I'm pretty sure Elyas was Malkieri (didn't he help get lil Lan out of Malkier?). If not, he's still a former borderland soldier. Either way, he's an older, experienced, educated fighter. He also has a good relationship with his status as a wolfbrother, and he must know that the Last Battle is coming.

So Elyas has all the tools to gather wolves and "prepare" them for the LB (please let it involve mounted versions of Mat's weapons!). Moreover, Elyas' history would probably incline him to doing such. Taking his history all together, Elyas wouldn't just sit on the Caralain Grass while the battle goes on at SG; and he probably wouldn't run off with some humans and forget about the wolves' part in it.

When I read about Perrin leading the wolves out to TG, I sometimes think "well, that job can be done by someone else - someone who seems far better equipped and far more likely to actually do it."

This is a very different situation than the one between Lan, Moiraine, and Rand - they can't do his job because he's the only DR they've got.