Anthony Griffin (rugby league)

Anthony Griffin (born 26 August 1966) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who was most recently the head coach of the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL.

Anthony Griffin
Personal information
Born (1966-08-26) 26 August 1966
Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Coaching information
Club
Years Team Gms W D L W%
2011–14 Brisbane Broncos 101 54 1 46 53
2016–18 Penrith Panthers 72 42 0 30 58
2021–23 St. George Illawarra 58 22 0 36 38
Total 231 118 1 112 51
Source: [1][2][3]
As of 11 June 2021

After success in the Queensland Cup and Toyota Cup competitions, Griffin replaced Ivan Henjak as head coach of the Brisbane Broncos from 2011 to 2014 and later served as head coach for the Penrith Panthers from 2016 to 2018 and the St. George Illawarra Dragons from 2021 to 2023.[4]

Early life

Griffin was born in Rockhampton, Queensland, and attended Emmaus College in Rockhampton.[5]

Playing career

Griffin played for Past Brothers from 1985 to 1987 in the lower grades, largely as a hooker. He then played for Brothers in Rockhampton from 1988 to 1992.

Coaching career

Griffin coached the colts teams for Redcliffe (1995–97), winning the premiership in 1997.[6] The following year he moved to Brisbane Norths, taking them to the colts premiership in his first year there, and also coaching the Queensland under 17s representative team in 1998. After another colts premiership with Norths in 2000, Griffin joined the coaching staff of the NRL's Melbourne Storm and was Chris Anderson's then Mark Murray's assistant in 2001 and 2002. Returning to Queensland, he coached the Souths Logan Magpies in the Queensland Cup from 2003 to 2004. He then joined the Redcliffe Dolphins, coaching them from 2005 to 2007 and winning the competition with them in 2006. He also coached the Queensland Residents side in 2007.

Brisbane Broncos

Griffin coached the Brisbane Broncos' under-20s side to the 2008 Toyota Cup (Under-20s) season's Grand Final. He was appointed as assistant to head coach Ivan Henjak for the 2010 NRL season, in which the Broncos failed to make the finals series for the first time since 1991.[7]

Less than three weeks from the beginning of the 2011 NRL season, Griffin became the third ever coach of the Broncos when he was unexpectedly announced to be replacing Henjak. After losing their first match, the Broncos went on to win seven matches in a row, to be sitting equal top of the ladder with the St. George Illawarra Dragons at the conclusion of Round 8. Griffin employed a policy of resting key players such as Darren Lockyer and Sam Thaiday after mid-season representative matches and Brisbane's ladder position slipped. However they returned to the top four after the 2011 State of Origin series. The Broncos finished the regular season in third place, their best finish to the regular season since their last premiership in 2006. Griffin then took them to within one match of the grand final. However without injured captain Darren Lockyer Brisbane were knocked out of contention by eventual premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

During the 2014 NRL season it was announced that Griffin would not be head coach of the Broncos the following season due to the return of the club's foundation coach, Wayne Bennett.

Penrith Panthers

On 21 October 2015 it was announced that Griffin had accepted the head coaching position with the Penrith Panthers on a three-year deal.[8] On 4 October 2017, Griffin signed a new two-year extension to stay as Penrith coach until the end of 2020 after guiding the club to consecutive finals appearances.[9] On 6 August 2018, Griffin and the Penrith Panthers club decided to part ways with immediate effect, leaving assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo as caretaker coach.

In the aftermath of being sacked by Penrith, Griffin and Gould proceeded to trade barbs in the media. Gould went on record as saying "We just got the feeling that everything Anthony has brought to the club over the last three years, we’ve probably seen the best of it … I think the pressure from the media and constant speculation was eating away at him … Anthony is very old school, he likes to do everything himself. I think in the modern day age the head coach has got to rely on the expertise, knowledge and assistance".

Griffin later came out and said "He hasn’t coached for 20 years. He hasn’t had his head in the fire for 20 years. If there’s anyone old school in the conversation – if I’m in the conversation about being old school, he’d need to be there as well". Griffin then later spoke of Gould claiming that he was sad after a win and happy after a loss. Griffin told the media "We were officially on top of the ladder, having overcome this huge run of injuries earlier in the year, but nothing. When we lost there was always an inquiry, how had we had failed in our preparation, but there was never any inquiry when we won". "I have never seen him so happy than when Brisbane put 50 on us. And then I’ve never seen him so agitated than when we just beat Manly (in a 28-24 thriller at Brookvale Oval on July 28, 2018)".[10][11]

St. George Illawarra Dragons

On 7 September 2020, Griffin was appointed head coach of St. George Illawarra. He was granted a two-year contract to begin in 2021, with a third year in the club's favour, following the sacking of Paul McGregor earlier in the 2020 NRL season.[4]

In round 2 of the 2021 NRL season, he earned his first win as St. George head coach as the club defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 25–18 at North Queensland Stadium.[12] In Griffin's first season as head coach, he guided St. George Illawarra to an 11th-place finish on the table. From round 13 to round 25, the club only managed to win two matches and suffered an eight-game losing streak to close out the year, which stands as a current club record for the most consecutive losses.[13]

Before the start of the 2023 NRL season, many experts and pundits predicted St. George Illawarra to finish with the Wooden Spoon. After having a bye in the first round, the club defeated the Gold Coast in round 2 by a score of 32–18. In March 2023, it was revealed that Griffin had been told by club officials that they were looking for a potential coaching replacement in 2024 and that Griffin would have to re-apply for his position.[14][15] On 16 May 2023, it was announced that St. George Illawarra had terminated Griffin's contract effective immediately. Griffin was informed of the decision at 8AM just before the players' training session with Ryan Carr taking over as interim head-coach.[16]

Radio career

In 2019, Griffin joined the 2GB Continuous Call Team program as one of the co-commentators for selected matches.[17]

Statistics
SeasonClubMatchesWinsDrawsLossesWin Percentage
20112720−774%
20122512−1348%
2013241011342%
20142612−1348%
20162615−1157%
20172614−1254%
20182013−765%
2021248−1633%
20222412−1250%
2023102−820%
Total21011319652%

References
  1. "Anthony Griffin". Rugby League Project. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  2. "Anthony Griffin". Brisbane Broncos. Archived from the original on 25 July 2010.
  3. "Anthony Griffin to coach Broncos". Brisbane Times. 21 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  4. Orme, Steve (9 September 2020). "Anthony Griffin shock admission over Phil Gould feud following St George appointment". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  5. Robinson, Paul; Roberts, Alice (22 July 2014). "CQ coaches shocked by Griffin's sacking". ABC Capricornia. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  6. Jackson, Glenn; Walter, Brad; Lutton, Phil; Mascord, Steve (22 February 2011). "Who is Anthony Griffin?". The Courier. Ballarat. Archived from the original on 24 February 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2011.
  7. Berrett, Nick (21 February 2011). "Griffin takes over as Broncos coach". Redcliffe & Bayside Herald. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  8. "Griffin becomes new Panthers coach". National Rugby League. 21 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 October 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  9. "Panthers re-sign Griffin until 2020". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  10. Dean, John (17 December 2018). "The best quotes of the 2018 NRL season". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 19 July 2020.
  11. "Anthony Griffin, Phil Gould: Gus 'sad' after big wins, sacked Panthers coach says". Fox Sports. 9 August 2018. Archived from the original on 29 December 2018. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  12. "South Sydney opens NRL winning account against Manly Sea Eagles, Ben Hunt and Dragons bounce back against Cowboys". Australia: ABC News. 21 March 2021. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  13. Brunsdon, Simon (28 August 2021). "Luckless Cowboy ends 14-game losing streak; Dragons find their new No.6: 3 Big Hits". Australia: Fox Sports. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  14. "'Put a noose around his neck': Griffin a dead man walking as Dragons blasted for coach hunt". Australia: Fox Sports.
  15. "Dragons put off-season from hell behind them as Titans fall into old habits – 3 Big Hits". Australia: Fox Sports.
  16. "Inside Dragons' sacking circus and the brutal message interim coach delivered to players". Australia: Fox Sports.
  17. Wilson, Zanda (12 March 2019). "New faces on Ray Hadley's 'Continuous Call Team' for 2019". Radio Today. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019.
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