The throw-away line that set Panthers coaching saga in motion

Penrith supremo Phil Gould has revealed how a meeting about the sale of a family home set the wheels in a motion for the dramatic coaching saga that engulfs the Panthers.

The rugby league world was left stunned on Monday when the Panthers announced they were sacking coach Anthony Griffin just four weeks out from the NRL finals.

Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary – who was himself sacked by Penrith in 2015 – has emerged as the Panthers’ number one target to replace Griffin.

However, the Tigers have issued a ‘hands-off’ warning to the Panthers – insisting that they have no intention of letting their coach leave.

Facing the possibility of Cleary asking for a release from a contract that still has two years left to run, the Tigers are holding an emergency board meeting on Wednesday night.

The Tigers are expected to discuss seeking major compensation from the Panthers, possibly in the form of players, for them to consider letting Cleary walk away.

Gould on Wednesday insisted he doesn’t expect Cleary to join the Panthers in 2019, believing he will honour his Tigers contract after the merger club made it clear they weren’t willing to release him.

“I could never see Wests Tigers releasing him from that deal,” Gould said on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast.

“To be honest I don’t think Ivan would pursue (it) if the Wests Tigers felt that way.

“Ivan’s not the sort of person that’ll push the issue if that’s what the Wests Tigers say.”

Distancing himself from the discussions, Gould confirmed Panthers chairman Dave O’Neill had broached the topic of a possible return by Cleary during a recent meeting to discuss the sale of the Cleary home in Penrith.

That discussion had prompted Cleary to sit down with Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe about his long-term future on Monday, where he revealed talking to Penrith.

“Dave innocently asked him would you ever come back to Panthers one day,” Gould said.

“As I understand it, that conversation escalated over the next couple of days to the point where on Friday, I was informed by Dave that Ivan was keen to go and have a talk to the Wests Tigers about his long-term future with a view towards one day returning to Panthers.”

Gould said Cleary’s decision to meet with the Tigers about a potential Panthers return was the catalyst for the sacking of Griffin.

He said he had wanted Griffin to at least see out the remainder of this year before having a review but he predicted Cleary’s meeting with the Tigers would get out to the media and become a huge story.

“I said, ‘I can’t have Anthony coaching under those conditions. We need to tell him exactly what is going on’,” Gould said.

“So we had a meeting with the executives there and I was instructed to inform Anthony on Monday that his services will no longer be required for 2019 and beyond.”

As it stands, Cleary has yet to officially ask the club for a release.

Gould revealed he had attempted to call Pascoe and Tigers chairwoman Marina Go to smooth growing tensions over the saga.

Cleary addressed the situation with the Tigers playing group before a training session on Wednesday, but has yet to speak publicly about the matter.

With AAP