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Elliott ignores the hovering axe
Under pressure ... Matt Elliott leading training at Long Reef beach. Photograph: Sam Ruttyn / The Sunday Telegraph
PENRITH coach Matthew Elliott dodged a bullet when he avoided being sacked last September, but he remains an NRL coach in the firing line. Still 33 days from the start of the new season,
The Sunday Telegraph has learned Penrith directors will review Elliott's position after the opening 10 rounds of football.
After overcoming a split in the playing ranks by moving several senior players on at the end of last year, Elliott has a talented and united roster at his disposal.
The man who conducted an internal review of Penrith football operations at the end of last season, chief executive Mick Leary, stressed Elliott's position was safe - for the time being.
"We'll be giving Matt Elliott and the team our full support and hopefully we have provided them with every opportunity to try to do well,'' Leary said.
"We're optimistic with the squad we've got that we can be very competitive and then we'll be looking to make some decisions in relation to going forward after about 10 rounds.
"We know we're going to be under the microscope but we'd like to think we can fend it off.''
Elliott, who is off contract at the end of the season, understands the cut-throat nature of coaching and the circus that is bound to unfold should the Panthers struggle over the opening six rounds.
Since being head-hunted from Canberra at the end of 2006, he has won 18 games from 48 for a success rate of 37.5 per cent. The Panthers have finished with the wooden spoon and 12th in those two seasons.
Interestingly, the Panthers' Toyota Cup coach from last season, Steve Georgallis, has been appointed first-grade assistant coach and is favoured to take over as caretaker should Elliott be shown the door mid-year.
Bookmakers have installed the Panthers as $3.50 favourites for the wooden spoon, but with a roster boasting Petero Civoniceva, Trent Waterhouse, Frank Pritchard, Luke Lewis, Michael Jennings and Nathan Smith, the club is more than capable of making the finals.
Complementing the experienced representative players are some of the most exciting rookies in the game in Lachlan Coote, Wade Graham and Masada Iosefa.
"I know all the stuff that's going to happen. I know dates have been thrown up and all that sort of stuff. I honestly don't care about it,'' Elliott said.
"It's my 14th year of doing this and I guess at some point these periods come. I'm pretty laid-back about it. I know there's going to be continual questions in relation to my future but I don't care.
"I only care about these players, to be honest with you. At the moment, my whole focus is just on getting the best out of the young guys and the players we've got here and seeing the team play the sort of footy they're capable of.
"I have absolutely no doubt that there's a core of kids here that if they hold together for the next 10 years they'll compete for grand finals on more than one occasion.''
In a difficult opening six rounds, the Panthers meet Cronulla, the Bulldogs, premiers Manly, Wests Tigers, Melbourne and Brisbane.
One of the key on-field issues Elliott must swiftly solve is Penrith's halves puzzle. Last season, they experimented with seven different combinations. This year, Jarrod Sammut and Wade Graham look like getting first shot.
When
The Sunday Telegraph visited Penrith training at Longreef on the northern beaches last Thursday - a rare day away from their Penrith Stadium base - Elliott and Georgallis were working in unison.
When the Penrith squad appeared to be easing the intensity of the session, Elliott increased the pressure.
"C'mon boys, rip in. We're a bit slow today,'' Elliott said.
Civoniceva was a standout trainer, the captain consistently leading by example.
Damaging back-rower Frank Pritchard was in the rehabilitation group after undergoing off-season shoulder surgery.
"No rest for the wicked'' was a theme drummed into the Panthers by head trainer Carl Jennings on the northern beaches and again at Penrith Stadium last Friday.
The Panthers will need to fulfil the creed to succeed in the opening rounds and over the course of the season.
