'10 | Close the Gap R24 | Fri | Panthers 54-18 Rabbitohs | CUA

[chrisD]

Did they what!, but will they turn up next week and the week after...

That is what is so awesome about this comp, awesome one week ordinary the next.

The cap is working...

Imagine the Panthers with decent halves, Roosters with a monster pack or the Saints with one or two superstars capable of creating something from nothing, it'd really be a tiered comp.

 

[thommo4pm]

After losing 5 of our last 6 games, it was just great to see we still had that sort of performance in us. Ever since we played the Dragons, we've been absolutely terrible.

Whether it's a one off or not doesn't really matter at the moment. It locked us in for our first finals appearance in 5 years and also gave us a bit of hope that we can find the form that had us sitting in second for so long.

Not sure what fired us up last night - maybe it was the fact that we finally dropped down the ladder after a loss? Maybe it was how humiliating our last game was. Maybe it was a fluke.

I've been saying for a while that your season this year reminds me a hell of a lot of our season last year.

To me, and I hope for your sake I'm wrong, the game last night from Penrith reminded me of our Round 26 game against Parra last year.

Saints had been going horrible, after beating Melbourne (last year), a few bad losses, then we put everything in against the Eels in Rd 26 only to fall flat again.
I'm more interested in how you guys go next week, rather than use last night as a guide.

 

[TheFrog]

I'm with Elliott here. Even during the slump, Penrith were going OK, in that they were competitive every game, they just weren't winning. Against the Tigers they were in the game with 10 to go, with just a 6 point margin, but had one of their familiar defensive meltdowns in the final moments. This made the scoreline look like a thrashing, the media reported it as a thrashing, and has forced some serious re-evaluations it seems. Maybe in this way the Tigers did us a big favour putting on 19 points in the dying minutes.

Once again, the same defensive meltdown came in this game, midway through the second half this time. Address this problem, and Penrith are contenders.

 

[TheFrog]

Because of the Parra fans reaction to Gordon getting the SOO job ahead of Burt, the sh*t they talked of Gordon and how they treated the selection like some kind personal vendetta against their club and Burt instead of the perceptive and intelligent selection it was. If you stopped and thought about it for half a second it should have been obvious.

NSW wanted a goal kicker, it was as simple as that, so they pivcked the best one. This got Hazem a couple of Origins as well. Gordon hardly saw the ball all game, excedpt to kick goals. I've got a lot of time for Luke Burt as a footballer and he's a good kick too (both he and Gordon missed sitters this weekend, but the Burt miss was catastrophic to say the least). I can see why Parra fans saw it this way.

However, since his Origin selection, Gordon's game has gone to a whole new level.

 

[Fibroman]

Bring back Bob Blair into the side and we will go all the way. Elliott pursists with Purtell, who might be a really nice bloke, but offers nothing in attack or defence.

 

[Fibroman]

I don't think it would hurt to play Coote on the wing and Gordon at Fullback for one game and see what transpires.

 

[Doomednow]

Why waste either of them on the wing? Bar Jennings, Gordon is probably better than any of our centres. Could Coote play there as well? He's shown he can tackle pretty well when he needs to. Maybe try playing both of them in both positions. Drop Purtell and bring Earl in as permanent on the wing.