ANTHONY Griffin has a growing reputation for coaching teams that can’t get it done in the clutch, with Penrith sitting 12th on the ladder despite an impressive start to the season that has had them in every game.

The Panthers have had a tough draw to open 2016, clashing with both of last year’s grand finalists as well as the Bulldogs, Eels and Raiders, who all look like top eight sides this season.

Add injuries to Matt Moylan and James Segeyaro and you might have expected Penrith to cop a couple of heavy defeats during that run but Griffin has done superbly to put a competitive side on the park every week.

In the first six weeks, Penrith’s biggest defeat came in round one against Canberra, when they lost by eight points.

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Since then they’ve lost by two points twice and by five points to North Queensland, which felt more like a one-point loss, with a Lachlan Coote field-goal needed to break the deadlock in the dying stages. The try that came after was inconsequential.

The Panthers have lost a handful of thrillers this season. Source: AAP

Admirable is the word that comes to mind to describe their season so far but that won’t cut it with Panthers fans for too long if it’s accompanied by a losing record.

So the inevitable questions are asked: what is it with Griffin-coached sides and close losses?

The answers from Brisbane champions Justin Hodges, who played under him, and Steve Renouf, who watched him closely during his Broncos coaching stint haven’t been flattering.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Renouf told Fox Sports News recently.

“It’s probably one thing Anthony Griffin, if I was to say anything negative about it, he struggled a bit with that up here with Brisbane too. I don’t know what it is.

“It’s something that’s even tougher now but historically something that Anthony has struggled with, that interchange.”

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It’s hard to find numbers that back up Renouf’s claim that Griffin botches his use of the interchange and that costs his sides in close matches but the stats can paint a picture of where Griffin coached sides stack up with the NRL’s other 15 coaches in tight games.

The Fox Sports Lab has looked at every current coach’s record in close matches since 2011 and the results are fascinating but it would be a stretch to call them damning for Griffin. At least not as damning as the perception of him.

WHEN GRIFFIN’S SIDE LEADS...

When a team coached by Griffin leads by six points or less with 10 minutes remaining in the game, they win 61.9 per cent of the time — the third worst win percentage for any current coach in that situation.

Only Neil Henry (61.11 per cent) and Jason Taylor (60 per cent) coached sides are worse off.

Nathan Brown and Trent barrett are top of the pops with 100 per cent winning records in that situation but with only this season to go on, their stats can virtually be discounted.

To put Griffin’s numbers into context, they should really only be compared to other coaches who have rode the emotions of a narrow lead at the business end over and over again.

Since 2011, Griffin coached sides have led by six points or less at the 70 minute mark 21 times, the third most of any coach.

Ricky Stuart sides rarely give up late leads. Source: AAP

He trails Des Hasler (26) and Craig Bellamy (25), with both premiership coaches converting those narrow leads to wins an outrageous 80 per cent of the time.

Bettering those two coaches are Ricky Stuart, whose sides are 10 from 12 (83.33 per cent) when closing out tight games with a lead, and Michael Maguire, who has only watched a narrow lead overturned once from 13 occasions, giving him a 92.31 per cent win rate.

Wayne Bennett sides are 11 from 14 (78.57 per cent), Paul Green’s Cowboys are 10 from 14 (71.43 per cent), Shane Flanagan’s Sharks are 13 from 19 (68.42 per cent) and Trent Robinson (nine from 14) and Brad Arthur (seven from 11) both have records comparable to Griffin’s.

Henry has watched seven from 18 narrow leads slip through his fingers at the death, to make his record the worst of the coaches with a decent sample size.

WHEN GRIFFIN’S SIDE IS NECK AND NECK...

Here’s where the numbers start to look better for Griffin.

In 50/50 situations, when sides he coaches are level with their opponent with 10 minutes remaining, they win 75 per cent of the time.

And Griffin coached sides are neck and neck in the clutch an awful lot.

Despite having a year out of the game, the man they call Hook has still coached in more games than anyone else (eight) since 2011 that have been level at the 70 minute mark.

His sides have won six of those games. Griffin’s 75 per cent win rate in that situation puts him fourth in the rankings, behind Bellamy, Paul McGregor and Taylor.

But of those three coaches — who all have 100 per cent records in that game situation — only Bellamy’s record carries any real weight.

Wayne Bennett sides have mastered the art of breaking a deadlock late. Source: News Corp Australia

The Storm coach has incredibly won seven out of the seven games where his side has waited until the death to break a deadlock.

McGregor’s won two from two and Taylor’s won the only time his side’s been in that situation.

Meanwhile Ricky Stuart coached sides have lost all five of their games in that situation, Shane Flanagan’s lost four out of five and Andrew McFadden’s lost three out of five.

Somewhat surprisingly, Bennett’s sides have lost four out of seven games that have been level with 10 minutes to play.

Every other coach either hasn’t seen that situation or has a 50/50 record.

OVERTURNING A DEFICIT

As far as long-term coaches go, few have trailed at the 70 minute mark — by big margins and small — more often than Griffin sides.

Since 2011, his teams have stared down the barrel of defeat 44 times and only managed to turn those results on four of those occasions — a lowly 9.09 per cent of the time.

Only Bennett (58), Henry (55), Hasler (51), Flanagan (49) and Stuart (45) have trailed more often and not all of them have been as successful overturning the deficit.

Henry and Hasler are the most successful coaches with a comparable sample size at dragging back a deficit, with Henry’s sides snatching victory from the jaws of defeat nine times for a win rate of just over 16 per cent and Hasler sides achieving the feat eight times to put him just behind.

Even trailing late, Neil Henry coached sides are never out of it. Source: News Corp Australia

Flanagan’s record trails the Professor’s, with seven late comeback wins at a rate of 14.29 per cent.

But sides coached by Stuart and Bennett have both had difficulty pulling a result out of the fire since 2011, with Sticky’s sides achieving it just twice for a dismal 4.44 per cent record and the Supercoach managing it three times for a 5.17 per cent win rate.

Griffin’s record also betters Brad Arthur’s (two from 30 for a 6.67 per cent win rate), McFadden’s (one win from 23 for a 4.35 per cent win rate) as well as Brown, Barrett and Taylor who are all yet to overturn a late deficit, with each getting five cracks or less at the ultimate winning feeling.