Footy legend Joel Clinton reveals coach's violent dressing room act that made one of the NRL's toughest stars so angry he almost 'ripped his head off'

Daily Mail​

25-06-2025

Penrith premiership prop Joel Clinton has shed light on an explosive incident during his footy career, detailing a heated moment with former Panthers coach Matt Elliott and two of his toughest teammates.
Clinton, who played 241 matches for Penrith, opened up about his final season with the Panthers in 2007 under coach Elliott while appearing on the Andy Raymond Unfiltered podcast.
'I remember he kicked a garbage bin across the room after one game,' Clinton recalled.
'We were up at halftime by 18 points or something like that, and we lost that game.
'Matty Elliott was a pretty aggressive coach and he kicked the garbage bin across the room and it ended up hitting big Franky Pritchard straight in the head.
'I remember Franky Pritchard looked over and he wanted to absolutely rip his head off - and Tony Puletua had to grab him and stop him and say "No mate, sit down".
'Lucky Big T was in the room that day because Franky Pritchard has got a bit of a background and he would have done some damage.'
Later in the episode, Clinton took aim at former Broncos coach Ivan Henjak for 'f**king him around' during his spell with the club.
Clinton was recruited by Wayne Bennett in 2008, but the supercoach moved to the Dragons the following year.
'That next year I really knuckled down,' Clinton said.
'My stats were great, I was one of Brisbane's best forwards, but Ivan Henjak didn't see eye to eye with me.'
'He upset quite a few boys there, I had another year on my contract, but I asked for a release.
'[Ex-Panthers coach] Johnny Lang had called me up and asked me to come to Souths for three years on a good deal, good coin, and I knew my time was up with Ivan.
'I asked for three releases, and he said "no, we're keeping you".'
Clinton believed that he'd have to see out his entire contract in Brisbane - but then got a shock call from his manager during Mad Monday celebrations.
'It came to the end of 2009, and I got a phone call from my manager, I'd been on the p**s for 24 hours straight, and he said "yeah, they don't want you next year",' Clinton said.
'By then all the salary cap was gone, there was no money left at Souths, there was a little at Wests, but to get the money I was after at 28, I had to go to the UK, purely because of [Ivan Henjak].
'If he could have f***ed me around any more he would have, I tried three times to get out of that contract, and he wouldn't release me.
'You're at that time of your life where you want to get every cent you can out of the game, and that was the reason I ended up in the UK.
'It was upsetting - and I still hold a bit of a grudge about it to this day.