ONE of the main reasons Matthew Elliott was at risk of being sacked as Penrith coach was criticism of his methods to club management by several players. One of the main reasons he survived was support from the team's most influential player - captain Petero Civoniceva - on the eve of Elliott having to front the club's board yesterday.
The Herald understands that when the board met on their own on Sunday, the mood was such that had it taken a vote then Elliott would most likely have been sacked. The question of how much it would cost to pay out Elliott - who has a year left on his contract worth at least $300,000 a season - and the rest of his coaching staff was raised.
The board was clearly divided on the coaching issue. But the meeting decided Elliott deserved the opportunity to state his case and he was called to appear yesterday to give his view of why the Panthers had folded so meekly at the end of the season to miss out on a finals spot.
Elliott turned up to the meeting prepared for the worst, but also with a well-prepared argument as to why he should be allowed to continue next season.
In the meantime, Civoniceva, the representative prop and Penrith captain, had been quoted in yesterday's Herald saying that while there were some issues the club needed to deal with in the off-season, the players should take most of the blame for the team's poor form. "It was our attitude that I thought was the real problem. If we're being totally honest with ourselves, I think it's a bit cheap and easy to be blaming other people for what we did wrong," Civoniceva said.
His words had an impact on some board members who were considering a coaching change. So did Elliott's honesty and willingness to accept fault in some areas, while arguing his case on other aspects. Elliott initially told the directors that if they had already made their minds up then they should go ahead with it and not waste time.
But there had been a change of mood. There was no talk of sackings or payouts at yesterday's meeting, and after fronting the board for almost two hours Elliott walked outside to say that after a "frank and open" discussion, he had been told it would be business as usual.
"There's no doubt my tenure was on the agenda," Elliott said. "I was just open and honest and gave my opinions. If I was a board member I'd want to know what went on the last six weeks. It was a performance review that raised some areas that they [the directors] would like addressed."
Penrith chairman Barry Walsh emerged shortly after to confirm Elliott would remain in the job and his coaching staff would also remain.
"Whilst we acknowledge that there were disappointing aspects of the season, we see a positive future," Walsh said.
"The board unanimously reaffirmed Matt Elliott will remain as coach for 2009."
Luke Priddis, Tony Puletua, Rhys Wesser and Luke Rooney all played their last game for the club on Saturday, when the Panthers ended their season with a 34-16 home loss to Manly. After the game, Elliott said his overall relationship with the players was healthy, but added: "Let's not be naive. There are some players who are leaving, and quite often when people are leaving they're disappointed with decisions that were made."
Yesterday's meeting determined that Elliott and the players - with Civoniceva as their representative - would work through any issues that may be left over from the disappointing campaign during the off-season. The flipside is that the players will be expected to be more accountable as far as accepting their share of responsibility for poor performances is concerned.
"We enjoy the wins together and, if we don't perform well, we share the blame," Walsh said. "That's players, coaches, officials - everybody."
Elliott reiterated his desire to win a new contract to coach Penrith after next year. Walsh said Elliott would get the chance to push his claims through at least part of next season, before the club started thinking about a coach for 2010.
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