https://coupler.foxsports.com.au/ap...h/news-story/a67db643ffc740616473395f36d1a87e
PANTHERS great Ryan Girdler has savaged Anthony Griffin and the coaching management at his former club while calling for an explanation on skipper Matt Moylan’s finals absence and future at the foot of the mountains.
Girdler doubled down on
his claims Penrith were “poorly coached” in their season-ending loss to Brisbane on Friday night, ripping into Griffin’s inability to turn the 2016 surprise packets into a premiership force.
The 2003 premiership winner took issue with management decisions from club boss Phil Gould in recent years and the club’s public account of why Griffin replaced now Tigers coach Ivan Cleary, drawing parallels with the growing speculation around Moylan’s tenure at his junior club.
Moylan sat out the semi-final loss to the Broncos on the grounds of “personal issues” according to the Panthers, though it’s been suggested the 26-year-old pushed the club to let him return to the field.
Moylan is believed to be at odds with Griffin, and with rival clubs led by Cronulla and Manly watching on with interest, Girdler urged Penrith to clear up the uncertainty around the NSW Origin star’s future.
“There is a lot of people out there wondering what is going on with Matt Moylan,” Girdler said on
Triple M on Sunday.
“We have heard comments here and there but why doesn’t someone come out and tell us why the best player in the club at the crucial time of the year is sitting on the sidelines?
“It kind of smells like the Ivan Cleary incident.”
Pointing to the shock sacking of Cleary at the end of 2015, when Gould declared him “tired” and moved the coach on, Girdler questioned Penrith’s handling of their biggest and most influential figures.
“The club finally gets a coach they believe is a career coach (in Cleary) … everyone’s excited and then for some reason he’s put out to pasture,” Girdler said.
“ ... Then he’s moved on. They’ve lost a guy like (Manly mentor) Trent Barrett, who was the (next) guy coming through.
“We don’t really know what happened with that, and there’s (Griffin) brought in from somewhere else, who has lost his job at Brisbane.
“It doesn’t seem like for the last couple of years at that level for the Panthers has been a successful one.”
After guiding the Panthers from an underwhelming 2-7 start to the second week of the finals, Griffin described his side’s season as “really good” and a “growth year for us as a club.”
The coach, who has reportedly been negotiating a two-year contract extension for a number of months, also declared Penrith has “been upfront and spoken about” Moylan’s absence on Saturday.
But given the expectation that saw Penrith tipped by many to challenge for this year’s title, Girdler slammed Griffin’s coaching of arguably the most talent-laden roster in the game.
“I haven’t seen improvement from Penrith this year,” Girdler said.
“The thing is when you come out of a successful season you go into a pre-season, you know that every other coach and every other team out there are working out ways to defend against you and to play against you.
“And everyone thought they were going to win the premiership or at least be in the grand final this year.
“So they were a side that coaches would have taken notice of last year.
“It’s the job of the coaching staff to be better … but don’t think Penrith were a better side this year than they were last year.
“Yet they probably had a more talented roster. They haven’t grown as a playing group. So whose job is it to get that side playing better football this year?”
