Panthers boss tells why coach was axed

PENRITH boss Phil Gould says Anthony Griffin’s inability to delegate to others was ultimately behind his unceremonious sacking.

Despite the Panthers sitting in equal fourth and two wins off the competition lead, Griffin was dumped as coach on Monday. Griffin has a career win percentage of 55.5 per cent.

While many outsiders were stunned by the timing of his axing — just four weeks out from the finals — many within the club saw it coming and Gould admitted problems began emerging as far back as 12 months ago.

The Panthers have one of the best-funded football departments in the NRL and their academy headquarters is the envy of every club in the NRL. However, according to Gould, Griffin had sought to take on most of the coaching duties, despite his pleas to hand off some of the work to his assistants.

“It’s a situation we were managing for 12 months,” Gould said. “We kept offering as much assistance to him as we could, but he was determined to do things his way. It’s the old-school way — it’s the way I used to coach back in the day.”

Gould admitted it led to uncertainty among the playing group, and the board came to the realisation Griffin could not take the club to the next level. Gould said after Griffin’s future was decided, they owed it to him to tell him as soon as possible and his position therefore became untenable.

It leaves caretaker coach Cameron Ciraldo, 33, to guide the side during the rest of the season.

Asked if the club could still win this year’s premiership, Gould said they could go toeto-toe with any opponent on their day but needed to turn around their habit of giving up big starts.

“We wanted to clear that up for them, so they could have a clear headspace and give their best over the last month leading into the finals and then we’ll see where they go.”