THE Penrith board of directors gave Phil Gould total power over the club's football operations because they believed he had the ability to make things happen - and he has proved that by snaring a coach who was contracted to another club until the end of next season.
Ivan Cleary will depart the Warriors at the end of this season instead, to take over at the Panthers on a three-year deal understood to be worth $1.2 million. It was the culmination of delicate negotiations between the two clubs in recent weeks. Gould targeted Cleary as soon as he took over at the club, early in May, but the fact the coach was contracted until the end of 2012 was an obvious hurdle that was overcome only in the past week.
The Warriors were not ready to extend Cleary's deal just yet but decided not to stand in the way of him getting a long-term deal elsewhere, particularly since it was looking like he would leave at the end of next season anyway. Cleary will continue at the Warriors until the end of this season. Steve Georgallis will do the same as caretaker-coach of the Panthers, having recently replaced Matt Elliott, but since new coaches like to appoint their own assistants it seems unlikely Georgallis will remain beyond that.
Gould said last night that Cleary, who he coached at the Sydney Roosters, was someone he had stayed in regular contact with over the years. You have to know your football to stay in the loop with ''Gus'', and they share opinions on footy matters via text message.
''He is the complete professional, very cool and in control, a premiership-winning coach in the making - hopefully with us,'' Gould said of Cleary last night. ''I know from experience how much knowledge he has. I've watched him closely and he presents himself well.
''He is a developmental coach who knows how to identify the right young players and bring them through. He has proved that at the Warriors and that's what we need at the Panthers. He is coming along at the right time for us.''
The impression was that Georgallis, who steered the Panthers to a win over North Queensland in his first game in charge last Sunday, was effectively auditioning for the job for next year, but Gould said Georgallis was always aware he would miss out if the club hit its main target.
''Right from the start, I told Steve I believed this was a job for an experienced coach,'' Gould said. ''I got the opportunity last week to give Steve some experience. I wasn't confident that the Ivan Cleary deal would come to fruition and I had contingency plans in place, of which 'George' would have been a serious part.
''I think Steve's going to be a very good coach and I'm sure he is going to prove that in time, but just at this stage of his career, with where he's at and where Ivan is at, Ivan was the right man for this club at this time. He [Georgallis] said yesterday it's still valuable experience and valuable exposure for him.''
As for Gould, the Cleary appointment means any possibility he might coach the Panthers in the short term has disappeared, and he can officially declare his coaching career over. ''It looks that way, doesn't it?'' Gould said. ''It's something I've wrestled with in the last 18 months, whether to get back into coaching, but given the job I've got now at Penrith, I think that's pretty much it. That's the end of coaching.''
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