[Resurrected] Penrith offloading a lot of players. Why?

[eaglebuzz]

If you read between the lines, there was a massive culture issue at the Panthers. Up to and over the last couple of seasons they have let go:

Te-Maire Martin
Moylan
Peachey
Campbell-Gillard
Blake
DWZ
Merrin
Maloney
Katoa
Crichton
Latu
Cartwright
Hiku
Harawira-Naera


Maybe I have forgotten more, but geez that is a lot of players and some of them were considered elite class at one point or another.

To hear that Campbell-Gillard was on a 5 year deal is concerning so I guess it sounds monetary as well as cultural.

Cleary obviously wants to start all over again with the team he wants. That is all well and good but geez when one considers the list of talent above and the players they currently have on their books, you have to say something has gone terribly wrong out west. I am surprised more is not said about it.

Moylan
Mansour
Peachey
Blake
DWZ
Luia
Cleary

Campbell-Gillard
Katoa
Tamou
Kikau
Harawira-Naera
Fisher-Harris

Martin
Latu
Leota
Yeo

That is a much better roster than the garbage they trotted out this year. It could be cap compliant if done properly too. It is not as if it is chock full of stars.

Exactly this, I reckon it is an attempt to fix the culture in the playing group.

 

[Lyonstomenzies]

the Riff have to fix the mess that Gould left behind in his great 5 plan. Now fatty thinks Gould can fix the NRL. Hell's fix alright just like he fixed the Riff when he sacked Griffin.

I think it was the Penrith Board that wanted Griffin gone??

 

[lsz]

Exactly this, I reckon it is an attempt to fix the culture in the playing group.

Or a really well run junior comp with pathways that produces a number of players? Kinda what gus was brought in for

 

[eagerbeaver]

Wade Egan got the same tap on the shoulder with Apis return.

Yeah heard that somewhere too, a bit odd since apparently Katoa is also off to the dogs.
I dont mind Egan as a player, a lot of upside.
Suppose its Api and Mitch Kenny as the hooker rotation.

 

[wombatgc]

Yeah heard that somewhere too, a bit odd since apparently Katoa is also off to the dogs.
I dont mind Egan as a player, a lot of upside.
Suppose its Api and Mitch Kenny as the hooker rotation.

I like that Mitch Kenny. Not much of him. But a real goer . Considering the Panthers had to get an exemption earlier in the year for him to play, he’s made every post a winner.

 

[Cliffycomeback]

I thought I would dig up an old Panfers thread in light of Penrith being one game away from contesting a sixth grand final in a row. Just to see if there were any posters who saw this coming. I was surprised to read a couple of Silvertails members had great insight. Most were unaware or entirely clueless of what was about to unfold as they observed everything through a Manly lens.

I never saw this coming.

 

[MadMarcus]

Exactly that. He set them up for a premiership in the future but the Panthers board's ego has almost disintegrated their current premiership window. Knocking back Wayne Bennett for Ivan Cleary to keep Nathan Cleary happy is a big mistake in hindsight. Bear in mind that this is the same Cleary that kept Luke Brooks over Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco.

This post aged well…

 

[Cliffycomeback]

This post aged well…

I would have said the same. Or something similar. I thought they might win a couple over the entirety of Cleary's career.

 

[frank stokes]

The answer to OP is “to make every GF for the next 5 years and win 4 of them” lol…

Who would have thought back then that @Loobs had actually UNDERvalued Roger Ramjet??!!

Best call though was by @Paw93:

You know, people knock on Gould's 5 year plan but he wasn't there just to take Penrith to a premiership. He restructured the pathways to first grade through all of Greater Western Sydney. Penrith have some gun youngsters coming through in Burton and Staines. There will be more to come as well because of what Gould did there. He's left them in a position where they will consistently keep producing quality juniors like a factory.

 

[manlyfan76]

The answer to OP is “to make every GF for the next 5 years and win 4 of them” lol…

Who would have thought back then that @Loobs had actually UNDERvalued Roger Ramjet??!!

Best call though was by @Paw93:

Having panther leagues group with a literal mountain of funds is their biggest reason for success.
It's allowed everything to happen.

 

[jbb/james]

Each club is different . Its playing to your strengths. Coin, juniors, smarts but you have to have a strategy . Ours has to be a culture of sorts, some smarts , and hunger

Its not one size fits all

The game is growing at a rapid rate. Manly is not . I wonder what our 5 and 10 year plan looks like as a club

 

[Terry Zarsoff]

The game is growing at a rapid rate. Manly is not . I wonder what our 5 and 10 year plan looks like as a club

Non-existent.

Seriously though, there have been some positive things coming out of the LC and it’s acquisition of smaller clubs. Mind you they needed to do something, because they’re being charged about $700k a year in rent to use the clubhouse that they once owned.

Meanwhile Mestrov at least seems to be effective on the marketing front.

 

[frank stokes]

Having panther leagues group with a literal mountain of funds is their biggest reason for success.
It's allowed everything to happen.

Certainly does not hinder them…

 

[Scorpio]

This post aged well…

To be fair. Anthony Griffin got them to 5th in 2018 but was sacked before the end of season. They replaced him with Cleary for 2019 who promptly finished 10th.

At the end of 2019 (the time of the quoted post) Cleary's coaching win percentage was down to 47% across 319 NRL games and 3 clubs, with 1 grand final appearance to show for it. At this point he had got a team to the finals only once since 2011.

I think there is a bit of revisionism about Ivan Cleary given the last 5 years, but at least statistically, there absolutely nothing to suggest that he was anything more than an average signing at the time.

 

[Cochrane]

There is a lot of talk now as to where Ivan Cleary sits as amongst the best coaches ever. By way of what he has achieved with a team during the salary cap era - 4 Gf's in a row, 5 in succession, and may even add one to the tally this year.

I think it is a remarkable achievement.

Then you may look at his results before 5 successive GF appearances. Nothing flash at all. Is he a remarkable coach, or beneficiary of the smart structure put in place by Penrith (Gould if you will) that just enables them to bring in the next line of star juniors. Even so, you would require some coaching smarts.

Listening to the head Penrith guy on NRL 360 recently, they already know who are they are offloading each year over the next 4-5 years and which juniors they will bring up to remain within the salary cap, with some spare in case a junior doesn't reach his potential. That is planning!

Certainly an interesting debate.

 

[MadMarcus]

To be fair. Anthony Griffin got them to 5th in 2018 but was sacked before the end of season. They replaced him with Cleary for 2019 who promptly finished 10th.

We finished 10th this year…. Maybe we are about to go on a run…?

 

[LeonardCohen]

There is a lot of talk now as to where Ivan Cleary sits as amongst the best coaches ever. By way of what he has achieved with a team during the salary cap era - 4 Gf's in a row, 5 in succession, and may even add one to the tally this year.

I think it is a remarkable achievement.

Then you may look at his results before 5 successive GF appearances. Nothing flash at all. Is he a remarkable coach, or beneficiary of the smart structure put in place by Penrith (Gould if you will) that just enables them to bring in the next line of star juniors. Even so, you would require some coaching smarts.

Listening to the head Penrith guy on NRL 360 recently, they already know who are they are offloading each year over the next 4-5 years and which juniors they will bring up to remain within the salary cap, with some spare in case a junior doesn't reach his potential. That is planning!

Certainly an interesting debate.

I think it’s a combination of the stars aligning for Penrith. He’s obviously done a great job to motivate his players and have them switched on for big games. There’s the production line of elite talent to choose from (any system that can offload Katoa is doing well), but most importantly, Nathan Cleary is like having a coach on the field. He is such a smart and composed footballer. I think if you take Nathan out of the side, there is no dynasty. Straight away, you can take 2023 off them. He’s just got them so well organised and the game management takes a lot of pressure off their defence. Which is probably why the Dogs fell in a heap trying to execute a similar defence in 2025; they didn’t have the game manager to control field position and eventually, ran out of puff.