With Neil Henry set to sign with North Queensland, and Wayne Bennett meeting the Dragons, a lot of positions are starting to be filled very quickly when it comes to the head coaching positions available in the NRL.
So it comes as a bit of a surprise that reports of Daniel Anderson has been house hunting is Western Sydney have come to light. Its seems Matthew Elliott’s time as Panthers coach is officially done….and thank god for that!
Elliott had worse than a 30% winning record since taking over Penrith at the begging of last year. While the board has supported him throughout (As they have with other idiots and failures at the club in the past) its seems that a deal has been done on the quiet.
The most shocking thing of all however is the news that the club is also looking to get their hands on James Roby as a replacement for Luke Priddis, who has been shown the door.
Roby has a long term deal already in place at St Helens but apparently has a get out clause should the chance to play in the NRL arise. It would seem that Andersons move to the foot of the mountains would be that chance, and Anderson will not become the major of St Helens any time soon taking one of St Helens best players with him at seasons end.
The move also means that Paul Aiton is likely to move on from Penrith.
Anderson was coach of the New Zealand Warriors and managed to get the side to the NRL Grand Final in 2003 before ego problems with a number of lazy players saw him move on and take up a coaching role in England.
He has done well in England, as expected, but has been desperate to come back to Australia for quite some time. I personally throught he’d end up in Brisbane, but to say I’m glad he’ll be coaching Penrith is an understatement!
As for Roby, he becomes the second British player to decide to challenge himself in the NRL in the last few months. I’d be surprised if St Helens just let him go though. As I said, he has a long term deal in place with the club and they won’t take too kindly to having him break his contract so early.
Roby will need to get up to speed quickly though to be ready to handle the NRL. He will now have to be ready to play 80 minutes a game and do more than just have a running game from dummy half.
With no halfback options at Penrith, a large responsibility will be on his shoulders, but having said that, the signing of Anderson will hopefully bring someone to the club that can play halfback full time.
So my Matthew Elliott induced misery is coming to and end, just 23 rounds to go.
Lets hope he doesn’t screw things up completely before Anderson takes over!
