Anthony Griffin will face Penrith on Friday night for the first time since being sacked by the club

St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin is preparing to face Penrith for the first time since he was shown the door by the club.

Anthony Griffin has had mixed success with the Dragons this season Picture Dragons Media

Penrith chair Dave O’Neill would happily cross the street to say hello to Anthony Griffin. He’s understandably unsure whether the St George Illawarra coach would do the same for him.

Almost three years to the day since O’Neill and the Panthers board made the difficult – some would say brave, others would suggest ridiculous – decision to sack Griffin, the club’s former coach has the chance to exact some modicum of revenge on Friday night when he leads the Dragons against Penrith at Suncorp Stadium.

Griffin had the Panthers hovering around the top four when he was shown the door in 2018, later baring his soul in interviews as he spoke about his shock at his dismissal and his deteriorating relationship with former Penrith head of football Phil Gould.

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Ivan Cleary eventually stepped into the breach for Penrith and after some initial stumbles, the club hasn’t looked back. Cleary has the Panthers on the verge of a second consecutive grand final appearance, although a loss to the Dragons could mean they drop out of the top two for the first time this season.

Griffin, meanwhile, cooled his heels for a couple of years before finding a home at St George Illawarra. The Dragons made a flying start under this leadership this season but have struggled of late, leaving them adrift of the top eight.

A loss to the Panthers on Friday night would be another nail in their finals coffin and rub further salt into any wounds that are yet to heal.

“I wish him all the best,” O’Neill said.

“We just took a different direction in our club. He has his new job and we have our new direction. I have no bad things to say about Hook (Griffin).

“We have all moved on since then. That was three years ago. We made a decision, we backed it. Everyone knows the story. It was rocky at first but we got there.

“We backed our plan. We just have to win a comp now. Hook has moved on, He has a good job. I have no animosity. If I saw him in the street, I would walk up and say g’day.

“I don’t know if he would say g’day back.

O’Neill hasn’t spoken to Griffin since the fateful day when he and the Panthers board made the decision to part ways with a coach who was largely responsible for handing debuts to the players who form the nucleus of their high-flying outfit.

Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Jarome Luai, Dylan Edwards, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Tyrone May all played their first games in first grade when Griffin was at the helm.

Those players have been largely responsible for the way the Panthers have played over the past two seasons and Griffin has every right to take pride in the way they have become not just first graders, but in many cases representative stars.

He declined to comment about the impending reunion on Monday, preferring to focus all his energy on preparing his players for a crucial game for the club on Friday night.

Asked whether he expected Griffin to arrive at Suncorp Stadium with a point to prove. O’Neill said: “That is human nature. Unfortunately at this level you have to make tough decisions.

“You make these decisions and back yourself to make the right ones because if you don’t make them, you won’t last long.

“In day-to-day business you sometimes have to make tough decisions and move people on. It is never nice, it is never nice. It just happens, it is part of it.”