Outgoing Penrith coach Anthony Griffin has opened up about his sudden sacking from the club despite having two years to run on is contract, and his declining relationship with Panthers boss Phil Gould.
Griffin believes he left behind a successful era at the Panthers and he is proud of his achievements following two successive finals campaigns.
โIโm not here to bulls***t,โ he toldย FOX League's NRL 360 on Tuesday.
โIโve been around a long time. Iโm telling my side of the story because I think I have done an exceptional job with that club.
"And unless I set the record straight I will get no credit for it.โ
โIโm very proud of the achievements of the club over the last three years."
Griffin said his relationship with Gould became toxic which was a major reason for his departure.
โOur relationship broke down on coaching philosophy,โ Griffin said.
โThe issue that I didnโt involve staff (in decisions) is totally untrue.
โMy philosophy is the build of the club and the promotion of the players. We went through a total reconstruction with local talent. Gus says we werenโt at our best, well a lot of clubs arenโt at their best.โ
Griffin also hit back at Gould's claims that he needed to be moved on because he was too "old school".
โI take them with a grain of salt, to be honest,โ Griffin added.
โMy relationship with Gus was very good at the start and heโs got a great football brain.
โThe biggest breakdown - and thereโs obviously a breakdown - and you can spin it as much as you like โฆ but our relationship broke down on coaching philosophy.
โIโm a strong personality, heโs a strong personality. The suggestion I didnโt involve staff is totally untrue.
โThe biggest issue we had and the reason Iโm sitting in this chair is because, with me not coaching any more, we had a different philosophy on how the team should be coached.
โHe hasnโt coached for 20 years. He hasnโt had his head in the fire for 20 years,โ Griffin said.
โIf thereโs anyone old school in the conversation โ if Iโm in the conversation about being old school, heโd need to be there as well.โ
Griffin also detailed his fiery confrontation with Gould in Belmore earlier in the 2018 season for following his half time address to the playingย group inย a loss to the Bulldogs.
โSo what happened there was my whole focus of that game was getting my forwards to play 40 minutes,โ he said.
โI couldnโt have given a f**k about the attack. Gus came in and listened to my speech at half time. I walked past him in the tunnel on the way up to the coachโs box and said โhow you going?โโ
โHe says to me: โYou didnโt even f***ing address the attack.โ I thought he was joking. I thought, he canโt be serious โฆ I said โyeah, but it did happenโ. Thatโs Gus. He wants to call me old school but I was never going to be subservient to him.โ
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