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Cameron Ciraldo has moved quickly to put the band back together out west.
The Panthers caretaker coach has been in the top job for just 323 minutes of NRL football but made a point of calling on plenty of Penrith greats to help get the best out of him and his young team.
Anthony Griffin's stubbornness to go it alone and ignore the help offered to him by the powerhouse club ultimately cost him his job. Now the Panthers training sessions look more like a club reunion, with Greg Alexander and Royce Simmons – two Penrith legends who were used sparingly by Griffin – the first pair rushed back into the fold.
Alexander works with Nathan Cleary and Jimmy Maloney and attends all the attacking meetings. Simmons works with the hookers and was spotted on Wednesday scribbling down some fresh drills on a whiteboard, which he will help implement at Thursday's opposed session. The Penrith Godfather himself, Phil Gould, offers regular input at video sessions.
David Simmons has spent a session working with the outside backs, premiership Panthers Tony Puletua met with the forwards during a lunch, Scott Sattler, another premiership winner, will assist at Friday's captain's run, while assistant Peter Wallace has not had a day off the past month.
Ciraldo bounces ideas of lower-grade coaches Ben Harden and Guy Missio, two friends he still shares office space with deep inside the Panthers Academy. The coach resisted the opportunity to move into Griffin's office. Loud music has also been introduced at training sessions to replicate the game-day environment and encourage players to use their voices more on the field.
As he prepares for Saturday's elimination final against the Warriors, Ciraldo told Fairfax Media there was no way he was going to ignore some of the club's great minds.
"I thought I was going to need all the help I could get," Ciraldo said. "When we had the transition, 'Brandy' [Alexander] put his hand up to help, while Royce works with the captain's club and I thought it was a good idea to use him. He'd also been a head coach and assistant coach, I've always got along with him and chatted about drills and skills. "He's got a million drills in notebooks, and just this morning he was in the hallways before he wrote up some drills on the whiteboard. It's all been working well so far. The important thing is we're all on the same page.'' Ciraldo and Wallace will meet for coffee at 6am on any given day. They allowed themselves a half-hour sleep-in last week leading into the shock win over the Storm in Melbourne.
The Panthers lost to the Warriors a fortnight ago. They did not play Maloney that day.
A list of 25 complaints about penalties and dud calls was sent to referees' boss Bernard Sutton, who agreed with Ciraldo on 16 points. The Panthers also did well to keep their cool against the Storm when they trailed in the penalty count 11-2. OPENMENU The Sydney Morning Herald SUBSCRIBE0 items in Shortlist NRL Rugby Union AFL Soccer Cricket Racing Motorsport Netball Cycling Tennis Basketball Golf NFL Athletics Swimming Boxing Sailing
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SPORTNRLPANTHERS How Ciraldo has brought the band back together at Penrith Christian Nicolussi By Christian Nicolussi 5 September 2018 — 4:15pm Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Whatsapp Send via Email Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size 0 Leave a comment
Cameron Ciraldo has moved quickly to put the band back together out west.
The Panthers caretaker coach has been in the top job for just 323 minutes of NRL football but made a point of calling on plenty of Penrith greats to help get the best out of him and his young team.
Anthony Griffin's stubbornness to go it alone and ignore the help offered to him by the powerhouse club ultimately cost him his job.
Caretaker coach Ciraldo consults with Royce Simmons as training. Caretaker coach Ciraldo consults with Royce Simmons as training.
Photo: Penrith Panthers Now the Panthers training sessions look more like a club reunion, with Greg Alexander and Royce Simmons – two Penrith legends who were used sparingly by Griffin – the first pair rushed back into the fold.
Alexander works with Nathan Cleary and Jimmy Maloney and attends all the attacking meetings. Simmons works with the hookers and was spotted on Wednesday scribbling down some fresh drills on a whiteboard, which he will help implement at Thursday's opposed session.
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RELATED ARTICLE Panthers coach Ciraldo secures a slice of rugby league history PANTHERS Panthers coach Ciraldo secures a slice of rugby league history Add to shortlist The Penrith Godfather himself, Phil Gould, offers regular input at video sessions.
David Simmons has spent a session working with the outside backs, premiership Panthers Tony Puletua met with the forwards during a lunch, Scott Sattler, another premiership winner, will assist at Friday's captain's run, while assistant Peter Wallace has not had a day off the past month.
Ciraldo bounces ideas of lower-grade coaches Ben Harden and Guy Missio, two friends he still shares office space with deep inside the Panthers Academy. The coach resisted the opportunity to move into Griffin's office.
Greg Alexander works with Panthers young playmaker Nathan Cleary. Greg Alexander works with Panthers young playmaker Nathan Cleary.
Photo: Penrith Panthers Advertisement
Loud music has also been introduced at training sessions to replicate the game-day environment and encourage players to use their voices more on the field.
As he prepares for Saturday's elimination final against the Warriors, Ciraldo told Fairfax Media there was no way he was going to ignore some of the club's great minds.
"I thought I was going to need all the help I could get," Ciraldo said. "When we had the transition, 'Brandy' [Alexander] put his hand up to help, while Royce works with the captain's club and I thought it was a good idea to use him. He'd also been a head coach and assistant coach, I've always got along with him and chatted about drills and skills.
Club legend Royce Simmons has been working with the hookers. Club legend Royce Simmons has been working with the hookers.
Photo: Penrith Panthers "He's got a million drills in notebooks, and just this morning he was in the hallways before he wrote up some drills on the whiteboard. It's all been working well so far. The important thing is we're all on the same page.''
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Ciraldo and Wallace will meet for coffee at 6am on any given day. They allowed themselves a half-hour sleep-in last week leading into the shock win over the Storm in Melbourne.
The Panthers lost to the Warriors a fortnight ago. They did not play Maloney that day.
A list of 25 complaints about penalties and dud calls was sent to referees' boss Bernard Sutton, who agreed with Ciraldo on 16 points.
Cameron Ciraldo directs proceedings at Penrith training this week. Cameron Ciraldo directs proceedings at Penrith training this week.
Photo: AAP The Panthers also did well to keep their cool against the Storm when they trailed in the penalty count 11-2.
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Cameron Smith was overheard to be called off-side four times in the first half alone, yet was never penalised. When Maloney tried to raise the point with the referees, he was ordered to go away.
The Panthers have one of the most exciting rosters in the game, and being so young just need a little confidence.
Ciraldo also knows how lucky he is to have genuine match-winner Maloney.
Several good judges noticed Maloney was focused rather than jovial at Monday's captain's call.
"He drives people on the field, he lines our forwards up, and he helps Nathan with communication," Ciraldo said. "His experience last week during the way, and just the way he was speaking at training, it rubbed off on a few people. "He's a winner. It's good to have him. He can have a laugh with the boys and have a joke, but come a video session or as soon as you get on to the field, he demands perfection."
It's easy to forget Ciraldo is just 15 months older than Maloney. Ciraldo has given no thought to what happens beyond his next loss.
The early mail was Ivan Cleary would return to the foot of the mountains, but if that does happen it won't be for at least 12 months. If Ciraldo sticks around, at least he'll have no shortage of help.
