Round 24 v Raiders @ GIO Stadium

[TheFrog]

And in 2000, Parramatta were responsible for ending our season!!

I haven't forgotten..........

The favour was returned in 2003, in the last round. We gave them a start and a hiding. Roy Masters described the Eels (who had to win by 28 to make the finals) in that match as like a dog on a slippery floor trying to run.

 

[TheFrog]

Is Griffin only the third coach in our history to make the finals back to back? Gould, Lang and now Griffin?

Ron Willey made a (losing) playoff for 5th in 1988 (15/22 wins) and the finals in 1989.

 

[noforwardpass]

Gotta give James Tamou some credit. He's been good the last month or so. Today, he played 52 mins for 15 runs, 157m gained, 27 tackles with 2 missed. RCG 55 mins, 13 runs for 144m. Both telling stats, showing that our front row is providing a good platform.

I loved them both chasing Wighton in the 53rd minute. Showed big commitment.

 

[maple_69]

Great to see us open the game firing, handle the ball well and play the 80 minutes. I thought we had a lot more depth to our attack today as well. Could have easily put a few more over on the left.

It was a great battle up front. Their blokes were steaming and we matched them. Great game of footy and stoked to get the win.

 

[mxlegend99]

Best win of the year IMO. We played hard for 80 minutes and our opposition didnt gift us anything.

Tyrone May is our utility and mr fix it now. Hes a freak.

 

[TeamSatan]

Best win of the year IMO. We played hard for 80 minutes and our opposition didnt gift us anything.

Tyrone May is our utility and mr fix it now. Hes a freak.

Our forwards went great. Been wondering if they were good enough but that is answered now.
Watching May for years in lower grades we could always see massive potential but he had a habit of going missing or not taking initiative when he could have.
Now in firsts his mind seems more focused and the talent is used at the right moments.
Hope he keeps up the late game big effort for the rest of the season.

 

[franklin2323]

Our forwards have been unsung for most of the year. We are 3rd in metres gained by our pack that is the best game we have played since the Bulldogs semi last year

 

[franklin2323]

Moylan and Peach next to each other is a real issue. Need to swap JFH out there in defence I think

It has been our problem all year

 

[mxlegend99]

Our forwards have been unsung for most of the year. We are 3rd in metres gained by our pack that is the best game we have played since the Bulldogs semi last year

Pretty hard to see how we are ranked 3rd when we have a bunch of forwards lucky to crack 50 metres.

The rest must be going above and beyond for those figures. RCG has been a beast. Tamou has a huge game every so often. Mez was always good for metres. The rest would be lucly to hit 100 metres.

Looking at them:
Merrin avg 132m
RCG avg 126m
Tamou avg 114m
Yeo avg 106m
CHN avg 97.1m

Backs:
Edwards 186.6m
Mansour 156.7m
DWZ 136.1m
Peachey 113.4m
Blake 92.3m

Our back 3 must be the best or near it for aversge metres gained. Our centres lately are getting more ball and making more metres too. Blake is a beast when he gets a bit of space.

 

[mxlegend99]

I loved them both chasing Wighton in the 53rd minute. Showed big commitment.

How slow is Wighton though. 2 front rowers gaining on him.

Taking nothing away from RCG and Tamou. Terrific chase. But most fullbacks score in that situation.

 

[Pomoz]

That really was the most satisfying of wins for a number of reasons:

1. The Raiders are always difficult to beat in Canberra even when they are down on form. The crowd is worth 3 or 4 penalties and the booing could mess with your head if you were a rookie player. We made the crowd silent at times.

2. The Raiders played well and at times there forwards rolled though as like Panzer tanks. This was no soft victory. Our defence forced errors and on the line we hung in there and it saved us.

3. Our forwards showed the NRL what they are made of. Tamou and RCG dominated the more heralded props from Canberra and our back row only missed 2 tackles between them. Merrin played like a prop (which I think is where he is heading) rucking the ball up the middle and making a staggering 125m against a large forward pack after being out for several weeks. He has some engine, that's for sure.

4. The halves combined well for probably the first time this season. Cleary controlled the game, his kicking was excellent most of the time. Moylan didn't overplay his hand and try the miracle play on tackle one. The attacking plays looked like they had some structure with a bit of depth and inside as well as outside runners, I swear it could be coincidence, but I see Brandy's hand in there. Kicking for corners, deeper backlines. Close your eyes.."Alexander to Izzard and a beautiful ball to Bentley, it's a try".

5.The best thing about that Penrith win was that 12 of the 17 players are Penrith juniors. Some started at 11 years of age, some came later, but they have all played in the u20's. Regardless of whether they win a premiership or not, it is a great achievement to produce a competitive team through junior development. If Penrith can continue to use its juniors this way, the club will survive and be competitive most years. It's what they should have been doing for the last 30 years but it took Gus to finally make an obvious strategy a reality.

The worst thing about this game was the brilliant tackle by Cleary on Papali as he looked like he was certain to score a try. Stopped him cold. That tackle will probably means he plays for NSW next year and that is something he doesn't need. A physical battering and a demoralising loss against QLD won't help our cause. Somebody tell Nathan that he should play for NZ, he qualifies and they need his talent more than Australia. JFH and DWZ should get working on him now.....

 

[mxlegend99]

.

The worst thing about this game was the brilliant tackle by Cleary on Papali as he looked like he was certain to score a try. Stopped him cold. That tackle will probably means he plays for NSW next year and that is something he doesn't need. A physical battering and a demoralising loss against QLD won't help our cause. Somebody tell Nathan that he should play for NZ, he qualifies and they need his talent more than Australia. JFH and DWZ should get working on him now.....

Or he could go the other way and establish himself as the best half in NSW. I doubt he is picked next year. But if he was I guarantee he is better at Origin than Pearce.

 

[OldPanther]

That really was the most satisfying of wins for a number of reasons:

1. The Raiders are always difficult to beat in Canberra even when they are down on form. The crowd is worth 3 or 4 penalties and the booing could mess with your head if you were a rookie player. We made the crowd silent at times.

2. The Raiders played well and at times there forwards rolled though as like Panzer tanks. This was no soft victory. Our defence forced errors and on the line we hung in there and it saved us.

3. Our forwards showed the NRL what they are made of. Tamou and RCG dominated the more heralded props from Canberra and our back row only missed 2 tackles between them. Merrin played like a prop (which I think is where he is heading) rucking the ball up the middle and making a staggering 125m against a large forward pack after being out for several weeks. He has some engine, that's for sure.

4. The halves combined well for probably the first time this season. Cleary controlled the game, his kicking was excellent most of the time. Moylan didn't overplay his hand and try the miracle play on tackle one. The attacking plays looked like they had some structure with a bit of depth and inside as well as outside runners, I swear it could be coincidence, but I see Brandy's hand in there. Kicking for corners, deeper backlines. Close your eyes.."Alexander to Izzard and a beautiful ball to Bentley, it's a try".

5.The best thing about that Penrith win was that 12 of the 17 players are Penrith juniors. Some started at 11 years of age, some came later, but they have all played in the u20's. Regardless of whether they win a premiership or not, it is a great achievement to produce a competitive team through junior development. If Penrith can continue to use its juniors this way, the club will survive and be competitive most years. It's what they should have been doing for the last 30 years but it took Gus to finally make an obvious strategy a reality.

The worst thing about this game was the brilliant tackle by Cleary on Papali as he looked like he was certain to score a try. Stopped him cold. That tackle will probably means he plays for NSW next year and that is something he doesn't need. A physical battering and a demoralising loss against QLD won't help our cause. Somebody tell Nathan that he should play for NZ, he qualifies and they need his talent more than Australia. JFH and DWZ should get working on him now.....

I agree with this. Well said.

Excluding the part about Cleary playing for NZ. Hopefully he has a long and successful career for Penrith/NSW/Aus.

 

[MrBlack]

If NSW was picked today and we have moved on from Pierce (and we all want that). Then Cleary gets picked. There is no one else.

Really enjoyed the game, only downside is that we let them score 4 tries. 3 of them down the same corridor. Better teams than Canberra will target Moylan defending next to Peachey in the coming weeks.

Favourite part of the game - RCG running down Wrighton. He ran like his and our season came down to that one tackle. (honourable mention to the part Tamau played as well)

At the end of the day we just wanted it more.

 

[Tronald Crump]

Enjoyed that win but we almost lost it in the 2nd half.

 

[TheFrog]

There has been a determination about this side, which I first noticed in the Warriors game, the one in NZ. Something I haven't seen in too many Panthers first grade sides in the past. They really don't like to lose and are putting everything on the line week in and week out to that end. I'm surprised the "experts" haven't noticed it yet as well. But they very soon will, which will present its own set of issues for this young side.

 

[forby]

Enjoyed that win but we almost lost it in the 2nd half.

The refs certainly tried hard for Canberra in the second half. A 5-1 penalty count and nearly every 50-50 call made the job very hard.

 

[franklin2323]

Pretty hard to see how we are ranked 3rd when we have a bunch of forwards lucky to crack 50 metres.

The rest must be going above and beyond for those figures. RCG has been a beast. Tamou has a huge game every so often. Mez was always good for metres. The rest would be lucly to hit 100 metres.

Looking at them:
Merrin avg 132m
RCG avg 126m
Tamou avg 114m
Yeo avg 106m
CHN avg 97.1m

Backs:
Edwards 186.6m
Mansour 156.7m
DWZ 136.1m
Peachey 113.4m
Blake 92.3m

Our back 3 must be the best or near it for aversge metres gained. Our centres lately are getting more ball and making more metres too. Blake is a beast when he gets a bit of space.

RCG, Merrin, Tamou and Yeo have all gained over 2000m not many teams would have 4 forwards around that mark

 

[franklin2323]

If NSW was picked today and we have moved on from Pierce (and we all want that). Then Cleary gets picked. There is no one else.

Really enjoyed the game, only downside is that we let them score 4 tries. 3 of them down the same corridor. Better teams than Canberra will target Moylan defending next to Peachey in the coming weeks.

Favourite part of the game - RCG running down Wrighton. He ran like his and our season came down to that one tackle. (honourable mention to the part Tamau played as well)

At the end of the day we just wanted it more.

It is our only weekness. Our left side in defence

 

[forby]

Canberra act for a ruck penalty nearly every second play the,ball, and the refs fall for it too often.