Every story needs its villain.
The trident-wielding figure who deceives us, twisting and distorting what is true. Then there’s the innocent victim, the bearer of all that is good and pure in the world.
There have been two main protagonists in this week’s story. Phil Gould and Anthony Griffin.
And there aren’t any prizes for guessing which one’s which.
However, the real victim out of this fiasco isn’t Griffin. And Gould isn’t the only villain either.
The Wests Tigers have obviously suffered after their club was dragged into the drama. It’s an unwelcome distraction as they look to continue their late charge towards a top eight spot.
But there’s another fatality from this soap opera. One that few have considered.
The Penrith Panthers themselves.
Criticise Gould all you want. He doesn’t care.
But don’t bash the Panthers as a club for his individual actions. Especially without first considering Griffin’s role.
Phil Gould has denied he’s been pulling the strings at Penrith. (Photo: Tony Feder/Getty Images)
Calm and collected, the former Penrith coach appeared on Fox League’s NRL 360 on Wednesday night to present his side of the story.
The online community rose in support for the unfortunate victim of Gould’s ego as the pitchforks came out for the Penrith supremo.
And sure, Griffin did handle himself well and claimed some responsibility, especially in relation to Matt Moylan’s demise.
However, very few people actually considered what he said and instead were charmed by his composed demeanour, not even thinking of questioning anything that he brought up.
Like the fact that he claimed Penrith was a mess when he arrived in 2016 and that its junior development system was in a foetal position.
Outside of those who supported the club, everyone else remained blissfully unaware of how grossly incorrect this statement was. After all, Griffin did say it in a respectful manner.
The victim out of this interview was the Penrith Panthers. The club prides itself on developing its own players to be the best they can be.
In the reign of Matthew Elliott, before Ivan Cleary was brought in as head coach, only 20 per cent of the Panthers squad consisted of local products.
Fast-forward to 2018 and this number stood at 80 per cent, with the likes of Nathan Cleary, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Sione Katoa now regular first-graders after coming through the club’s lower grades.
During Cleary’s three-year coaching stint, Penrith had claimed two National Youth Competition premierships. They also won the New South Wales Cup in 2014.
Current first-graders Waqa Blake, Watene-Zelezniak, Isaah Yeo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard had all made their debuts under Cleary.
And 11 other juniors including Dylan Edwards, Cleary, Corey Harawira-Naera and James Fisher-Harris were already heading towards a similar path.
Even further down the line, the Panthers had qualified for back-to-back SG Ball Grand Finals.
According to Griffin, however, “the place was KFC and run around the oval.”
In other words, during his time as coach, he had revolutionised the club’s development of its junior talent from lazy to the high-quality system it is now.
(Photo: Mark Evans/Getty Images)
It is a claim that has been accepted by the majority of punters, simply because it fits their anti-Gould sentiments.
And you are most certainly allowed to hate Gould if you want to. But don’t extend that to the people who have worked too hard to get its development system to where it is now.
The club already spends around $2.6 million a year on its grassroots and junior rugby league development system.
This is the image that Penrith has branded itself around.
Which brings me to Gould.
The 60-year-old has not exactly made this situation any better.
While he has appeared for several media opportunities to tell his story, the tune of his narrative suddenly shifted on Thursday night when he revealed completely new information about Griffin’s sacking, including his fractured relationship with new coach Cameron Ciraldo.
Choosing to air this on Channel Nine wasn’t a smart move. Intentional or not, the angry mob only hoisted their pitchforks higher in the air.
Again, people’s hatred towards Gould again extended towards the Panthers as a club, with some even going as far as to say that Manly had been usurped as the most despised team in the competition.
But can you blame him? When someone comes out and incorrectly criticises the club’s proudest achievement, of course Gould is entitled to provide a response.
Cameron Ciraldo, the new caretaker of the side, has been interpreted as merely a puppet for Gould.
He may have led the Panthers to back-to-back grand finals in the Under 20s competition and later been promoted as head coach of the Italian national team.
But apparently, he isn’t his own man.
He wasn’t deserving of praise for his promotion as he was only selected to meet Gould’s own self-interests.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
People just haven’t looked at this objectively because of their hatred of Gould. And Penrith as a club are suffering.
Both Griffin and Gould have told fibs. It’s not possible that they haven’t given they continually contradict each other.
The truth in the chaos will be found somewhere in the middle. There is a third story to be told.
Ultimately, the betrayal portrayed by the media this week is worthy of being performed in theatres alongside Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.
Most believe this assassination was carried out by Gould.
If the Panthers fail to win a premiership within the next five years then perhaps they are right.
However, until then, let’s stop acting as if we know the truth.
Along with the Wests Tigers, there has only been one another victim from this week’s drama.
The Penrith Panthers as a brand.
And restoring that begins on Saturday afternoon against the Gold Coast Titans.
Gould can set up as many interviews as he likes. It won’t change anything.
The club’s actions on the field in the coming weeks will speak much louder.
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Footnote: Trump won the election with 3 million less votes than his opponent (courtesy of the electoral college). Kind of like Slater winning the Wally Lewis medal - but a tad more important a snafu. And economic cycles don't shift in 18 months. The economic impact of the Trump government won't be known for a couple more years. But ask any economist - the tariff war he has started will have significant negative impacts - not just for US but also Australian economy and currency. The Trump achievement that Gould seems to most aspire to is the more than 2,400 documented (by Washington Post Fact Checker - look it up) lies he has told since taking office.
MB
Guest
Didn’t see the interview- and important thing to note here though is that “juniors” and “lower grades” are not the same thing. It is possible that the juniors were an issue while the NYC and ISP teams are going well.
Birdy
Guest
Thanks kk Just trying to break my 81 end of season mark? But really can't pass a chance to mock the Hollywood hypocrites
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
The criticism being directed at Gould is a consequence of his own actions X. Gould is an egomaniac and a really dreadful commentator. He craves attention and gets it. The decision to sack Griffin now was ridiculous. If the Penrith brand has been damaged then lay the blame right where it belongs. Gould.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
Gould turned Penrith around. Trumps numbers are just following the trend set in Obamas final 2 years
Wayne Turner
Guest
Don't forget Soward's other "conflict of interest" - He works for channel 9 as a commentator for the NSW cup game of the week. So he's also not going to rubbish Gould and a current higher upper at channel 9.In fact I saw this as Soward sucking up to Gould.
Wayne Turner
Guest
Griffin is a victim because he's a lost his job and because the public execution of it.Griffin accepted that him and Gould didn't get on ie: "we didn't get on" - It's at least Griffin accepting his part of why he thinks he got sacked.Yes,of course there could and most likely is more to it,we don't and will never know the whole truth. Gould has handled this whole thing terribly.By the timing of the sacking,backpassing,dragging others into it,and that terrible excuse for an interview on his employer's tv network. Griffin may have deserved to be sacked but the handling by Gould has been terrible. On another thing,regarding what Griffin said about the juniors.The sadly reality is,except for the people personally involved no one else gives a stuff about teams winning lower grade titles.Hence the name "lower grade" - They only care that this leads to first grade titles.If it doesn't lead to first grade titles,then it's seen as a failure. Griffin could easily have a case for defamation if it's made clear and easy to prove what Gould has said has cost him future employment opportunities.Griffin could only be sued if it's proven he has damaged the Penrith brand,which would be hard to prove,when you could easily point out how Gould has done that by the handling of all this.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Yes but, he lasted the lonest there lol he must have done something?
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
Matt Elliott was terrible Steve. You can't deny Gould has transformed Penrith from rabble in 2011 to the side it is now. He's certainly done some good stuff.
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
Look, the thing is that Gould wasn't going to confirm unrest unless he wanted Griffin gone at the time. Why would he come out and admit there were issues if Griffin was still there? I get your point though.
Emcie
Roar Guru
I get what you're saying, but I'm sure practically every sacked coach has felt maligned after getting the boot. There are ways of defending your reputation that don't involve immediately going to the biggest rival to your former employer for what was always going to be promoted as an explosive tell all. The story before that didn't have much to run on other then speculation and wouldn't have had much of a lifespan if it had been left at that. That said, I don't think Griffin was dishonest in his version of events, I just don't particularly think that his view point is much more then just his view point.
Jacob
Guest
Never been a fan of Griffins ever since Ivan was punted to begin with. His claim the juniors were a mess when he got there is probably the biggest issue ive got with this mess. Mind you, the constant denials of unrest dating back to before Moylan left make everyone look like a pack of liars
steveng
Roar Rookie
Gould should concentrate on what's going on at the Panthers and not go on with his usual rabble on Ch9 about the Worsters with Fittler and Johns! i wouldn't trust Gould as far as I can throw him, the guy is an opportunist and must be a very hard man as a boss! The Panthers will get 'Nowhere' with Gould in charge, they haven't so far and the future looks as good as what its been. No matter who they get as a coach? The result will always be the same while Gould and the other bugalugs are in charge at the Panthers! How many coaches have the Panthers had? Matthew Elliott 2007-11 has done the best there until Gould came along! Lets see now, Gould has been at the Panthers since 2011, this is especially and as previously the Panthers had Royce Simmons 1994-2001 then they had John Lang 2002-06 so since he's been there he's gone through and sacked, Steve Georgallis 2011, Ivan Cleary 2012-15, Anthony Griffin 2016=18 and now Cameron Ciraldo 2018 who will last 1 month lol that's 4, lets see how many more Mr Gould and his bugalugs will go through in the next 7 years lol what a rabble of a club especially since Gould has taken over and he recons that the panthers are going as well as ever!
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
Gould die lie to the media but it was only because at that point he didn't want to get rid of Griffin. If he told the truth that he and Griffin didn't see eye to eye the media would have a field day. You may be right though, there may have been trust issues between the pair. Who knows - it's been an ugly week.
Big daddy
Guest
When you look at Penrith s position on the ladder it couldn't have all been about coaching. It's about 2 strong personalities and there was only going to be 1 winner.
Paul
Roar Guru
Emcie, I'd normally agree with your comments about Griifin pouring fuel on the fire, but he clearly felt he'd been maligned by Gold and wanted to tell his side of the story I have no issue with that, as long as it's accurate, but some of his statements appear questionable at best. As for Ciraldo, I think he should have simply made a statement about being given the opportunity to coach the first grade side, etc and leave the rest alone. His comments were helpful in resolving the issue.
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
Far out, Scott is a magician. I'm sure I've seen Scott and Mr X blog at the same time (different sports). This means that Scott is either a warlock or he's Batman.
thomas c
Guest
The problem was initially that rumor tarred Griffin in potentially career ending ways rather than let him have an ounce of dignity. He felt he needed to respond and maybe overstressed certain things. However, Gould is powerful at the panthers, in the media and has a munch of mates (or cronies) ready to leap to defend him. He also lied to the media in the lead up. He was always going to look bad.
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
I agree perhaps that would have been more professional. But several people questioned the decision given it was so close to the finals and were expecting an extensive explanation.
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
In saying that though Penrith had already won 2 Holden Cup titles so they looked like they were on the way there. He played a role but it was the way he portrayed the junior system at the start that was the issue not him saying he played a role, because he did, he just overstated it.