick start, had been thrown out the window. Gould even went as far to say Cleary’s sacking was a ‘gut feeling’ he had at the time.
What was more mystifying than the proverbial punting of Cleary, was the reigning in of ex-Broncos Coach, Anthony Griffin.
While Griffin has now been in place on the east side of the Nepean for well over a month, the question has to be asked: what can Anthony Griffin do for the Panthers in season 2016 and beyond?
Griffin was handpicked by Gould without board consultation or any recruitment process taking place.
He is a one-club NRL coach, racking up 101 games at the helm of the Brisbane Broncos from 2011-2014. He has had a long coaching career, dating back to the late 90s where he was involved with various teams in the Queensland competitions.
He was an assistant at the Melbourne Storm under Chris Anderson, had a season at the Broncos as assistant to Ivan Henjak, and then was thrust into the main role after Henjak was sacked.
While a credentialled and respected custodian, the man himself doesn’t strike you as the most inspirational bloke on the planet with his relaxed and simple demeanor. But maybe that is his greatest strength, or maybe that’s all we can see from the distance of the couch.
The 49-year-old comes to Panthers at a time of transition, much similar to that of his time at the Broncos. In Brisbane, Griffin was the coach of the NYC under-20s team in 2008 which went all the way to the grand final. A few years later, Griffin became first-grade coach and was charged with assimilating many of his young crop from ’08 into the top team.
The Red Hill franchise would have thought Hook’s experience working with the youngsters would help their transition into first grade footballers. While debate on whether he achieved that can be left to the experts, Griffin was unable to take his Brisbane first-grade side to the next level, with finishes of third in 2011, eighth in 2012, 12th in 2013, and eighth in 2014.
He would eventually be pushed out of the club to allow for the return of Super-coach and Broncos kingpin Wayne Bennett.
It could be argued that given the success of some of the Broncos youngsters this year under Bennett Griffin was indeed successful in transitioning some of the youngster’s into quality first-graders. So if Griffin is a good coach from that perspective, but is not quite a coach who can take a side to the next-level of premiership opportunities, why have Penrith signed him?
Under the tutelage and guidance of Gus Gould, the Panthers have for the past three years driven a recruitment strategy based around developing many of their talented juniors. In the last couple of years, the likes of Matt Moylan, Bryce Cartwright and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak have emerged from the vast Penrith rugby league catchment to debut under the coaching of Ivan Cleary.
Cleary appeared to have the right judgement on how much the juniors’ could handle, and when they were ready. He wasn’t afraid to give someone a start but was timely and measured when he did.
Cleary’s sacking followed an 11th place finish for his side. This is obviously not what the excellence-seeking Panthers would have liked, but after a season of almost catastrophic injuries, many commentators gave them the ‘unlucky, move on to next year’ summary. It’s difficult to understand why he was let go, but it’s even more difficult to picture Anthony Griffin leading the Panthers to a premiership.
Gould must see something in Griffin that the regular punters can’t, but he has taken a huge gamble on the future of the club by investing in Griffin. Perhaps Griffin is a stop-gap coach while the club waits for a world-beater of the Craig Bellamy mold.
His ability to work with younger players – who at the Broncos have long lauded him as a reason to their success – could be what the Panthers needed. Maybe that’s why Gould brought him in, to help transition more of the juniors into first grade.
With the club having won the NYC competition in 2013 and 2015, the conveyer belt of juniors is well and truly operating. Indeed maybe Gould knows that the Panthers are three-to-four years away from being title contenders, not one-to-two as the original five-year plan would suggest.
What’s clear is the appointment of Anthony Griffin by Gus Gould to coach the Penrith Panthers in 2016, is one of the maestro’s biggest plays during his forty-plus years in rugby league.
Whether that leaves Griffin with a mountain of pressure to carry, or Gould takes the responsibility himself remains to be seen. Let’s just hope those juniors can keep feeding into the NRL side and their talent, along with the structures and systems in place at the Panthers, can finally awake the ‘sleeping giants’ of the NRL. It’s been far too long for the mountain men.
Albo
Guest
Gould just needs someone who won't take the limelight away from him ! Maybe Cleary was getting too uppity ? Griffin looks like he will do as he is told ! At the end of the day, the coach won't determine the Panthers performance next season. It will be leadership on the field that they most need. Time for the likes of Matt Moylan and Elijah Taylor to take the next steps in their careers and start running that mob around the field, particularly with the likelihood of some new young halves coming into the team this year, as the old guard ( Wallace & Soward) fade / injured out.
Jacko
Guest
I never saw the hype around Cleary anyway. He won 50% of matches he coached at the Warriors but was made out to be some superstar based on the last year at the Warriors when they made the final. The thing was that they had finished 7th that year (2011) and the finals were played during the Rugby world cup in NZ which seemed to spur the Warriors on a bit. Then after all that he bailed on the last year of his contract. I just don't rate him as a coach or a person.
Birdy
Guest
Hi Scott , Your not as dominant on the roar as you use to be. Bad luck for the roar. All I meant was Cleary, in Goulds eyes was the be all and end all for Penrith to achieve their rightful place in the NRL . Then in a gut feeling he jumps ship. Not very loyal. His wife would have to be worried about his gut feelings to take a totally different direction in life. Just my weird humour.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Birdy Can u elaborate on what you meant when you wrote: "I wonder how gould’s wife feels?"
Birdy
Guest
How to lose a beer at a pub. I really thought Granville went to the cows straight from Wynnum Manly. Still 1 of the best buys of the season.
Bugs
Guest
Griffin did a lot of things wrong at the Broncs. Very conservative and reactive. 2013 tactics was a blatant copy of the successful Bulldogs 2012 tactics with forwards playing as proxy halves, and because it was reactive, it didn't work. And look at the halves - we had Corey Norman and Ben Hunt as the long term halves - first he picked Norman as 5/8 and left Hunt on the benches. The next season he brought in Scott Prince and stuck with him all year despite him being poor, stuck with Wallace even though ALL the stats showed Norman had been better the year before, until it was too late, and belatedly gave Hunt a go with 6 weeks to run. Norman left the club because he got punted from his 5/8 spot for someone who didn't perform. So then he had to buy Milford, didn't get him until a year after he wanted, and so played Hoffman, who has NEVER played as a half...just piss poor. On top of that, he was reluctant to play Kahu and Granville (and let Granville go!), and was too weak to play one of his 4 quality 2nd rowers off the bench, so played Parker as a prop, which left us small and vulnerable up the middle (and stalled development of props) Bennett comes in, gives Thaiday a rocket, pushes him into front row as the biggest of the 4 (a position he'd ALWAYS struggled with) and got him to perform. I don't know why Gould rates him. The players did, but Parker is quoted this year as saying bad performances by senior players were accepted by Griffin, whereas Bennett put them on notice if there was a poor performance, and look at the difference. Probably a bit soft, at least on the senior players...
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
A breath of fresh air? Sometimes that's all that is needed at a club. Exhibit A, Knights 2001. Ryan setup that team, but once Hagan took over it took another level as I think Hagan was more hands off. Just what the players needed at the time. Not sure how Griffith differs from Cleary though.
ferret
Guest
@ Scott - as a Bronco member I fully agree that Hook's conservatism was (is still?) his biggest downfall and I sat through several years of boring Griffinball. Some of his selections, like Hoffman at 5'8 which you mention were very baffling. So the real question is, "How has he changed?". On the plus side the Broncos players always turned up and seemed to want to play for him. So he does engender loyalty in his squad. Still can't see what he has that Cleary didn't.
scott
Guest
Hook is a good man and an alright coach. He had two major things run against him, he's highly conservative both in game plans and in player selection, and he was too close to his players from the 20s squad. In 2014 the Broncos played boring Griffinball because it was safe even though it didn't really work. The preseason injury to Kahu really worked against him too as he had to choose between one of his 20s players who was an established NRL grade player or an untried youngster from Qcup. Ultimately Hoffman got the 5/8 gig and that was enough to get Hook moved on. I truly hope he has learned a bit from his last few years and guides the Panthers to success. He really is a good man and a decent coach, just undone by a combination of his flaws and particular circumstances at Brisbane.
Birdy
Guest
I meant to say Cleary's sacking, But funny anyway
Samtwocan
Guest
There's plenty of gut there to feel these days .
Birdy
Guest
Clearly' sacking was a gut feeling he had at the time. I wonder how gould's wife feels?
Christo the Daddyo
Guest
A rather odd article in which the author poses questions, then answers them, but doesn't seem to want to accept his own answers!
dromlan
Guest
Unfortunately, there are not that many super coaches around.
peeeko
Guest
huge punt by Gould. he must see something beyond his average record