Round 2
Penrith Panthers 16 l. Canberra Raiders 20

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Problems for Elliott and Penrith. Who stays? Who goes?
Mon March 24, 2008
Penrith's defence of the wooden spoon went to a new level on Saturday with a disappointing loss against Canberra with coach Matthew Elliott receiving the dreaded full support message from the Board and Management.

Pressure will begin to mount on Elliott as higher profile clubs Canterbury and St George Illawarra enjoyed victories in round 2 easing the pressure on Steve Folkes and Nathan Brown respectively. Folkes is unlikely to be Bulldogs coach in 2009, but history out Belmore way suggests that he will see the season out. Brown enjoys a very close relationship with Dragons CEO Peter Doust and as long as Doust retains support of the Dragons board - Brown is safe in his position.

Elementary errors from the Panthers and their woeful performances in the opening two rounds to go on top of claiming the dreaded wooden spoon last year places the pressure firmly on Elliott to turn things around before he faces the bullet.

Penrith youngster Jarrod Sammut has admitted he is scared to chance his arm for fear of plunging the club deeper into the mire.

Sammut said, "There's always things that run through your mind where maybe I want to try something individually or for the team, but considering the situation with the time or the score, you sometimes hold back a bit. At times I think like that a little bit. I try not to let it affect my confidence. Obviously it's not looking very positive but nothing ever runs smoothly. We've just got to make sure we fix what happens next."

There have been reports that there's massive player unrest at the Panthers with leading players not talking to Elliott. It was no secret that Elliott and 2003 Clive Churchill Medallist Luke Priddis didn't see eye-to-eye last year and there's been further reports of fallouts with several other players with the names Frank Pritchard, Tony Puletua and Rhys Wesser constantly popping up.

It's also been reported that the Panthers didn't off boom talent Peter Wallace a new contract - now killing them at the Broncos and at the same time released Craig Gower to France, who was one player that played with passion and desire for Penrith. The Panthers went after Canberra's Todd Carney - a protege of Elliott - but he two weeks ago remained in the Nations Capital on a new deal.

Question marks have also been raised about Matt Adamson's involvement at Penrith and his training techniques. Adamson left Penrith at the end of 2001 after falling out with Royce Simmons (who was sacked as coach that year) and Adamson lobbed back up last year with Elliott at the Panthers following a brief stint at the Raiders.

Panthers Group CEO Glenn Matthews said about the Panthers form and Elliott's position, "That's footy. It's a week by week thing. You can win four or five on the trot and then you're talking about another coach from another club.

"He is under no pressure from the club. I'm pleased with how Matt is going and that is all that matters.

"No one is pleased with how we've started the year. In comparison to last year it was vastly improved."

One Penrith supporter last week wrote to the website. In commenting about the on field discipline he said, "We are the most undisciplined side in the League, we drop the ball and no one seems to care. I would be happy to give the best A-Grade side in the District the game each week and to know they are having a go. You guys (the current team) have a gift - why are you pissing up against the wall?"

When it came to the lack of development of Juniors and the Club's lack of consistent success he said, "As a follower of Penrith for the last 40 years I find it difficult to understand the culture and the future of the joint. Sure we can win everything in the Juniors, but we never seem to transfer that to the next level. Sure we can say we've won two competitions, but we've never had an era after that."

This was immediately after the Panthers loss to the Broncos and now they have now added a disappointing home loss against a no-name and under-strength Raiders outfit.

There's already been talk amongst supporters about a possible new coach with Folkes, Wayne Bennett and Graham Murray the three names mentioned.

Murray looms as a huge prospect for Penrith despite all the denials that will go on. Murray coached lower grades at Penrith during the 1980's under Tim Sheens and he has been showed the door at the Cowboys for the 2009 season. Murray's odds of surviving the season out get longer each time the Cowboys lose as there's reports of him and halfback Johnathan Thurston already having a fallout.

Bennett would be most likely out of Penrith's price range, but remains a smokey if he wants to live in the outer suburbs of Sydney (as has been reported) and wants to be close to the team he coaches in terms of location. Wallace and Joel Clinton left the Panthers to be coached under Bennett with Clinton admitting that he wanted to learn more about football hence why leaving the current setup at Penrith.

Both Murray and Bennett wouldn't be scared to promote the juniors into first grade and would allow their sides to play a natural brand of football.

Folkes is a dark horse candidate for the Penrith position. Folkes has enjoyed tremendous success as a player, trainer and coach over the last 30 years at Canterbury. He has been more viewed as a club coach rather than a career coach. He sets a fine example for discipline and is now trying to be more flexible with his pattens of play and styles of training. Folkes though is very conservative in his promotion of juniors and Penrith's booming junior district probably requires someone who will fast track and promote the kids into the top grade. The Bulldogs though have had far more success developing their development players to the next level than what the Panthers have had - making Folkes an attractive option.

Bennett would be seen as a risk as he would run it his way and no one else's way and wouldn't allow for anyone to influence him. Whereas Folkes will run the football operations his way and have no intentions to interfere with the management operations - so like Bennett he controls solely what happens with selections, recruitment and retention. Will the Penrith management be able to handle strong personalities like Bennett or Folkes?

Murray would seem to be the most flexible.

However, Penrith officials will of course deny that Elliott is under pressure and they have already said his position is safe. Sport is a very fickle game and Elliott's position of safety will change with more performances like those in the opening two rounds and more rumours of player dissent. The kiss of death for all coaches is when they receive the support of their board. They are sitting ducks and incompetent managements and boards will always sack the coach before they sack themselves.

Elliott is feeling the pressure and by all means he is a good person and has good views on the game. He enjoyed success at Canberra where he was able to get the best out of a limited roster and he doesn't deserve everything he has copped at Penrith. However, his association with Penrith has been a bad chemical mix at this point with all the factions not clicking together and the coach is often the glue. Elliott is running out of time to solve the on-field problems at Penrith and has to work out the player fallouts, which appear to be more than just rumours and innuendo. It certainly isn't just his fault.

Sacking Elliott won't solve all of Penrith's problems as the Chief Executive, the Board and generally those responsible for the disasters since the 2003 premiership and those behind John Lang's sacking really have to take responsibility and put their hands up. What happened to Lang was disgraceful and has been the most divisive decision that has torn the club apart. It wasn't Lang being sacked, but how he was sacked and what went on behind Lang's back. They can't be blamed or attributed onto Elliott who wasn't at Penrith at the time.

The Panthers Board Elections were recently held with the incumbent Board voted back into power. It was a low key election compared to the Bulldogs Football Club election where the Board aligned to Malcolm Noad was emphatically removed by Bulldogs Members with the exception of Peter Cassilles. As a result of the election Noad was forced to fall on his own sword a week later.

Penrith's membership structure is different to the Bulldogs where the Football Club and the Licensed Club are under the one board and the one banner. That means there's upwards of 50,000 members of the Panthers. The football supporting members now need to start planning a coup if they want serious change at the Club and need to start planning now. The Bulldogs board ticket led by former International Paul Dunn was planned long-term in advance and the campaign team behind the ticket peaked at the right moment after privately getting their base numbers. They out smarted and out planned Noad in every department where they targeted the right areas of the Bulldogs membership and as a result enjoyed an emphatic and comprehensive victory.

There's divisive influences at Penrith at all levels and a broom needs to be swept through the front office first and foremost or the Panthers will continue to have power struggles off the field and the booming juniors they have will continually fail to make the next strides forward.

Where to for the Panthers from here both on and off the field?

Who has to go, who has to come and who should stay or be promoted?


Canberra prevails in 'classic' over Penrith
Sat March 22, 2008
Canberra has edged out Penrith in a match that can be described as forgettable at best and a far cry from the classics both sides fought out in 1990-91.

Back in the days when Mal Meninga and Greg Alexander were at their peaks both sides battled out successive Grand Finals with Canberra prevailing in 1990 winning 18-14 and Penrith avenging the following year taking out their maiden title taking out the clash 19-12.

Tonight's clash was a far cry from the classics of yesteryear as both sides did everything they could to surrender the match as the Raiders in the did enough to get the two points.

Penrith landed an early penalty goal through Jarrod Sammut to lead 2-0, but the Panthers woes in the last two years was best summed up moments later when William Zillman collected a kick on his own 20m line where he had to dive to catch it on the full, he quickly got to his feet and an elementary miss tackle from Luke Rooney saw Zillman race 80m untouched to score the easiest of tries. Bronx Goodwin crossed not long after as the Green Machine led 12-2 and a long night for the Panthers looked to be in place.

Instead a long night for the contest was assured as Canberra stooped down to Penrith's level as the contest became a bore and a drop-a-thon.

Unfortunately for Zillman, who was one of the rare bright spots in a miserable night was replaced early due to a season knee injury, which will keep him out for the season.

The Panthers quickly moved to a 16-12 lead with Rhys Wesser and Brad Tighe scoring tries with Sammut converting both and also added a penalty goal.

Todd Carney landed his 3rd goal on the stroke of half-time when Luke Priddis was penalised for lashing out in the ruck area when in possession 40m out from his own line.

The second half was completely forgettable with the only highlight being Marshall Chalk scoring outwide to push Canberra's lead to 20-16 following Carney's excellent conversion.

Neither side could hold the ball long enough to exert any pressure and deliver the final blow.

Penrith might have improved on the scoreboard from last week, but nothing has changed for them since the defeat up at Brisbane last week.

Whereas for Canberra it was their first win on the road since defeating Souths early last year and any points away from the Nations Capital is a bonus for them.

Tonight's game was a good advertisement as to why it's not always good to have every game on television during prime-time viewing, which was the case in the 'good old days' when only two and possibly three games would make the airwaves - leaving the others out of the spotlight. However, on the other hand Rugby League and Sports fans are spoiled with the amount of games on the box and you wouldn't change it any other way in the current game.

Where do the Panthers go from here?

Tue March 18, 2008
• Williams axed and Puletua demoted as Elliott makes changes
  
Tue March 18, 2008
• Plum and Picker in for Green Machine
  

Advanced Search