LU Panthers Forum Player of the Year 2020

[Kilkenny]

Laurie 7.
Mansour 7.
Naden 7.
May 7.
To’o 7.
Laui 8.5.
Cleary 7.
Tamou 7
Api 7.
JFH. 6.5.
Capewell 7.5.
Martin 7.
Yeo 7.5.

Tetevano 7.5
Lenui 6.5
Leota. 7.
Burton 6.5

 

[Pomoz]

Laurie 7
Mansour 7
May 7
Naden 7
To'o 7
Luai 10
Cleary 7
Tamou 8
Koroisau 7
Fisher-Harris 7
Martin 7
Capewell 8
Yeo 8

Burton 7
Leniu 7
Leota 7
Tetevano 8

What a difference a year makes. This team beat us last year and our attack was so poor we wouldn't have scored even if the ref sent off the entire Dogs team. This year we saw flashes of that for the first 20 minutes, when the team, as described by Captain James Tamou, played "hot potato" football. The team started off thinking they were the Roosters and played sideways, crabbing across the field, offloading and starting backline moves in the first two tackles. A message obviously got out to "get back to the game plan" and the power game that has served us so well in 2020, reappeared. From then on, game over. A couple of points:

• If there was any doubt as to why we are minor premiers, you only had to watch what happened in this game once we started using our forwards through the. middle. The Dogs just could not stop the relentless roll forward from the Panthers Panzers. The Panthers make more metres per game than any other team in the NRL. More tackle breaks, the fewest metres conceded. A machine;

• In my view, this forward pack is the best the Panther's have ever had. The depth is incredible. The starting props go off and any combination of Leota, Tetavano and Leniu come on and continue to blitz the opposition. Our back rowers both break the line and score tries. Our lock has the best tackle percentage amongst NRL forwards (he missed a tackle once. Allegedly). We can now add Capewell to the bench depth. Just incredible. I have watched every game our Premiership teams played during their winning years, many of them live and in my view this forward pack is better;

• In 2003 the Panther's fans used to hold up a banner saying "The Black Attack", in celebration of the exhilarating attack we had. With this team the banner should say "the Black Wall - Thou shall not pass". The defence has been brilliant this year and has got better as the season has gone on. The fewest metres conceded, the fewest missed tackles, the fewest line breaks conceded. Against the Dogs they just suffocated them and gained metres with their defence as they drove them backwards, inspiring stuff;

• It gave me no pleasure to see DWZ being driven back in tackles, looking like a poor imitation of the player he was at the Panther's. He looked weak, lacking confidence and unhappy. I just hope Burton and Staines look at him and think about their next career move very carefully;

• When you run for 215 metres make 100% of 13 tackles, have a line break assist and a try assist in your first game at fullback, you are entitled to give yourself a pat on the back. I just want to praise Daine Laurie for his effort and the club's training staff for getting yet another junior ready for first grade. The development club indeed;

• May made 33 tackles and slotted in at hooker after starting at centre. He never complains about being moved and just gets on with it. He has become a great insurance policy for the team and will be invaluable in the finals.

Watching Jerome Luai in this game reminded me of watching my nephew playing for St Mary's u9's at the Kingsway. He was flattened by a kid who was about a foot taller than the other kids. He was so good, he was unstoppable and the opposition team had one plan, give it to the big kid. In a show of sportsmanship the opposition coach took the big kid off in the second half to give St Mary's a chance.

In this game, Luai was that big kid. Unstoppable, fizzing across the ground like Van der Graaff sparks, spinning, stepping, slicing through the line like Zorro's rapier. At one point he stepped, stopped, stepped and twirled so quickly, I thought the Dogs defender would drop to the ground and throw up from motion sickness. Just brilliant. If Cleary was as sporting as the coach of the big kid, he would have taken Luai off to give the Dogs some respite.

170m, 4 try assists, 2 line break assists and all done with that cheeky smile on his face. You expect him to score, jump up, show the opposition a top hat, say "nothing up my sleeves" and then pull a rabbit out, hand it over and run off laughing. This kid is magic and across the country, kids will be out in the back yard with a Steeden copying his moves. He makes you want to play the game because it looks so much fun the way he does it. Awesome performance.

 

[soc123_au]

Laurie 7
Mansour 7
May 7
Naden 7
To'o 7
Luai 10
Cleary 7
Tamou 8
Koroisau 7
Fisher-Harris 7
Martin 7
Capewell 8
Yeo 8

Burton 7
Leniu 7
Leota 7
Tetevano 8

What a difference a year makes. This team beat us last year and our attack was so poor we wouldn't have scored even if the ref sent off the entire Dogs team. This year we saw flashes of that for the first 20 minutes, when the team, as described by Captain James Tamou, played "hot potato" football. The team started off thinking they were the Roosters and played sideways, crabbing across the field, offloading and starting backline moves in the first two tackles. A message obviously got out to "get back to the game plan" and the power game that has served us so well in 2020, reappeared. From then on, game over. A couple of points:

• If there was any doubt as to why we are minor premiers, you only had to watch what happened in this game once we started using our forwards through the. middle. The Dogs just could not stop the relentless roll forward from the Panthers Panzers. The Panthers make more metres per game than any other team in the NRL. More tackle breaks, the fewest metres conceded. A machine;

• In my view, this forward pack is the best the Panther's have ever had. The depth is incredible. The starting props go off and any combination of Leota, Tetavano and Leniu come on and continue to blitz the opposition. Our back rowers both break the line and score tries. Our lock has the best tackle percentage amongst NRL forwards (he missed a tackle once. Allegedly). We can now add Capewell to the bench depth. Just incredible. I have watched every game our Premiership teams played during their winning years, many of them live and in my view this forward pack is better;

• In 2003 the Panther's fans used to hold up a banner saying "The Black Attack", in celebration of the exhilarating attack we had. With this team the banner should say "the Black Wall - Thou shall not pass". The defence has been brilliant this year and has got better as the season has gone on. The fewest metres conceded, the fewest missed tackles, the fewest line breaks conceded. Against the Dogs they just suffocated them and gained metres with their defence as they drove them backwards, inspiring stuff;

• It gave me no pleasure to see DWZ being driven back in tackles, looking like a poor imitation of the player he was at the Panther's. He looked weak, lacking confidence and unhappy. I just hope Burton and Staines look at him and think about their next career move very carefully;

• When you run for 215 metres make 100% of 13 tackles, have a line break assist and a try assist in your first game at fullback, you are entitled to give yourself a pat on the back. I just want to praise Daine Laurie for his effort and the club's training staff for getting yet another junior ready for first grade. The development club indeed;

• May made 33 tackles and slotted in at hooker after starting at centre. He never complains about being moved and just gets on with it. He has become a great insurance policy for the team and will be invaluable in the finals.

Watching Jerome Luai in this game reminded me of watching my nephew playing for St Mary's u9's at the Kingsway. He was flattened by a kid who was about a foot taller than the other kids. He was so good, he was unstoppable and the opposition team had one plan, give it to the big kid. In a show of sportsmanship the opposition coach took the big kid off in the second half to give St Mary's a chance.

In this game, Luai was that big kid. Unstoppable, fizzing across the ground like Van der Graaff sparks, spinning, stepping, slicing through the line like Zorro's rapier. At one point he stepped, stopped, stepped and twirled so quickly, I thought the Dogs defender would drop to the ground and throw up from motion sickness. Just brilliant. If Cleary was as sporting as the coach of the big kid, he would have taken Luai off to give the Dogs some respite.

170m, 4 try assists, 2 line break assists and all done with that cheeky smile on his face. You expect him to score, jump up, show the opposition a top hat, say "nothing up my sleeves" and then pull a rabbit out, hand it over and run off laughing. This kid is magic and across the country, kids will be out in the back yard with a Steeden copying his moves. He makes you want to play the game because it looks so much fun the way he does it. Awesome performance.

One of your best. Love it.

 

[Crashtest]

Laurie 7
Mansour 7
May 7
Naden 7
To'o 7
Luai 10
Cleary 7
Tamou 8
Koroisau 7
Fisher-Harris 7
Martin 7
Capewell 8
Yeo 8

Burton 7
Leniu 7
Leota 7
Tetevano 8

What a difference a year makes. This team beat us last year and our attack was so poor we wouldn't have scored even if the ref sent off the entire Dogs team. This year we saw flashes of that for the first 20 minutes, when the team, as described by Captain James Tamou, played "hot potato" football. The team started off thinking they were the Roosters and played sideways, crabbing across the field, offloading and starting backline moves in the first two tackles. A message obviously got out to "get back to the game plan" and the power game that has served us so well in 2020, reappeared. From then on, game over. A couple of points:

• If there was any doubt as to why we are minor premiers, you only had to watch what happened in this game once we started using our forwards through the. middle. The Dogs just could not stop the relentless roll forward from the Panthers Panzers. The Panthers make more metres per game than any other team in the NRL. More tackle breaks, the fewest metres conceded. A machine;

• In my view, this forward pack is the best the Panther's have ever had. The depth is incredible. The starting props go off and any combination of Leota, Tetavano and Leniu come on and continue to blitz the opposition. Our back rowers both break the line and score tries. Our lock has the best tackle percentage amongst NRL forwards (he missed a tackle once. Allegedly). We can now add Capewell to the bench depth. Just incredible. I have watched every game our Premiership teams played during their winning years, many of them live and in my view this forward pack is better;

• In 2003 the Panther's fans used to hold up a banner saying "The Black Attack", in celebration of the exhilarating attack we had. With this team the banner should say "the Black Wall - Thou shall not pass". The defence has been brilliant this year and has got better as the season has gone on. The fewest metres conceded, the fewest missed tackles, the fewest line breaks conceded. Against the Dogs they just suffocated them and gained metres with their defence as they drove them backwards, inspiring stuff;

• It gave me no pleasure to see DWZ being driven back in tackles, looking like a poor imitation of the player he was at the Panther's. He looked weak, lacking confidence and unhappy. I just hope Burton and Staines look at him and think about their next career move very carefully;

• When you run for 215 metres make 100% of 13 tackles, have a line break assist and a try assist in your first game at fullback, you are entitled to give yourself a pat on the back. I just want to praise Daine Laurie for his effort and the club's training staff for getting yet another junior ready for first grade. The development club indeed;

• May made 33 tackles and slotted in at hooker after starting at centre. He never complains about being moved and just gets on with it. He has become a great insurance policy for the team and will be invaluable in the finals.

Watching Jerome Luai in this game reminded me of watching my nephew playing for St Mary's u9's at the Kingsway. He was flattened by a kid who was about a foot taller than the other kids. He was so good, he was unstoppable and the opposition team had one plan, give it to the big kid. In a show of sportsmanship the opposition coach took the big kid off in the second half to give St Mary's a chance.

In this game, Luai was that big kid. Unstoppable, fizzing across the ground like Van der Graaff sparks, spinning, stepping, slicing through the line like Zorro's rapier. At one point he stepped, stopped, stepped and twirled so quickly, I thought the Dogs defender would drop to the ground and throw up from motion sickness. Just brilliant. If Cleary was as sporting as the coach of the big kid, he would have taken Luai off to give the Dogs some respite.

170m, 4 try assists, 2 line break assists and all done with that cheeky smile on his face. You expect him to score, jump up, show the opposition a top hat, say "nothing up my sleeves" and then pull a rabbit out, hand it over and run off laughing. This kid is magic and across the country, kids will be out in the back yard with a Steeden copying his moves. He makes you want to play the game because it looks so much fun the way he does it. Awesome performance.

If I could of liked this post 10 times, I would of done so. But FFF do doesn’t allow this, so consider it liked that many times anyway.

 

[WestyLife]

Laurie 7
Mansour 7
May 7
Naden 7
To'o 7
Luai 10
Cleary 7
Tamou 8
Koroisau 7
Fisher-Harris 7
Martin 7
Capewell 8
Yeo 8

Burton 7
Leniu 7
Leota 7
Tetevano 8

What a difference a year makes. This team beat us last year and our attack was so poor we wouldn't have scored even if the ref sent off the entire Dogs team. This year we saw flashes of that for the first 20 minutes, when the team, as described by Captain James Tamou, played "hot potato" football. The team started off thinking they were the Roosters and played sideways, crabbing across the field, offloading and starting backline moves in the first two tackles. A message obviously got out to "get back to the game plan" and the power game that has served us so well in 2020, reappeared. From then on, game over. A couple of points:

• If there was any doubt as to why we are minor premiers, you only had to watch what happened in this game once we started using our forwards through the. middle. The Dogs just could not stop the relentless roll forward from the Panthers Panzers. The Panthers make more metres per game than any other team in the NRL. More tackle breaks, the fewest metres conceded. A machine;

• In my view, this forward pack is the best the Panther's have ever had. The depth is incredible. The starting props go off and any combination of Leota, Tetavano and Leniu come on and continue to blitz the opposition. Our back rowers both break the line and score tries. Our lock has the best tackle percentage amongst NRL forwards (he missed a tackle once. Allegedly). We can now add Capewell to the bench depth. Just incredible. I have watched every game our Premiership teams played during their winning years, many of them live and in my view this forward pack is better;

• In 2003 the Panther's fans used to hold up a banner saying "The Black Attack", in celebration of the exhilarating attack we had. With this team the banner should say "the Black Wall - Thou shall not pass". The defence has been brilliant this year and has got better as the season has gone on. The fewest metres conceded, the fewest missed tackles, the fewest line breaks conceded. Against the Dogs they just suffocated them and gained metres with their defence as they drove them backwards, inspiring stuff;

• It gave me no pleasure to see DWZ being driven back in tackles, looking like a poor imitation of the player he was at the Panther's. He looked weak, lacking confidence and unhappy. I just hope Burton and Staines look at him and think about their next career move very carefully;

• When you run for 215 metres make 100% of 13 tackles, have a line break assist and a try assist in your first game at fullback, you are entitled to give yourself a pat on the back. I just want to praise Daine Laurie for his effort and the club's training staff for getting yet another junior ready for first grade. The development club indeed;

• May made 33 tackles and slotted in at hooker after starting at centre. He never complains about being moved and just gets on with it. He has become a great insurance policy for the team and will be invaluable in the finals.

Watching Jerome Luai in this game reminded me of watching my nephew playing for St Mary's u9's at the Kingsway. He was flattened by a kid who was about a foot taller than the other kids. He was so good, he was unstoppable and the opposition team had one plan, give it to the big kid. In a show of sportsmanship the opposition coach took the big kid off in the second half to give St Mary's a chance.

In this game, Luai was that big kid. Unstoppable, fizzing across the ground like Van der Graaff sparks, spinning, stepping, slicing through the line like Zorro's rapier. At one point he stepped, stopped, stepped and twirled so quickly, I thought the Dogs defender would drop to the ground and throw up from motion sickness. Just brilliant. If Cleary was as sporting as the coach of the big kid, he would have taken Luai off to give the Dogs some respite.

170m, 4 try assists, 2 line break assists and all done with that cheeky smile on his face. You expect him to score, jump up, show the opposition a top hat, say "nothing up my sleeves" and then pull a rabbit out, hand it over and run off laughing. This kid is magic and across the country, kids will be out in the back yard with a Steeden copying his moves. He makes you want to play the game because it looks so much fun the way he does it. Awesome performance.

Very nice. To your point about how they composed themselves did anyone notice Api gave them a stern talking to after the second try which is right before the change in play style. I'd say anyone concerned about our experience and leadership just need to look at that moment.

 

[The_Frog]

Very nice. To your point about how they composed themselves did anyone notice Api gave them a stern talking to after the second try which is right before the change in play style. I'd say anyone concerned about our experience and leadership just need to look at that moment.

I didn't notice but it was mentioned in the call.

 

[WestyLife]

I didn't notice but it was mentioned in the call.

Same I noticed it on the second viewing since I was looking for it.

 

[The_Frog]

Week 1 Finals vs Roosters

Edwards 7.5
Mansour 8
Naden 6.5
Crichton 8
To'o 6.5
Luai 7.5
Cleary 9
Tamou 6
Koroisau 8
Fisher-Harris 7
Kikau 7.5
Martin 7
Yeo 8

May 6.5
Capewell 6
Leota 6.5
Tetevano 6.5

 

[Thirsty Panther]

Week 1 Finals vs Roosters

Edwards 7
Mansour 8
Naden 6
Crichton 8
To'o 7
Luai 9
Cleary 10
Tamou 7
Koroisau 9
Fisher-Harris 8
Kikau 7
Martin 8
Yeo 9

May 6
Capewell 6
Leota 8
Tetevano 7

 

[WestyLife]

Week 1 Finals vs Roosters

Edwards 7
Mansour 8
Naden 5
Crichton 8
To'o 5
Luai 8
Cleary 10
Tamou 6
Koroisau 6
Fisher-Harris 8
Kikau 7
Martin 7
Yeo 10

May 5
Capewell 5
Leota 7
Tetevano 8

 

[age.s]

Edwards 7 - Good game. Great bit of awareness for Clearys first and good energy throughout. Docked a point for not cleaning up Morris' try.
Mansour 8 - Some massive runs out of our end and a nice finish for his try. Remember his try scoring drought? Me neither.
Naden 6 - Some sloppy defensive efforts alongside some good runs. Can't be too hard on him for his brain fade. Looked worse than it was imo.
Crichton 8 - Monster of a game. Pace and strength throughout and an excellent finish for his try. Missed Manu badly a few times though.
To'o 7 - Some good runs but looked weak in the air, albeit against one of the leagues best.
Luai 9 - Just incredible again. Getting better and better with remarkable consistency. Fast becoming my favourite player and almost certainly one of our most valuable this year. Will go down in pantheon with Panther greats if we finish this off.
Cleary 9 - Remember when the consensus was that this guy was overrated? Me neither. Sublime performance from a complete halfback.
Tamou 7 - Decent shift in the toughest periods of the game.
Koroisau 7 - Not a dominant performance but solid. All our little guys have such great attitudes to defence.
Fisher-Harris 8 - Absorbed a ton of heat in the toughest period of the game. A couple of huge runs really fired us up in our toughest moments.
Kikau 7 - Got some space and looked very good with it. A few bad misses defensively though and the tackle that's likely going to see him suspended was a very silly bit of work.
Martin 9 - Great game. The tackle on Morris in that final set was an incredible bit of desperation. Those kinds of plays are what win premierships.
Yeo 8 - Another dynamic performance with rock solid defence as gravy.

May 6 - Didnt get too involved. Still showed a bit of sublime skill for Crichtons try.
Capewell 6 - Solid without getting much time.
Leota 8 - Remember when this big lug was enthusiastic but sloppy and error prone? Me neither. A huge part of our consistency across 80 this year.
Tetevano 7 - Fired up against his old club. With Leota, stemmed the bleeding in a first half that was getting away from us.

 

[Tronald Crump]

Edwards 7.5
Mansour 8
Naden 6
Crichton 8
To'o 7
Luai 8
Cleary 9
Tamou 6
Koroisau 7.5
Fisher-Harris 7
Kikau 7.5
Martin 7
Yeo 8

May 6.5
Capewell 6
Leota 7.5
Tetevano 7

 

[The_Frog]

Round 20 vs Bulldogs Average Ratings

Laurie 7.0
Mansour 6.8
May 6.2
Naden 7.0
To'o 7.0
Luai 9.0
Cleary 6.9
Tamou 7.3
Koroisau 7.1
Fisher-Harris 6.2
Martin 6.9
Capewell 7.8
Yeo 8.1

Burton 6.3
Leniu 6.2
Leota 5.9
Tetevano 6.8

Standings (games)

1. Fisher-Harris 1368* (20)
2. Cleary 1327* (18)
3. Yeo 1312* (19)
4. Luai 1311* (20)
5. Koroisau 1272 (17)
6. Tamou 1211* (19)
7. Crichton 1196* (19)
8. Martin 1174* (18)
9. Kikau 1165 (17)
10. Mansour 1161* (19)
11. Leota 1127* (20)
12. Naden 1105 (16)
13. Tetevano 1023 (16)
14. To'o 897 (14)
15. Edwards 856 (11)
16. May 813 (13)
17. Leniu 724 (11)
18. Burns 487 (10)
19. Aekins 460 (8)
20. Capewell 350 (6)
21. Whare 329 (7)
22. Kenny 284 (5)
23. Burton 243 (4)
24. Laurie 174 (3)
25. Staines 169 (2)
26. Hetherington 105 (2)
27. MWZ 61 (1)

For the purposes of the Merv Cartwright medal, our voting predicts James Fisher-Harris will win it for the second year running. Crichton for rookie of the year, so long as 4 games last year aren't too many.

* Best 17 ratings only counted in the preliminary rounds. Any player who played 18 games or more and misses a finals game due to injury (not suspension or being dropped) will receive one discarded rating back per game (it's only fair)

Also the Week 1 final is worth 125%, the prelim 150% and the GF 200%.

Closing off Roosters game at kick off THIS Saturday night (ie the Eels-Rabbitohs game)

 

[Pomoz]

Week 1 Finals vs Roosters

Edwards 6
Mansour 8
Naden 6
Crichton 7
To'o 7
Luai 10
Cleary 10
Tamou 6
Koroisau 6
Fisher-Harris 7
Kikau 5
Martin 6
Yeo 10

May 6
Capewell 6
Leota 7
Tetevano 7

Tempered: (Verb) the process in metallurgy to improve the hardness of steel by applying heat to it and then cooling it.

When this game started, like a village blacksmith with giant tongs and a blazing furnace, the Roosters grabbed the Panthers by the throat and held them to the flame for the first ten minutes, slowing turning them with the tongs and waiting for them to melt like snow in spring. The Panther's looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming Roosters car (no doubt a sponsored Ford), seemingly unable to avoid the two tries that followed and frozen to the spot.

By the time the Roosters came calling again, looking for their third try down the Panther's left wing, the crowd held its breath, expecting the worst. But to get tougher, you first have to feel heat and Josh Mansour and Luai were plenty hot enough already. Luai slowed Morris down and Mansour held him up and started dragging him like a sack of coal towards the stands. More players joined the maul and as they crossed the sideline, there was that sizzling sound you get when red hot steel is plunged into water to finish the tempering process. The Panther's were now officially tempered. Thank you Roosters for applying the heat to help us take the next step in our evolution.

A couple of points:

• This is the first game in a long time the Panther's forwards weren't dominant. Yeo was excellent topping the meters for forwards on both teams and Leota, Tetavano and Kikau delivered their normal metres. As a pack,they just about held their own, but they never really got on top and at times were hanging on. The question is why?;

• For a start, let's acknowledge that the Roosters have a quality forward pack and don't take a backward step. But the use of the bench was mystifying. Tamou only got 26 minutes and Capewell 19 minutes;

• It might explain why Kikau was awful in defence. He let Tedesco (the "Beast" from the East, the man mountain and noted strong man) barrel him over to score and then he waved Crichton by for the Rooster's last try - "It's this way Angus". He get's gassed because he is such a big unit. Surely it makes sense to rotate him much earlier with the bench players? HIs impact will increase if he gets more rest and comes off the bench. Capewell has a good motor and is a more than adequate replacement;

• JFH had a quiet game (still good, but by his standards, quiet) and at 123m made the lowest metres this season (excluding where he only played 18 minutes). He has been down for the last few weeks. Let's hope this break gets him back to his usual self;

• The commentators praised Cordner repeatedly for his efforts and so they should, he was excellent. But Yeo was better in every key metric, in fact better than just about any forward in the entire semi final round. He was simply brilliant. in 69 minutes Yeo did:
  168m with 82m post contact, 45 tackles at 97.8% tackle efficiency and he also made 13 passes and linked the attack on a number of occasions. Cordner wasn't even close and he played the full 80 minutes.

• With the forwards labouring it came down to our two young halves to make the plays to win the match and Luai and Cleary did not disappoint. The genius of Luai mixed in with the grit of Cleary put the Roosters to the sword and help them get another "ahem", "training run" next week. Glad we could help Robbo. Put Cleary and Luai in the Roosters team and they win, simple as that and the highest praise you can give them;

• More metres, more possession, fewer missed tackles and more penalties, more ruck restarts. A try gifted to them that bounced of Cordner's head and a gift set restart after a short kick off, yet the Roosters lost? It speaks volumes about the character of this side that in spite of getting the jitters, making a few howling errors and not being able to bully the Roosters like we have other sides all season, we were still able to win. We will be so much better for this experience. Tempered. Steel.

 

[WestyLife]

Week 1 Finals vs Roosters

Edwards 6
Mansour 8
Naden 6
Crichton 7
To'o 7
Luai 10
Cleary 10
Tamou 6
Koroisau 6
Fisher-Harris 7
Kikau 5
Martin 6
Yeo 10

May 6
Capewell 6
Leota 7
Tetevano 7

Tempered: (Verb) the process in metallurgy to improve the hardness of steel by applying heat to it and then cooling it.

When this game started, like a village blacksmith with giant tongs and a blazing furnace, the Roosters grabbed the Panthers by the throat and held them to the flame for the first ten minutes, slowing turning them with the tongs and waiting for them to melt like snow in spring. The Panther's looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming Roosters car (no doubt a sponsored Ford), seemingly unable to avoid the two tries that followed and frozen to the spot.

By the time the Roosters came calling again, looking for their third try down the Panther's left wing, the crowd held its breath, expecting the worst. But to get tougher, you first have to feel heat and Josh Mansour and Luai were plenty hot enough already. Luai slowed Morris down and Mansour held him up and started dragging him like a sack of coal towards the stands. More players joined the maul and as they crossed the sideline, there was that sizzling sound you get when red hot steel is plunged into water to finish the tempering process. The Panther's were now officially tempered. Thank you Roosters for applying the heat to help us take the next step in our evolution.

A couple of points:

• This is the first game in a long time the Panther's forwards weren't dominant. Yeo was excellent topping the meters for forwards on both teams and Leota, Tetavano and Kikau delivered their normal metres. As a pack,they just about held their own, but they never really got on top and at times were hanging on. The question is why?;

• For a start, let's acknowledge that the Roosters have a quality forward pack and don't take a backward step. But the use of the bench was mystifying. Tamou only got 26 minutes and Capewell 19 minutes;

• It might explain why Kikau was awful in defence. He let Tedesco (the "Beast" from the East, the man mountain and noted strong man) barrel him over to score and then he waved Crichton by for the Rooster's last try - "It's this way Angus". He get's gassed because he is such a big unit. Surely it makes sense to rotate him much earlier with the bench players? HIs impact will increase if he gets more rest and comes off the bench. Capewell has a good motor and is a more than adequate replacement;

• JFH had a quiet game (still good, but by his standards, quiet) and at 123m made the lowest metres this season (excluding where he only played 18 minutes). He has been down for the last few weeks. Let's hope this break gets him back to his usual self;

• The commentators praised Cordner repeatedly for his efforts and so they should, he was excellent. But Yeo was better in every key metric, in fact better than just about any forward in the entire semi final round. He was simply brilliant. in 69 minutes Yeo did:
  168m with 82m post contact, 45 tackles at 97.8% tackle efficiency and he also made 13 passes and linked the attack on a number of occasions. Cordner wasn't even close and he played the full 80 minutes.

• With the forwards labouring it came down to our two young halves to make the plays to win the match and Luai and Cleary did not disappoint. The genius of Luai mixed in with the grit of Cleary put the Roosters to the sword and help them get another "ahem", "training run" next week. Glad we could help Robbo. Put Cleary and Luai in the Roosters team and they win, simple as that and the highest praise you can give them;

• More metres, more possession, fewer missed tackles and more penalties, more ruck restarts. A try gifted to them that bounced of Cordner's head and a gift set restart after a short kick off, yet the Roosters lost? It speaks volumes about the character of this side that in spite of getting the jitters, making a few howling errors and not being able to bully the Roosters like we have other sides all season, we were still able to win. We will be so much better for this experience. Tempered. Steel.

That's insane from Yeo. QLD must be sweating bullets waiting for him to be picked for origin.

 

[The_Frog]

That's insane from Yeo. QLD must be sweating bullets waiting for him to be picked for origin.

Still not getting a mention in Origin dispatches. Surely he makes the 27.

 

[WestyLife]

Still not getting a mention in Origin dispatches. Surely he makes the 27.

If he doesn't someone has rocks in their head.

 

[soc123_au]

Edwards 7
Mansour 8
Naden 6
Crichton 8
To'o 7
Luai 9
Cleary 10
Tamou 7
Koroisau 9
Fisher-Harris 8
Kikau 7
Martin 8
Yeo 9

May 6
Capewell 6
Leota 8
Tetevano 8

 

[Pomoz]

Still not getting a mention in Origin dispatches. Surely he makes the 27.

I have never understood rep selection. Certain teams, St George is one of them, always get players picked even when their team is going poorly. We made the 90 and 91 grand final yet hardly got a player in the Australian team. I have no doubt politics play a part. Now that Fittler is involved, I think the Panther's will get a fair shot at NSW selection, Australia not so much.

 

[WestyLife]

I have never understood rep selection. Certain teams, St George is one of them, always get players picked even when their team is going poorly. We made the 90 and 91 grand final yet hardly got a player in the Australian team. I have no doubt politics play a part. Now that Fittler is involved, I think the Panther's will get a fair shot at NSW selection, Australia not so much.

Don't forget Brandy is also on the staff as an adviser to Freddy so two guys with connections to the club.