Paul Kent: Panthers finally have a clear vision for the future
With Phil Gould no longer at the club, Ivan Cleary is finding success as his own man. And the Panthers, now top of the NRL ladder, are responding to one clear, direct voice from above.
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Ivan Cleary and Phil Gould had differing opinions not on every player, but enough to create a divide that could not be resolved.
In Cleary’s first instalment as Penrith coach there was a meeting, for instance, when the retention and recruitment committee got together and the first name on the list was Api Koroisau.
Cleary wanted Koroisau’s contract extended. He liked what he brought to the team.
This meant the back-up hooker, James Segeyaro, was probably going to be moved on with a difficult conversation to follow but such is the way of NRL football.
The following Monday Cleary sat down for breakfast and opened his Daily Telegraph and got a look into his future in clear black type.
Koroisau had signed with Manly.
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Gould had done a deal with Bob Fulton, agreeing to release Koroisau with a year still left on his contract so he could join the Sea Eagles.
Suddenly, Cleary’s plans took a step backward.
Koroisau’s release caused friction between Cleary and Gould, and not for the last time. Or the first, for that matter.
In the end, Gould sacked Cleary at the end of the same season, with the thin explanation that he was “tired”.
Anthony Griffin was hired as Penrith’s head coach and Gould remained as general manager of football and after a while similar tensions began to surface.
To a certain point Gould did a magnificent job rebuilding Penrith’s roster but it was becoming clear, every few years into the five-year plan, he might be getting in his own way.
Just when Penrith looked set to make a charge something would happen to bring it undone. The Panthers would re-set and have to go again.
In Griffin’s third year at the club – and with the Panthers sitting equal first on the ladder after 14 rounds – Peter Wallace was troubled with an anterior cruciate injury and Griffin was nursing him through the season.
Wallace was nowhere near his best but he brought experience to an inexperienced spine and Griffin planned to nurse him through the rest of the season, and use his experience in short stints through the playoffs, where it would be required.
A game here, a game there.
They discussed it and at least one of them thought they agreed.
Then Griffin turned up to work the day after Penrith beat Canberra to learn Wallace had retired, effective immediately. As a reward for being a good clubman Gould had offered him a job on staff.
Two steps forward, one step back.
It is part of the Penrith tease that the Panthers stumbled to finish the season fifth, by which time Gould had already sacked Griffin a month earlier, when they were fourth.
It always seemed like just when Penrith was about to break through, something happened to take them back a step.
The premiership window never fully opened, but never really closed.
These were hardly isolated incidents at the club, and the disagreements between Gould and his coaches always gave the feeling the Panthers were little more than a high school kiss. A promise of something later.
Whether Penrith would ever break through for a premiership began to be questioned as players rolled in and out of the club.
Just when the roster seemed settled and ready to win, more movement questioned the thinking.
The Panthers’ plan was unclear.
Then Cleary returned to Penrith last year and returned the favour, sacking Gould in one of his first big jobs, to leave the ledger at one-all with a tie-breaker to come.
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Entering this season Gould was no longer general manager of football and Cleary was now in charge of his roster.
And a funny thing happened.
Unencumbered, Penrith now lead the premiership as the Panthers respond to one clear, direct voice from above.
Cleary is pushing forward with a roster he is comfortable with and not only knows he can work with, but one that he knows what it will look like heading forward.
It might be nothing more than a mere coincidence that Penrith has risen again with Gould no longer at the club.
It might not be, too.
Originally published as Paul Kent: Panthers finally have a clear vision for the future