It’s been almost eight years since Phil Gould took the reins as the general manager of Penrith’s football department.
The Panthers had broken a five-year finals drought by finishing second on the ladder in 2010, only to bow out of September in straight sets. A terrible start to the 2011 season saw the club become a rapidly sinking ship in need of a captain.
In April of that year, coach Matthew Elliott was told he would not be required beyond the season’s end. The board, desperate for a solution, coaxed Gould to a managerial position with promises of expansive control over almost every department at the club. It wasn’t long before Elliott stood down.
Now, eight years into Gould’s infamous five-year plan, the 60-year-old is departing the club in the first year of a five-year contract. Gould reportedly claimed his role is now “redundant” and that it has “absolutely zero to do” with last year’s drama between himself, Wayne Bennett and Ivan Cleary – he was also quick to deny suggestions Penrith’s lack of a premiership on his watch means his tenure was a failure.
So what legacy does Gould leave at the Penrith Panthers?
Roar rugby league Expert Mary Konstantopoulos joined us on the Game of Codes podcast to discuss the impact of Gould’s tenure at Penrith and where he’s taken the club over the past decade, arguing the Channel Nine commentator has been given “disrespectful” treatment by certain members of the NRL media during the week.
Listen to the dicussion:
Penrith reached the finals in four of the eight seasons since Gould was appointed – all within the last five years – and he is credited with establishing the club’s successful academy and driving a strong surge in junior talent.
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Greg
Roar Pro
Agree with most of what you just said except the bold statement of panthers winning a premiership. There was never any such statement and there was never any "5 year plan". It all started with him saying it will take 5 years to get the salary cap in order, never a promise of a premiership. Any mention of the supposed 5 year plan is just untruthful and unimaginative writing.
Larry1950
Guest
Based on the report of his contract in that period, he got the packer loan to cover his wages, seems fair enough. Almost anyone in power could have screwed millions out of politicians to fund the centre of excellence, they'll do almost anything to be seen as part of the community. Broncos got plenty too but Bennett's not responsible, that's all White's doing. I reckon Gould's key failure hasn't been a lack of a premiership, it's been the failure to instil a professional culture in the playing staff. He did OK in some other areas.
no one in particular
Roar Guru
How invasive was he? And what are you basing that on?
mushi
Roar Guru
Your shopping list of teams perhaps?
beachart
Roar Rookie
Let's just say that Phil Gould has contributed a lot more to Rugby League, than one P.Rothfield.
John
Guest
I didn't label fake news nor was it my intention to label it as such. Gould works for channel 9, channel 9 releases positive articles on Gould's tenure that focuses on club building, while fox the rival league network releases articles focusing on lack of premierships and the coaching carousel. Both styles of articles aren't wrong, just shows how each organisation and their bias, can showcase the same situation in a different light and use different measures to come up with vastly different answers to the same question.
Watda
Guest
Gould got himself a redundancy payout...success? Hell yes..
Old mate bigJ
Roar Rookie
Really, and what do you base that on???
The Barry
Roar Guru
None of us are really sure what his targets were or the due dates (other than the five year plan). The metric for me is, is the club in better shape now that he’s leaving than it was when he started. As an outsider I’ve got to say yes.
The Barry
Roar Guru
You’ve jumped ship for less...
Ben
Roar Guru
Yes... Good ol' channel 9 spinning their fake news.
Old mate bigJ
Roar Rookie
Yeah no
Insider
Roar Rookie
Was his time At panthers a success Take it away Gus “NO NO NO NO NO” straight from the horses mouth fans
Old mate bigJ
Roar Rookie
Tell that to Eels, Warriors, Titans and Raiders supporters. Plus Gould’s measuring of success will be told after he leaves, if the club can function well without him which I believe was his initial intention to build the club of to a point where they can look after themselves will shine through after his departure. If they crumble quickly then Gould influences where a catastrophic failure
Paul
Roar Guru
I was going to write just "unopposed" but slipped in that "almost" word just before I hit "submit", ND. I don't doubt the Panthers Board would have gone with most of his decisions, simply because they were the right ones to make. The Bennett issue appears to one where he looks like he overstepped.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
do not know about unopposed, most things need Board approval, especially expenditure matters.
Noosa Duck
Roar Rookie
Dig deep and you will find that Gould has done a great job. He has left that club with a very solid future having re-built their junior base and upgraded the facilities at the club. They have a solid future and they can thank Phil for that. He also swallowed his pride & shook hands with Wayne Bennett who was by far the best available coach and offered him the job, to do that he had but one thing in mind, the future of the club. Then to have to go back on his word and tell Bennett the deal was off and that he had been blindsided by the board chairman must have hurt. Now if you had the Choice of Wayne Bennett with over 800 games under his belt and a success rate of over 62% OR Cleary who has just made the 300 club with an an negative success rate of 47%.....Who would you pick. I doubt that they will win a Premiership under Cleary but they may well have under Bennett. What the Chairman was doing recruiting a coach behind the back of the Football operations manager may have more to do with personal family friendships than the long term interests of the Penrith Football club.
john
Guest
From an outsider, I'd say he has been successful, it does seem like there are a few stories circulating that if it weren't for Gould that Panthers probably wouldn't exist today. But those stories have been coming from WWOS (channel 9) so take that with a grain a salt. https://wwos.nine.com.au/nrl/brian-fletcher-reveals-phil-gould-redundancy-timeline/fb9e53cf-e213-4873-838b-307958ba19e8 In this article the CEO said that Panthers were over $100 million in debt before Gould arrived, so if Gould turned that around, I'd say he has been a success.
Paul
Roar Guru
My only question Barry is, when did the Panthers reach the point where they had achieved the goals that brought Gould into his GM position, ie a great junior programme and a strong financial position ? I'd suggest that was at least 3 - 4 years ago and if so, what value add has he offered since, in those defined areas? The decision you refer to in your last paragraph arguably had nothing to do with the brief that brought Gould back to the Club. I think it might end up being a case of the Board chasing and getting Cleary rather than Bennett, simply to undermine Gould's power.
The Barry
Roar Guru
If they had won a premiership you’d be supporting them...