Will Kikau take a hit up in his own half? And other grand final questions..

[Perth Red]

Feel for him, great young talent bit he had a shocker! Hope it doesn’t ruin his career. What it showed was panthers lacked mature leaders who could calm him down and focus him.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

You could put a tow bar on your Rolls Royce SUV and just use it to lug shit around the property on weekends but it'd be a bit of a waste.

You could have put a towbar on Kikau tonight but he wouldn’t have pulled the skin off a rice pudding.

He’s much better than tonight though, his team mates didn’t do the heavy lifting he needs to be devastating as he can be. Apart from Yeo perhaps, who was easily the standout panther forward for mine.

 

[Marshall_magic]

The Mole gave him a 7/10 in his player reviews.

I believe the mole is saying he dropped the ball 7/10 times he touched it.

 

[typicalfan]

You could have put a towbar on Kikau tonight but he wouldn’t have pulled the skin off a rice pudding.

He’s much better than tonight though, his team mates didn’t do the heavy lifting he needs to be devastating as he can be. Apart from Yeo perhaps, who was easily the standout panther forward for mine.

He is better if guys like JFH and etc lay a platform for him yes but then that shows Kikau does need others to do the hard work which the thread itself alludes to. Compare him to his opposite Kaufusi who runs great attacking lines but will also do the ugly work.

 

[jargan83]

Question probably should have been will Kikau hold on to the ball in his own half.

Had an absolute mare tonight but he'll be back.

 

[AJB1102]

You could have put a towbar on Kikau tonight but he wouldn’t have pulled the skin off a rice pudding.

He’s much better than tonight though, his team mates didn’t do the heavy lifting he needs to be devastating as he can be. Apart from Yeo perhaps, who was easily the standout panther forward for mine.

Penrith shit the gear and forgot all the good habits that'd won them the last 18 straight. Like they tried to take off in top gear maybe spurred up from the early win at KO. Forgot all about getting repeat sets and building pressure. Api and Cleary choked.

 

[Chimp]

Didn’t help that Penriths entire game plan seemed to be take a tackle, pass it to Kikau, take another tackle, pass it to Kikau, take another tackle, kick it to Kikau.... The Panthers do have so many other threats, but they largely neglected them throughout most of the game.

 

[nick87]

One of the worst performances I’ve ever seen by a superstar in a GF
He was just miserable... tried hard all night but just couldn’t do anything right
You feel for the big guy

 

[Captain Apollo]

.....
how many times will Rabs plug the voice

Zero times. It is moving to Channel 7.

 

[soc123_au]

I've got nfi what game The Mole was watching to score him a 7. Unless he was rating the big fella out of 100. he wasn't alone in shitting the bed, just his turd was much larger and more spectacular than the rest. At least he kept on having a crack, that shows he has some character.
The biggest turd though belongs to Ivan. Going away from worked all f**king year in the finals will go down as one of the great head scratchers of our time. Hopefully he gets another shot at it next year to right to wrongs.

 

[Chimp]

I've got nfi what game The Mole was watching to score him a 7. Unless he was rating the big fella out of 100. he wasn't alone in shitting the bed, just his turd was much larger and more spectacular than the rest. At least he kept on having a crack, that shows he has some character.
The biggest turd though belongs to Ivan. Going away from worked all f**king year in the finals will go down as one of the great head scratchers of our time. Hopefully he gets another shot at it next year to right to wrongs.

The whole Naden/May thing is strange - yeah Naden has a few defensive issues, but I hardly had May down as some defensive guru to come in.
What Naden does offer is buckets of energy, enthusiasm and a bit of aggro - I think they missed having him out there from the start.
On the face of it, it looks like Ivan has looked after his lads best mate, rather than what was best for the team. I’m sure that isn’t really the reason, but from an outsiders perspective, and ignoring the Fox narrative that it’s all about defence (given May isn’t a centre or a noted defender) it’s a head scratcher.

 

[soc123_au]

The whole Naden/May thing is strange - yeah Naden has a few defensive issues, but I hardly had May down as some defensive guru to come in.
What Naden does offer is buckets of energy, enthusiasm and a bit of aggro - I think they missed having him out there from the start.
On the face of it, it looks like Ivan has looked after his lads best mate, rather than what was best for the team. I’m sure that isn’t really the reason, but from an outsiders perspective, and ignoring the Fox narrative that it’s all about defence (given May isn’t a centre or a noted defender) it’s a head scratcher.

It does reek of nepotism, but I don't believe that is really the case either. I think Ivan just outsmarted himself. May is usually more solid defensively than Naden & offers a bit more ball play, but you don't change a winning formula unless you have to. Naden brings plenty that may doesn't, especially when May's best position is 14.

 

[Marshall_magic]

I've got nfi what game The Mole was watching to score him a 7. Unless he was rating the big fella out of 100. he wasn't alone in shitting the bed, just his turd was much larger and more spectacular than the rest. At least he kept on having a crack, that shows he has some character.
The biggest turd though belongs to Ivan. Going away from worked all f**king year in the finals will go down as one of the great head scratchers of our time. Hopefully he gets another shot at it next year to right to wrongs.

I think Kikau knew he was having a mare and was trying to atone for his errors with a huge play, and in doing so kept making more errors. Needed someone to calm him down, so he could refocus.

The May/Naden thing is a strange one. Usually a move like that is from a struggling coach to show he’s still thinking when he’s out of ideas, not a coach who has 17 on the bounce heading to the big dance.

 

[soc123_au]

I think Kikau knew he was having a mare and was trying to atone for his errors with a huge play, and in doing so kept making more errors. Needed someone to calm him down, so he could refocus.

The May/Naden thing is a strange one. Usually a move like that is from a struggling coach to show he’s still thinking when he’s out of ideas, not a coach who has 17 on the bounce heading to the big dance.

It's a shame the pass that was incorrectly called against where he put Crighton away was pulled back. That could have restored his confidence & settled him down.

 

[Frailty]

It's a shame the pass that was incorrectly called against where he put Crighton away was pulled back. That could have restored his confidence & settled him down.

It was a knock on. Kafusi hit Kikau's hand, and ball travelled forward.

 

[AJB1102]

I think Kikau knew he was having a mare and was trying to atone for his errors with a huge play, and in doing so kept making more errors. Needed someone to calm him down, so he could refocus.

I think the whole side felt pressure and tried to atone for the last clunky run/play with another one. What happened to getting a repeat set or 2 instead of the hail mary crap?

Api and Cleary lost control of it where it mattered. Not much Kiks could do.

 

[soc123_au]

It was a knock on. Kafusi hit Kikau's hand, and ball travelled forward.

The ball went backwards into Kafusi & then went forward. It was play on. they should have let it play out as Critta would have scored & sent it upstairs. Although who knows how the bunker would have ruled. I reckon that play was the reason they allowed the To'o try, as a stupid square up to right a wrong call.

 

[Fufu Andronez]

The ball went backwards into Kafusi & then went forward. It was play on. they should have let it play out as Critta would have scored & sent it upstairs. Although who knows how the bunker would have ruled. I reckon that play was the reason they allowed the To'o try, as a stupid square up to right a wrong call.

no way in the world was Crichton going to out pace Papenhuyzen.

Captains challenge?

 

[soc123_au]

no way in the world was Crichton going to out pace Papenhuyzen.

Captains call?

He had support. Very good chance of it being a try. Sadly because the ref's f**ked it up we will never know for sure.

 

[Bring back John Fifita]

It's a shame the pass that was incorrectly called against where he put Crighton away was pulled back. That could have restored his confidence & settled him down.

True. Didn’t they still have a challenge up their sleeve at that stage?

He was like a raging hot Melbourne cup favourite who got spooked at the barriers and never got into the race. Wasnt fun to watch at all, especially his reactions after the siren.

From a dragons fan to panthers fans - while it doesn’t make it any better i know the feeling of a GF loss hangover... chin up carry on.