Penrith power play heats up between hands-on Phil Gould and coach Anthony Griffin
A POWER play is intensifying at the foot of the mountains as recently re-signed Penrith coach Anthony Griffin deals with Phil Gould’s expanded hands-on role.
Panthers
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A POWER play is intensifying at the foot of the mountains as recently re-signed Penrith coach Anthony Griffin deals with Phil Gould’s expanded hands-on role.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that after their final trial loss to a second-string Canterbury, Gould blasted the underperforming Panthers for 30 minutes in the Belmore sheds as Griffin watched on.
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Now, just nine days out from their NRL season opener against bitter western Sydney rivals Parramatta, Griffin is in the coaching hot seat as the Panthers try to regroup from an off-season where they lost a handful of players, including captain Matt Moylan and gun back-rower Bryce Cartwright.
Gould shot down a report which surfaced on Thursday claiming he had given Griffin a halftime spray, labelling it “rubbish’’.
There were suggestions Gould was unimpressed with the team’s performance and Griffin’s refusal to make an interchange in the opening 40 minutes of their 24-10 loss.
“I won’t waste my breath on such rubbish. It didn’t happen,’’ Gould told The Daily Telegraph.
Despite extending his deal to the end of 2020 last October, Griffin’s future has been a hot topic all summer, especially after the departures of Moylan, Cartwright and Leilani Latu.
After starting last season as premiership hot pots, the Panthers are $15 for the 2018 title and $1.85 favourites to beat Jarryd Hayne’s Eels next Sunday at Pepper Stadium.
At yesterday’s NRL season launch, Penrith captain Peter Wallace told The Daily Telegraph that Gould had taken on more coaching with the team, but Griffin remained top cat.
“They work well together, Gus doesn’t run the show by any means, but obviously ‘Hook’ would be mad to brush off that (advice),’’ Wallace told The Daily Telegraph.
“Gus has popped into a few more sessions than he has in the past. He’s a smart man, he’s been around footy a long time, he has a wealth of knowledge and he’s been great, especially for Nath (Cleary), just with positioning and stuff like that.
“It’s just little things and areas that need a bit of tweaking to help us play better. He also watches a lot of footy as a commentator, so we knows a lot about other teams.’’
Gould, who coached the Panthers to their maiden 1991 premiership, has spent most of his time with attacking plays, and offering advice during video sessions.
Wallace defended Griffin’s decision to keep the same players on the paddock for the opening 40 minutes against Canterbury, saying he and a few forwards, including Reagan Campbell-Gillard, James Tamou and Trent Merrin, desperately needed the tough hitout.
The skipper found the constant speculation about Griffin’s future annoying, and could not stress enough how happy the Panthers were.
Merrin and Campbell-Gillard were also forced to defend their coach on NRL360 this week.
“I’ve been in footy a long time, you can pick an unhappy place or an unhappy group of people, and we’re definitely not that,’’ Wallace said.
“Moyza left, Carty left, and they left for different reasons, but when it happens, people try to put two and two together.
“It’s not the case. We’re happy club and everyone gets on and we’ve all been ripping in this pre-season.’’
For all Griffin’s critics, he’s taken the Panthers to week two of the finals two seasons in a row, and he did back himself to throw Cleary into first grade at just 18.
Gould is regarded as one of the sharpest minds in rugby league and built one of the best rosters in the NRL.
He helped Griffin from time to time last year, but really ramped up his involvement this pre-season.