“I was surprised he lasted this long”: Former NRL star blasts Griffin

Former NRL star Ben Hannant has launched his own attack on recently fired coach Anthony Griffin as the fallout at Penrith continues.

On Monday, an announcement was made that Griffin had left the Panthers even though he had two years remaining on the contract.

Phil Gould, Penrith General Manager, stated that Griffin's 'my way or highway' mindset was a major factor for his sacking.

On Tuesday night, Griffin said that he hadn't received that credit he deserved with his Panthers sitting fifth, and that Gould had all control of the club.

Hannant's second time at Brisbane between 2011 and 2014 was under Griffin.

In those four years, the Broncos finished third, eighth, 12th and eighth whilst only reaching the preliminary final once in 2011.

In 2014, Hannant was dumped to the Intrust Super Cup after having a falling out with Griffin, who was axed later in the year.

Hannant moved to North Queensland in 2015 and won a premiership while Griffin would have to wait a whole season to get back into a coaching role with Penrith after they sacked Ivan Clearly.

And on Thursday night's edition of the Footy Show, Hannant had a dip at his former coach.

"I wasn't surprised when the news came out, there were rumours for a long time," Hannant said.

"Playing under him for four years, myself personally, those four years were probably the toughest four years of my footy career.

"I was surprised he lasted this long."

Hannant has denied all the talk about using The Footy Show as a way to express his hatred towards Griffin.

He admitted Griffin's coaching and management was nothing close to Wayne Bennett's standards who took over Brisbane in 2015.

"As a footy player, you always want to conform, you always want to impress, you're always trying to do what you're told," he said.

"If the coach tells you to jump, you jump. You don't even ask how high, you just do it.

"But it came to a point after two, three years of doing that, with the game plan he had, his man management, the way he did things was, in my opinion, very... amateurish.

"He's used to coaching the Q-Cup level, but the top level, it's all about sports science and where the game's going and evolving.

"By the end of it, you've gotta ask yourself the question; 'Are you going to win a premiership under this guy, can he attract guys for cheaper value because of the salary cap?"