Round 6 (2007) Ninjas v Panthers

[Willow]

Round 6 (2007)
Chuck Norris Texas Death Ninjas v Penrith Panthers

Game Thread:
Please note - This is a game thread only, therefore only game posts can be made here (Teams, Articles).
Any other posts may result in loss of points and is at the discretion of the referee.
Only original essays, not used in previous games, will be marked by referees.
Rules: http://f7s.leagueunlimited.com/rules.php
Home team allowed one extra reserve player

FULL TIME: Wednesday 25 July 2007 at 9pm (Syd time)
REFEREE: Gorilla

Venue: Reliant Stadium

**The Referee Blows Game On!**

 

[paulquinn49]

CNTDN Line-Up

Edabomb (c)
Jamesgould (vc)
Titties (c)
Raider_69 (vc)
Dubby (vc)

Bench

Raider Crusader (vc)
Thickos (vc)
Paulquinn49 (c)

 

[Raider_69]

Raider_69 (vc) storms out for the Ninjas after a Chuck imposed exodus to find his inner Ninja

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Man vs. Magic

So here we are, less then 2 months away from semi finals footy, the business end of the season, where the contenders stand up to be counted and the pretenders fizzle out and face another long off season of insecurity. But here I sit, writing this article, still with absolutely no idea how this season will pan out.

So I’ve come up with an idea, revolutionary in fact. I, Nick Townsend will pit myself again the power that is “The Magic 8-Ball”. Armed with 5 contentious questions and my impeccable tipping record (I sit 2nd and 3rd last respectively in my two serious tipping competitions).

I will now attempt to out predict the Magic 8-ball. Edges of you’re seat stuff, I know but try to contain you’re, such a feat may have only been attempted 2-3 million times before now… Let’s begin.

1. Will the Penrith Panthers collect this year’s wooden spoon?
Nick Says: Yes, absolutely, they are playing dog ordinary footy and I don’t think, as a raiders fan, and a particularly local one, I believe my opinions on Matt Elliott as a coach are well documented, and widely known. They are specials, and the fact Mark Gasnier is making his return for the Dragons this week, sealed the deal for the once might Panthers.

8-Ball Says: It is decidedly so… Seems the black magic has eluded the Panthers this year. And so it shall be so!

2. Will the Sharks out do last year’s effort of 10 and again break their biggest losing streak?
Nick Says: I can’t see it happening, though they are being ravaged with injury and suspension at the moment, they need to lose every game left in the season from here on in to complete the task. Whilst this feat is not beyond their ineptitude you’d have to think they will jag at least one. Stuart is a good coach; he’ll make sure it doesn’t happen.


8-Ball Says: Outlook good… and with that a shudder comes sweeping across the shire. Spine tingling stuff!

3. Melbourne, can any body stop them?
Nick Says: No, not a chance, they are too good, too well drilled. Then again I did say that last year too, but I think last year will help them in the big one this year. The old adage “you’ve got to lose one to win one” rings true here in my humble opinion. Bellamy will have his troops ready to rock and roll.

8 Ball Says: NO! Simple and straight to the point. The 8-Ball sends a storm warning for this year’s finals contenders!

4. Will Robbie Farah take the Dally M Medal back to Tiger-town?
Nick Says:Tough question, he is certainly playing great football, and he’d be a worth winner of the “prestigious” roll: ) award. But there are a lot of contenders still floating around, you can never count out Johnathan Thurston from the equation, reigning champion Cameron Smith is also right in there with a chance. I think Robbie Farah has a good enough lead to hold them off at the death.

8-Ball Says: Very doubtful… Cameron Smith back to back perhaps!? Robbie will no doubt be sleeping very restlessly on the eve of the big night after reading this prediction!

(Sorry loyal readers, I have to get one in there about the might raiders!)

5. Can the Canberra Raiders shake off an inconsistent season and scrap into the finals?
Nick Says: My heart says yes, my head says no. We have a favourable draw coming in the home straight, a lot of sides we face look to be out of sorts or missing key members, whilst we are getting closer to being full strength each week. Realistically we need to win at least 5 of our final 7 games to make it, and one or two of them by large margins to fix our F/A. You can almost already chalk up a loss against the Storm this week, which means 5 games of our last 6. Big ask for such a young side… Given this might decide the proceedings here; I’m going to have to go with the head. Sadly we will miss out… only just.

The 8-Ball has spontaneously combusted! Echo’s of faint laughter is herd around the hollowed grounds of Bruce stadium… A chilling reality shock is delivered to the hearts of the Raiders faithful. There’s always next year right?!
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Word Count: 736

 

[edabomb]

Eternal Sunshine of the ‘Shockerless’ Mind

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd…
- Alexander Pope (Eloisa to Abelard, 1717)

It is the nightmare of every player to ever lace up a boot. The fear of letting your teammates down. The fear is different for everyone. For those who have had previous incidents the fear can grow, and consume their future form. This brings us to a movie released in 2004. The movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, focused on erasing traumatic events from an individual past. While the movie focused on relationships, what if it were adapted to NRL players. Would players be willing to wipe the slate clean after poor performances?

Perhaps the best example of a player's past haunting them is Steve Mavin. The South Sydney winger had a terrible game back in 1987 against the Canberra Raiders. Mavin was blamed for three tries conceded in that semi-final, while he went on to play a few more seasons following that he never reached any great heights. If he could have had this match erased from his memory could he have gone on to greater heights? In this case it is doubtful, as his name became synonymous with choking. While he had forgotten about the match no one else would have. Sorry Steve, but the solution wasn’t here!

Justin Hodges had one of the most forgettable State of Origin debuts of all time back in Game One of the 2002 series. Hodges twice received the ball in his in goal from kicks, only to throw wild passes and concede tries. Queensland lost that game narrowly and Hodges went through a tough period following it. While he managed to play in the Roosters Grand Final victory that year, he was injured for most of 2003. Then in 2004 he had a personal crisis, being dropped to reserve grade during this time. While he made it back into the Roosters line up he departed at the end of the year to link up with the Broncos. At the Broncos Hodges turned his career around, becoming a certainty for Origin and Test teams. Somewhere in the back of his mind Hodges must still remember that lonely night in 2002, but instead of having it erased from his memory, his outstanding form has erased it from everyone else’s.

The best case that can be heard for erasing NRL player’s memories would have to be Michael Dobson from the Raiders. The problem with Dobson is that these memories come during the match, and a much quicker fix than that illustrated in the movie would be needed. The thing with Dobson is you can pretty much tell how he is going to play off his first three touches. If these touches are poor he will struggle all afternoon in general play and with his goal kicking. However, if they are impressive he will lead the Raiders around the field admirably. So if the procedure were available Dobson would need to be hooked early after a poor start and may be available to return some time after half time for a second shot. This is perhaps the only player that could be recommended for memory wiping in the NRL, the rest are set to learn from their mistakes and triumphs. Dobson will eventually need to learn how to play consistently, but for the time being it’d be much more fun to examine if this procedure worked in the NRL.

While we will likely be waiting for the technology to perform memory erasing for eternity, it is a funny concept to think of how rugby league players could benefit from losing their horror days and nights at the office. Like most things in life the highs and lows are a crucial part of living, and will affect an individual for years to come. Deciding on whom to assign a spotless mind, given the number of players that take positive developments away from their darkest moments, would be a nightmare for any coaching staff. While a player like Dobson, who struggles with in game adjustments could benefit immediately, where would this leave his long-term development? Mistakes are a part of every professional sport; it is the reaction to these, not the prevention, which define a player. However, in the mean time we'll sign up Paul Simpkins for the procedure the minute it becomes available.

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747 words including title

 

[dubby]

Dubby takes a hit up for the Ninja's...

It’s Evolution, Baby.​

​

​

Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, he's my clone
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby

Pearl Jam fans would recognize the above words from the hit single “Do the Evolution”.

Recently I found myself contemplating the changes to the game of Rugby League I have witnessed during my years of involvement within the game. Call it modification, call it change but to me; it’s evolution, baby.

I would like to cast my observation over certain changes we have seen come into the game over the last few generations. Let’s start with the players themselves. It is my opinion that Rugby League these days is not played by too many footballers anymore.

There is a new breed of player, one fitter, stronger, and faster than before. He is called “The athlete”. This player for all his physical presence, fitness and strength lacks an essential ingredient for the game; the ability to play as a footballer. Now, more than ever before we have we a lack of players who seem to lack the abilities of their predecessors in various aspects of the game. Like the ability to pack a scrum. I stand amazed as every week I watch a group of professional players attempting to pack a scrum. To watch these men, who live, train and breathe Rugby League attempting to pack a scrum is nothing short of laughable. We see the likes of Aaron Payne packing in at lock, Scott Minto at halfback, and now it is common to see forwards play the role of the five-eighth. The idea of course is to run a big man at a little man. To work over the likes of Darren Lockyer and make him tired, thus minimizing his influence on the game.

My point is this; there is an increasing focus on strength, power and size in the game today. The mindset of today’s coach to me seems to be that size and strength are more valuable than the skills of the individual.

This leads me to the point; that we are witnessing the loss of the significance of positions. Halfback is one position we have seen change. It began years ago when scrums stopped being a contest, and the hooker was no longer needed. We have seen the likes of Geoff Toovey and Andrew Johns swapping between hooker and half to keep them both in the team. Bye bye hooker, your skill and ability to swing a game with the art of scrummaging is long over.

Now it is the five-eighth who seems to be on the brink of “evolution”. In years gone by we have seen champions like the above mentioned Lyons and Lamb master the position of five-eighth. While both were different styles of 5/8, their impact on the game was significant. Was there ever a more skillful ball player than Cliff Lyons? Look at Laurie Daley, Kevin Walters, and Wally Lewis. They are all men who are legends but would struggle in the game today. Why? Because their skill and influence would be worn out by a never ending flow of athletes running at them all game.

While watching a State of Origin highlights DVD, I marveled at the skills and the ball movement that existed in that era. The backline moves, the ability of the forwards to slip a little ball for a supporting back (John Cartwright was excellent at this) was such a breath of fresh air. The Queensland backline was scintillating to watch; Allan Langer’s grubber kicks, the draw and pass from Peter Jackson, the bumping runs and offloads from Mal Meninga, the speed of Alan Mcindoe down the wing……all of it without the players having bodies like Roman gods. Would Greg Dowling or Martin Bella be a part of the game today?
I must conclude that while changes such as fitness and strength are not detriment to the game, the changing of a coaches priority is alarming. I loved watching Dave Hosking belt the ball up for Manly. I loved the genius and guile of Allan Langer. I was in awe of Ricky Stuart’s skills with the ball. It seemed that no matter what body shape you were, there was a position for you in the game.

Alas, the modern coach has decided that for him to win, he must develop a new breed of super player; the athlete.

Its evolution baby.

748 words including Title

 

[TiTTieS_[CNTDN]]

TiTTieS_[CNTDN] with 747 hitups (below the line) for the Ninjas.... oh my, David Middleton would be impressed.
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A Logical-Mathematical Nightmare

One beautiful morning, Uncle addition rushed into his niece Subtraction’s room and yelled “Get up subtraction, Aunty Multiplication is dividing Square Root’s grid down in the village square!”

“What?” replied Subtraction, wiping the zeroes from her display. “I thought that was supposed to happen tomorrow.”

“Yes, indeed it was, but we simply forgot about the relationship between Leap Year and Day Light Savings” said Uncle Addition rather lazily ……….

The confusion could go on and on, and indeed it so does in the world of the NRL. I’m no longer talking about calculators and the groovy things that they can do for us. No, I have a more important thing to talk about: the 10 metres that referees are supposed to set at the beginning of each tackle.

Quite often, if you are at the ground anyway, you will see that the referee spends most of his time setting a 10 metres which is more like 12 or 13 metres. This is understandable as it would be incredibly difficult for the defence to set a perfect 10 each tackle. I would not mind one little bit of this was where the story ended. There is, however, more than that.


For every game, the referee is helped by two other men: his touch judges as they are usually known. And this is where the problem lies. One of them tends to help police the pass out of dummy half. Fine, great idea. However, it should be both of them policing forward passes. As it is, the other one tends to help out with the 10 metres that the referee is already policing. There would be very little scope for problems if the 10 metres was in fact a 10 metres. As we know, it usually sits at 12-13 metres. The problems, then, start when the touch judge sticks his finger in the pie.

What we are seeing here is simply that there is an inconsistency on top of another inconsistency. Weird as it may sound that I am happy for there to be the original inconsistency as it is at least theoretically being consistently administered, 2 blokes out there inconsistently setting and inconsistency simply doesn’t work. It is not a negative times a negative which always results in a positive – rather it is simply heading further in the wrong direction.

It is not a simple case of Uncle Addition and the extended family being confused in a short story as above, hell, it’s not even a book as thick as one of the later books in the Harry Potter series. It is more like all of the heavy hitters and all their heavy hitting books (and no I am not talking about front row forwards here) all getting together on an NRL field and arguing which bloody genre of book is best.

To top all of this off, there is the usual quota of fans in attendance who think it is their duty to kindly inform the referee that the defence hasn’t retreated the 10 metres. For every 50 or so polite fans in attendance, there seems to be one whose dictionary is missing that page. Pain in the arse enough so for fans who come to watch the game, but more so off-putting for the man in the middle who has his hands full to begin with.

When it all comes down to it, it is a game, yes. However, there is a lot more at stake than is the case for most games. Most games do not have millions of dollars riding on the outcome through people who lay their wagers for the weekend. Most games do not have thousands of dollars invested by people keen to go and enjoy a game of top flight football at the stadium. And, more importantly, most games simply do not have the emotional fortunes of a hundred thousand supporters riding on them.

It is up to the referees to hold up their end of the bargain. Yes, players can and do have off days. Yes, coaches sometimes go in with the wrong game plan or line up. And yes, sometimes the officials will have some off days. However, that is simply no excuse for them to get their methods all wrong. Well planned and thought out methods should be in place to ensure that the appropriate ground work is in place so that the spectacle of the game is not ruined for all to enjoy.

 

[Big Mick]

Panthers team to line up against Ninja's:

1) Azkatro
2) Leaguenut
3) Madunit
4) [Furrycat]
5) Glockers

6) Big Mick
7) Waken

 

[jamesgould]

Farewell Joey

If they say a man is the sum of his memories, then spending your time watching rugby league makes it a pretty important part of your life. Each match can result in delight or heartbreak, each dropped bomb is either cause for celebration, or another week off your life expectancy. When a player retires, it is like parting with an old friend.

This is why it was an emotional time for so many when Andrew Johns was forced to retire earlier this year. Over 13 years of watching Joey display his skills in first grade, he didn’t so much become a welcome face, he became a part of my very existence! Realising that he was not going to play again was akin to a part of me dying.

When Andrew Johns made his run-on debut in 1994, I was 13 years old. In those days sides like the Knights were lucky to get six or seven games on New Zealand television a year. So I knew it was a – ahem – battle royale between Matthew Rodwell and Jason Martin to secure the coveted number seven jersey in 1993, but I knew nothing of a talented up and comer who was delivering the goods in the Knights lower-grades.

As I gradually got used to life at secondary school, Johns learnt the ropes of first grade rugby league. He turned Newcastle into an entertaining side that everyone wanted to watch – and I became more and more enamoured with the 13-man code as a result.

1995 was the big year – probably still my favourite season of rugby league. To others Superleague cast a dark shadow over proceedings, but with Newcastle riding high and Andrew Johns dominating, I lived and breathed the sport. Newcastle eventually fell in a nail-biting grand final qualifier to Manly, but there was no disappointment on my part. The side had become one of the glamour clubs, and proceeded much further than I had expected.

Andrew Johns became a representative player – dominating the 1995 World Cup. Everybody has times they don’t like things about themselves – and any time Joey excelled against New Zealand was one of those times for me.

Injury plagued Johns in 1997, and as the ARL competition kicked into swing, it was a blackout for me - no games televised free-to-air. Through sheer luck I was on holiday for the weekend of the grand final, and saw the Knights play for the only time. Johns came out of his hospital bed to also make an unlikely appearance, and the rest is history.

1998 and 1999 were years of growing up for Johns. Up against the best players in the unified competition, he worked his way to the top. I too was making changes, moving from school to university (not as successfully). 2000 was the year that should have been for the Knights, and 2001 Johns dominated like never before. Despite my academic woes at the time, watching Newcastle play was guaranteed to cheer me up.

Johns couldn’t quite see out 2002, and neither could I – giving up on life in Wellington and vowing to move to Dunedin. Thus, 2003 saw me out on my own for the first time, and without pay television, I saw little of Newcastle playing. The few times I did though, in a checkered season, Joey showed up – taking down Brisbane at the opening of Suncorp Stadium, and dominating State of Origin.

I worked out a way to afford Sky in 2004, but Johns was gone for the season by round three – typical! 2005 was the worst year of my life as I failed my teaching course at the final hurdle, and Newcastle echoed that by finishing last. Andrew Johns had a wonderful finish to the season however, and I can see now why I enjoyed it so much – I hadn’t seen anything like it since 2002!

In the opening games of this year Johns was battered from pillar to post – retiring ignominiously with a neck injury on April 10. Now 26, I got my first fulltime job, and Joey was also moving on – the team around him also completely changing. It would have been nice to see him go out with a premiership, but he squeezed every match out of that competitive body – and looking back I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll miss ya, Andrew – but it’s time for both of us to move on.

749 words, including title.

 

[madunit]

madunit for the Panthers.

100 Years Celebration

For those who didn’t come down in the last shower, which in some areas, was a few years ago, you would know that Rugby League’s premier competition started in Australia in 1908.

And for those who learnt to count using a rock, you wouldn’t realise that the game is now 100 years old. This is cause for a bloody huge celebration.

So lets all get drunk!

Why get drunk? Because the flowing of the amber fluid instigates the flowing of ideas. Some of the best ideas have come from drunk men, such as bigger glasses for putting alcohol into for consumption, tying a bloke to a toilet that he’s passed out on and the splitting of the atom, to name but a few.

Now, it has come time for those great thinkers to come up with a grand idea for Rugby League’s 100th birthday in Australia.

So here to discuss the birthday, we have a panel of four drunk experts. They are Johnno, a drunk man who runs his own plumbing business, Bill, a drunk man who has retired and plays golf every second day, Smithy, a drunk man who works as a welder and Mick, a drunk man who runs his own drinking business.

Drinking starts at 6pm.

Interview starts at 11.47pm.

Mick: I reckon, what we gotta have, is something just like that first day. Every club wearing the same designed jumpers and stuff eh?
Bill: Bloody oath! I reckon they should also have the teams that played each other on that first day, line up against each other again on the centenary.
Smithy: Half those bloody teams aren’t even around anymore you idiot. Shouts to barman MORE BEER!
Bill: Yeah they are, we still got the bunnies and the roosters, who else was there?
Johnno: It says ‘ere that Balmain played Wests…
Smithy: Well that’s stuffed that idea of yours up Bill, they are one team now.
Bill: They’re still kickin in the lower grades, bung em on the telly for a game.
Mick: You can’t be thinking straight. You shouldn’t have gone to the crapper the last time, your IQ dropped another 48 points.
Smithy: I bet he only needed a half flush too

Laughter all around, until Bill throws a wayward right hook at Smithy and falls over, then Johnno picks Bill up and gets him another beer.

Johnno: So Balmain played Wests, Souths played Norths, Easts played Newtown and Glebe played Newcastle, how the bloody hell are you gonna get those mobs up against each other?
Bill: I don’t bloody know! I’m just throwing up an idea. I didn’t hear any of you complaining with my theory on relativity. Eh? EH? Yeah, idiots!
Mick: Yeah alright, we get the point. I say we bring back the 1908 rules.
Johnno: Does that include the original interchange rule as well?
Mick: I guess so, what was it?
Smithy: Did they have substitutes back then?
Bill: Nah, Don’t think so, I thought they only used a reserve if a bloke got injured and couldn’t play.
Mick: We’ll make that the rule then!
Smithy: Are you kidding? Today’s props would keel over and cark it!
Johnno: Hey, that would mean spear tackles and high tackles would also be allowed again.
Bill: Now that’s what the fans wanna see!
Smithy: The fans wanna see players being turned into cripples? You moron Bill, go and give yourself a dozen you idiot.

Bill swears loudly and throws another wayward right hook at Smithy before missing and punching Johnno’s schooner and spilling his beer all over the bar. Bill’s shout again.

Mick: You know what, I like this idea. We’re gonna bring back illegal tackles, the old jumpers, the old teams. It’s just like when we had to figure out a solution for the second world war. If I remember rightly, Johnno suggested an unlimited interchange for that one.
Johnno: Yeah, that’s right, the unlimited interchange. It was brought in far too late, by then Easts had dropped the H bomb on Balmain at Hiroshima and stuffed everything up.
Bill: You blokes are blind.
Smithy: I can still see you’ve got a head like a rotten pumpkin.

Bill swings with a right hook and connects this time, with the barman! He is consequently kicked out and last drinks are called.

Well there we have it, another productive meeting with the NRL decision makers. Looks like we’ll have to wait til happy hour next week for something more productive.

749 words, including title

 

[Azkatro]

Azkatro for the Panthers.

__________________________________________________

Diver is not a dirty word!

There are lots of words you can use to sledge someone in sport. In many cases the words that you can use are totally inappropriate in other situations. But in sport it’s not a problem. In rugby league, I’m sure, there are even more words you can use to get under the skin of an opponent.

Most of it is water off a duck’s back. It comes with the territory. After years of competing, players know what to expect when they take the field.

But despite the vast anthology of dirty, disgusting, insulting and slanderous words that emanate from the mouths of men during the course of a rugby league match, there’s a new word emerging in season 2007 that is sure to be added to the repertoire of most.

I’m going to share with you the word that has been causing so much consternation in the rugby league world recently.

DIVER!

There, I said it. Are you offended? You should be. Paul Gallen was offended, and so was Jarryd Hayne. In fact it seems that these days, calling someone a diver is worse than insulting their mother. However, it hasn’t always been this way.

It comes as no coincidence that the tenth anniversary of the rescue of the only surviving victim of the 1997 Thredbo disaster is just a week from today. Yes, I’m talking about none other than Stuart Diver. Since that memorable occasion he has been widely regarded as a hero. So at the time, the word diver was arguably at its emotional peak in this country. You could strike up a conversation using the word and it would result in warm, compassionate swooning about how incredible it was that Stuart Diver survived the Thredbo tragedy.

Since then ten years have passed, and there’s a new tragedy emerging around the word diver. If you opted to start a conversation using it today, those around you would be left feeling slimy, disgusting - and most of all insulted - that you even dared mention it to them.

The change hasn’t happened all of a sudden, though. For rugby league fans the hatred of so-called “divers” has been building for a couple of years now – but not just in their code of choice. It was a little under two years ago now that many of us witnessed a fateful soccer match between Australia and Uruguay. It introduced a new generation to the concept of diving in sport. As the World Cup the following year drew much of our attention, things culminated in Australia’s controversial exit at the hands of the Italians. The key moment that decided that match was lauded by many who saw it as the act of a diver.

In that time we’ve seen a smattering of so-called “divers” creep into the game of rugby league. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imply that the technique has been influenced by the most popular football code in the world. Soccer has been influencing rugby league since before it was born, as we all know, and even in recent times we saw the phenomenon of players copying David Beckham’s now hopelessly outdated 2002 hair styles.

And because of the way the art of diving in sport affected the Australian soccer team, it’s no surprise that when the technique was brought closer to home for rugby league fans that it cut into our emotions even more deeply.

So should we use the lessons taught by our football “grand daddy” to perhaps anticipate where this phenomenon of diving might take us? With a hundred words of space remaining in this article, I say absolutely. Currently soccer players earn a yellow card for obvious displays of diving, so the most equal punishment available to rugby league is of course the sin bin. Given that the sin bin is already used for both professional fouls and acts of foul play, using it for diving fits right in to the purpose it was established for.

That’s pretty much the only action soccer has taken against divers to date, so that’s all I can suggest for now!

But I won’t leave you on that note. Instead, I will take a positive outlook on the rather ridiculously melodramatic furore over “divers” in the game at the moment.

Perhaps Paul Gallen and Jarryd Hayne don’t have enough outspoken friends, but at least nobody has come out and delivered that awful line “it’s not his go” yet.

__________________________________________________

747 words. Liftoff!

 

[The Piper]

Waken for the Panthers

Funk and Wagnall Penrith Panthers Volume 1 A-M

With the completion of the Penrith Panthers’ 40th Year in Rugby League, I thought I would do something different. So here’s one champion Penrith Panthers player for each letter of the alphabet from A through M.

Greg Alexander – I feel it appropriate that he comes first, as he is one of the main reasons that I follow the Penrith Panthers today. ‘Brandy’ was someone you would go to a game of football just to see play. With a career points total of 1104 points, you can understand why. He was named Dally M Rookie of the Year in 1984, and in his second season he broke the club’s point scoring record and won Dally M Player of the Year.

Greg Barwick – The fullback for the 1990 Panthers squad when the team made their first grand final appearance as well as in 1991 when Penrith won their first premiership. 10 tries in the two years, he became a strong number one after following Phil Gould from Canterbury to the Panthers.

John Cartwright – A Penrith captain as well as State and Country representative, Cartwright was part of the second row for eleven years. His father, Merv, was responsible for Penrith fielding a team in rugby league at its highest level. John debuts in 2007 as a head coach for the Titans.

Paul Dunn – Maybe known more so as a Parramatta Eel, but Dunn spent two years at Penrith, 91 and 92, which included the year the panthers won the trophy. Dunn was disallowed a try in the grand final. He also played for NSW and Australia in his long career.

Morvin Edwards – A fullback coming from Balmain, joined the Panthers in 1995 for four seasons. Only scoring ten tries in his whole career, he was still good enough to tour Great Britain and France for New Zealand in the Trans Tasman series.

Brad Fittler – Arguably one of the best players to play the game, not just play for the Panthers. His impressive debut in 1989 had fans talking about his unique sidestep and skill that would only develop through time. Throughout Freddy’s career he played centre, lock and five-eight and captained NSW and Australia, as well as winning two Grand Finals, one in 91 for Penrith.

Ryan Girdler – Coming from the Steelers, ‘Girds’ became a Penrith icon with his ability to kick goals from anywhere and great skill to score intercept tries. Girdler played for the Blues and the Kangaroos in his career, which was plagued by injurious but filled with record breaking moments, such as most points in a state of origin series and at one staged equaled the most tries ever for the Panthers.

Des Hasler – Before becoming a great for the Manly side, Hasler started his rugby league career in Penrith, playing for two years from 1982. Making his name later on at other clubs, the Penrith junior was a competent halfback who considered retirement after not getting much opportunity later on in his Penrith career.

Brad Izzard – You can tell that Izzard’s career at the top was outstanding for its entire length by the fact that he played his first State of Origin match in 1982 and his last in 1991. He scored a four pointer in the 1991 Grand Final win over the Raiders.

Peter Jorgensen – Coming from Easts, Jorgensen cemented his spot as the first grade fullback in 1998, the year of the Super League. Not the greatest in defense, but a try scoring machine with his trademark post try celebration. In 2001, he was kept out of the top grade by Rhys Wesser and moved back to Union where he began his sporting career.

Bob Landers – Landers was a foundation member of the first Penrith Panthers rugby league side in 1967. Landers had the club record for the most points scored in a year; 158 points scored in 1969, which lasted until 1985. He played for his state and was named last season in the Panthers Team of Legends.

Graham Mackay – A big built winger who came to Penrith from Wests during the short lived draft system. He represented NSW and was man of the match in his one off Australian test in his career which spread over six Aussie clubs and one English clubs. Mackay played the majority of his footy for the Panthers with 82 matches.

Volume 2 N to Z coming soon…


750 words including title
Bib. The Penrith Panthers Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players

 

[Willow]

 

[gorilla]

CNTDN

Raider_69
Nice concept and cheerily expanded – almost a dozen editing errors sideswiped the final score.
78

Edabomb
Sound post, well written and fluid.
83

Dubby
A well-worn path but smoothly written with some insightful past recollections. Couple of edit errors without impact.
82

TiTTieS
Had the chance to really go somewhere but spluttered along without final clarity or real impact. Couple of edit errors without impact.
80

Jamesgould
Well-written personal story of growth, external and internal.
85

PANTHERS

madunit
Cute look at the ‘shakers’ of rugby league – I can’tr imagine any real NRL decisions being made over a boozy lunch …
85

Azkatro
Friendly look at a contentious issue without blame or bias.
84

Waken
Interesting and wide-ranging compilation of Chocolate Soldiers, Licorice Allsorts and Pennies.
82



RESULT
Ninjas (408) def Panthers (251)


PoM
madunit (85) and Jamesgould (85)

 

[edabomb]

Bad luck Panthers, you would of really pushed us with five in.

Great win here Ninjas, puts our season back on track!

Cheers for the swift marking gorilla.

 

[Raider_69]

*gulp*

editing error... eww nasty! :lol:
glad to get a reminder about that in a game that was nicely in the bag lol

unlucky panthers, good win Ninjas

 

[The Piper]

Well done Ninjas
Unfortunate Penrith, but can't be helped again
Just realised I forgot K

 

[madunit]

two 80 point articles woulda got us home

c'mon penny, we gotta get this bus back on the road!