Today has been a glorious day in the history of Penrith Rugby League club, for today, we have finally, officially, got rid of Matthew Elliott as coach of the Penrith Panthers.
Elliott was told on Tuesday morning that he would not have his contract renewed at the end of the year. Not long after, the new broke on twitter, and I went insane with joy. I may have even wee’d a little bit.
Of course, Elliott’s time at the Panthers has been nothing short of a disaster on every single level. He leaves the club a shattered mess, the Panthers need rebuilt from the ground up once again.
The current playing group is terrible, and only good for 14th place on the NRL ladder at the moment. The club is broke, fans have walked away in droves, the junior base has been completely neglected….there is basically not one positive thing that has come from his time in charge of the club.
When Matthew Elliott takes over as coach, he brings in all his own guys, and none of them are any good. These people have been at the Penrith club for years now, and every single one of them needs to go. The club needs a complete clear out.
Elliott also brought in rejects from other clubs and fast tracked them into the first grade side ahead of juniors. The likes of Laurie, Tahu, Purtell….they all need to go.
The playing group is said to be furious at the decision. They like Matthew Elliott apparently. In fact, captain Petero Civoniceva has publicly shown his disgust at the clubs decision.
They can all go. The club should call the players in and blast them. Tell them to look at where they are on the ladder. Tell them where they have finished for the last five years. Then tell them, anyone that wants to leave can go now. They will have their contract terminated with immediate effect and they can find another club.
They are not doing anyone any favours and they certainly are not winning games.
Now the focus turns to who will take over from Elliott.
The available coaches right now include Australian test coach Tim Sheens, NSW State Of Origin coach Ricky Stuart, Steve Folkes, Brad Fittler, Rick Stone, Jason Taylor and Daniel Anderson. Its a fair list to pick from!
Matthew Elliott, of course, pushed for his assistant coach Steve Georgallis. Once upon a time he used to play for the Western Suburbs Magpies, and was one of my various PE teachers at high school.
If he gets the job, I’ll be pissed off. They will only give him the job as a money saving move.
The club has stated it is willing to spend up big for the right coach. That to me says they either have to end up with Sheens or Stuart. I’m not holding by breath though!
I think either coach would be very good at Penrith. To be honest though, after Matthew Elliott, I’d honestly cop just about any other coach.
The good thing is, that is what I will get!
Today, we have won. Elliott is gone, and while I have received quite a lot of congratulations today about it, I have to say, I couldn’t have done it without his incompetence, his nepotism and his disastrous coaching record in the National Rugby League.
