I feel for the Panthers fans as I have had a soft spot for them for a long time as I live in the area. Being a Tigers fan they have made me feel embarrassed on a number of occasions with their actions so I know it is hard. My soft spot for the Panthers is gone now though as they have shown themselves to be no better than the Roosters, Storm and Sharks of our competition in the regard to low acts to better their success at the costs of others.
Now that I've had time to think about the past week since it's finally over we have the following facts:
1. Panthers Board talk to Ivan.
2. Panthers discuss possible move in 2021 but Ivan pushes for 2019. This was leaked by media and later confirmed by Gus. Reasonable chance of being true.
3. Ivan keeps it secret for two weeks.
4. Panthers Sack Griffin and Panthers say we have a "target" for 2019.
5. Tigers get unnecessarily defencive about releasing Ivan although we have no contract offered.
6. Ivan stays silent for a week finally releasing a pre-scripted speech which makes Panthers look worse.
What makes most sense is that Panthers wanted to be able to say to Nathan is that Ivan was sorted for 2021 so we'd get a 5 year deal minimum. Ivan got keen to coach Nathan and pushed for 2019 probably making promises about getting a release. Panthers backed him but the Tigers played hardball and Ivan backflipped to save face when public opinion shifted. Panthers get left lookinglike the villain. If you don't cherry pick the facts this is really the only thing that makes sense.