Sports Confidential: Has Phil Gould made a fatal mistake in his pursuit of Ivan Cleary
THOSE close to Penrith general manager of football Phil Gould fear this past week’s events are the greatest mistake of his career and the damage to his reputation will be permanent.
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THOSE close to Penrith general manager of football Phil Gould fear this past week’s events are the greatest mistake of his career and that some of the reputational damage will be permanent.
They can’t believe Gould’s error in judgment, privately wondering how he could be so irresponsible in both a corporate and fiscal sense.
Gould is too clever not to survive, though.
Still, the NRL has taken a hard look at Penrith’s audacious bid to poach Ivan Cleary from the Wests Tigers, with more than two seasons remaining on his contract, and is preparing to shut down the practice given the damage it caused the game.
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No legislation will be in place in time to affect Cleary’s decision, though.
Penrith’s shameless targeting of Cleary, combined with the timing of the sacking of Anthony Griffin, has angered many around the game.
The Tigers are in strong company, too.
A recent addition to the board is expert employment lawyer Darren Perry, who joined when chief executive Justin Pascoe urged the club to recruit more legal and business expertise.
Penrith’s attempt to induce Cleary into breaking his contract and join them next season, since re-imagined by the Panthers with a variety of alternatives proposed, falls right into his sweet spot.
Logic tells the NRL that if there are restrictions on player movement because it disrupts a club, then a coach being poached has even greater repercussions.
TIGERS BOARD CLOSES RANKS
WESTS Tigers had a quick phone hook-up on Wednesday night where they again gave their unanimous support behind chair Marina Go and chief executive Justin Pascoe’s public stance of not granting Ivan Cleary an early release from his contract.
It was the first time the nine-person board have been able to all speak together since news broke linking Cleary to a move with Penrith.
Potential replacements for Cleary were not discussed.
Privately, the Tigers feel Cleary may link with the Panthers when his deal with the club expires at the end of 2020 which would leave the Tigers board with a difficult decision but one they believe they can make work.
TWO SHIPS CROSSING IN THE NIGHT
THERE was a brief moment when Go and Anthony Griffin crossed paths ahead of their respective appearances at Fox Sports headquarters on Wednesday night.
The pair exchanged a nod and smile — knowing they were there to give their respective sides to the same story.
PANTHERS CALL ON BRANDY
GREG Alexander has been one of the people who have had an increased role at Panthers training this week.
The Penrith board member has been involved with the NRL side sporadically in recent months but is expected to up his involvement following Griffin’s departure.
TIGERS BOSS DID A CLEARY
THERE is an interesting side note to the Ivan Cleary situation which has not been lost at those at Penrith.
Tigers boss Justin Pascoe walked out on the same role at the Panthers to link with the his new club — which was of much surprise to those at Penrith.
This week the Tigers suggested they could explore legal options against the Panthers if they are round to have enticed Cleary to break his contract. The Panthers had considered legal action of their own at the time of Pascoe’s departure.
EELS SING LOUD, SING PROUD
IT is either a case of being so fresh, or the fact the Eels haven’t won as many games as they would have liked, but the Parramatta’s new-look team song has taken some getting used to. The reworked version of the Parramatta song was done by a host of the Eels youngsters including last week’s debutant Jaeman Salmon.
“He helped design the new team song,” Eels coach Brad Arthur said. “(The new song) has a bit more energy. A bit more exciting. We haven’t had a chance to sing it very often this year.”
The song has synergies with the parody song about Northern Ireland soccer star Will Grigg dubbed Will Grigg’s On Fire which was based on ‘90s Euro dance hit Freed from Desireby Gala.
CAN LEVY BREAK THE PIG CURSE?
GEE, Macquarie Radio’s Mark Levy better watch out.
Levy has just taken over the breakfast show with Mark “Piggy” Riddell, replacing the lightly talented Beau Ryan, and listened to Riddell weigh in on the Ivan Cleary to Penrith story earlier this week, where he explained that getting on with the job was simply part of the deal.
“I was signed to the Dragons in 2001 by Andrew Farrar. By the end of 2002 he was sacked,” Riddell said
“ … I went to the Parramatta Eels in 2005. Brian Smith was sacked halfway through 2006 …
“I then went to England and I signed with Brian Noble who was the coach of the Wigan Warriors. He lasted 12 months and Michael Maguire took over.”
Levy got more nervous with each sentence.
BENNETT SCOURING THE MARKET
DAYS before the game of musical chairs in the coaching ranks broke, out-of-favour Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett was spotted working the room at the NRL Hall of Fame dinner.
It was not what you might expect.
Among a room filled with the champions of the game, many of whom played under the game’s longest serving coach, Bennett saved his heartiest conversations for the chief executives within the room.
Bennett has since been linked to several clubs.
TOMMY TALAU GOES KAPOW
THE son of former Canterbury centre Willie Talau will leave Canterbury at season’s end and join the Wests Tigers. Highly rated half Tommy Talau was picked in the Australian Schoolboys side last month.
CRAWFORD RUNS HIS RACE
TONY Crawford, the NRL chief financial officer, was at Randwick last week for the fifth race on the card, the “Tony Crawford 50th.”
Crawford was so busy having his ear chewed off by Hall of Famer Gorden Tallis that, in lieu of doing his form properly, he took the easy route and backed every horse in the race.
“I wanted to make sure I backed the winner,” he said.
Thankfully it was the nicely priced Avilius, at $6, that saluted.
KNIGHTS LAND THE WOOLF
WHILE much of the attention has focused on the head coaching position at the Panthers, there has been some movement in the assistant ranks.
Highly rated Tongan coach Kristin Woolf is Newcastle-bound from the Townsville Blackhawks to assist Knights coach Nathan Brown.
NRL DO THEIR BIT
THE NRL will have collectors outside ANZ Stadium on Friday night to raise money for drought relief.
SLAMMING SAM’S TOUCH OF CLASS
A QUICK shout out to South Sydney skipper Sam Burgess, who spotted a severely disabled boy in the Rabbitohs’ dressing room on Friday night, quietly took off his playing jersey and handed it to him. It was greeted with a round of applause.
RABBITOHS PLAYING IT COOL
SOUTH Sydney fans are daring to dream again. After a lacklustre season last year, the Rabbitohs are primed for a top four finish and the players know that excitement levels are building in Redfern.
In-form prop George Burgess said it was important the players don’t let that become a distraction.
“We have to keep a lid on things,” Burgess said. “We have to keep bringing our focus back to our next task which is the roosters.
“(The Roosters) are the form team in the comp. Their forward pack has played really well in the right time of year. It’s a big challenge.”
GREATEST EVER GRAND FINAL
VOTING will close shortly on the Men of League’s most memorable grand final. The grand finals were chosen by an elite panel but now the public will have the final say. Voting will be on a 1-10 ranking system with the first, second, and third most popular grand final to be unveiled at the Men of League gala dinner at the Westin on Wednesday
— 2005: Wests Tigers 30 defeated North Queensland Cowboys 16: A young and fearless Tigers team capped a remarkable season with the premiership win. A Benji Marshall flick pass which led to a Pat Richards try set the tone one of the unlikeliest premiers in recent years.
— 2014: South Sydney Rabbitohs 30 defeated Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 6: Sam Burgess played on with a fractured cheekbone suffered in the opening tackle of the game with the Rabbitohs dominating the game. The victory ended the club’s 43-year-drought.
— 2015: North Queensland Cowboys 17 defeated Brisbane Broncos 16: The most dramatic of finishes when Kyle Feldt scored late before Johnathan Thurston missed a sideline conversion to win. He nailed a golden point field goal following a Ben Hunt error for the Cowboys first title with a 17-16 win.
MORE GOLD FOR PEARSON
CHAMPION hurdler Sally Pearson delivered more gold this week, in the form of thousands of dollars worth of sports gear to Manly West Public School.
The school collected more than 165,000 vouchers in the Coles’ sports for schools program, making them one of the top-five schools in NSW.
In all, $10 million in sports gear has been donated to thousands of schools across Australia.