Finals 2021

[billypilgrimnz]

We will smother them pretty easy imo

We'll see. I think we are going to meet them at some stage in the finals.

 

[Smug Panther]

We'll see. I think we are going to meet them at some stage in the finals.

Really hope so

 

[tripster]

We attack through our mobility, ball skills and stamina to tire out the opposition and exploit win it when fatigue kicks in. The flipside of that is in the the first 20 before fatigue kicks in we can get outmuscled up the middle. Manly are a big pack they have it in them to do that.

Got a Union double header next week too.

Couldn't agree more. The first 20 minutes are where other teams with bigger packs might get on top of us. That is the key part of the game for us to weather. Pretty much exactly what happened in the recent Souths game. We need to do our best to match the opposition in that first 20 mins and not get too far behind. Souths and Manly's defence is weak enough that even if we get behind in that first 20 minutes we can come back. The Storm on the other hand we won't get as many chances.

The big thing for mine with the Storm is whether or not JAC is done for the season. The club hasn't released any information on the severity of his injury (it is a typical Storm thing to not be transparent with injuries to their players). Jennings is also injured. They have two reserve grade wingers, and their edge defence is weak for that reason and open to be exploited.

 

[Panther Pete]

3 games left baby. We are a way better side this year if we can get something going on the right edge

Its great that you are positive and optimistic about us this year but I just can’t see it. If we are to win the comp this year we need to beat the Bunnies and I am guessing Manly and Storm. From what I have seen of us post-origin I just cant see that happening unless we flick a light switch and start playing like we did against the Bunnies in round 1 which is as good as I have seen any team play.

 

[Smug Panther]

Its great that you are positive and optimistic about us this year but I just can’t see it. If we are to win the comp this year we need to beat the Bunnies and I am guessing Manly and Storm. From what I have seen of us post-origin I just cant see that happening unless we flick a light switch and start playing like we did against the Bunnies in round 1 which is as good as I have seen any team play.

We are a few levels above Souths and Manly. Our side is much more well rounded and Nathan is the best player in the game. His management and our pack will be far too much.

Melbourne is a different equation

 

[Pugzley]

We play at 70% next week we win. This is our year baby

 

[murraymob]

Y

We will smother them pretty easy imo

Yep the game was close until tommy turbo let loose.The better teams will defend him better and shut him down

 

[DinkyDi]

Storm and Panthers flex their class like heavyweight champions circling on fight night

Before the Melbourne Storm could hop on the bus for the three-hour bus trip back to Noosa with the J.J. Giltinan Shield – the…

www.theroar.com.au

 

[DinkyDi]

The Panthers face the Rabbitohs on Saturday 11 September | Official website of the Penrith Panthers

Everything you need to know about the 2021 Telstra Premiership finals. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 draw announced. Grand final venue locked in

www.penrithpanthers.com.au

 

[Original Name]

Its great that you are positive and optimistic about us this year but I just can’t see it. If we are to win the comp this year we need to beat the Bunnies and I am guessing Manly and Storm. From what I have seen of us post-origin I just cant see that happening unless we flick a light switch and start playing like we did against the Bunnies in round 1 which is as good as I have seen any team play.

I think you're overestimating the level these other teams are playing at. Souths need a 5 in a hundred type game to beat us without Latrell. They should go with us for a time but late in the game the gap between us will be clear.

Manly are dangerous but they have a big freaking forward pack. If we obsorb pressure in the first 20 and build pressure we'll run away with the game through fatigue like 4 or 5 their players being rookies in their first year. We put them under the pump and they'll crack.

For Storm it's a harder path to victory. Have to be hungrier than them like we were in our win earlier in the year. Just play end to end footy and wear them down.

 

[Bodhi]

All depends on Nath’s bung shoulder

 

[TheRiff]

3 games left baby. We are a way better side this year if we can get something going on the right edge

TPJ is a must to play on that right side, Still the competition's top offloader

 

[TheRiff]

We are a few levels above Souths and Manly. Our side is much more well rounded and Nathan is the best player in the game. His management and our pack will be far too much.

Melbourne is a different equation

Melbourne rates very low in a few key areas,
12th in kick metres
5th in Forced Line Dropouts
11th in tackles inside 20

That to me shows, Do the basics well and they struggle.
This suits us as we concede the least Linebreaks in the NRL
We also have the best completion rate.

If any team can beat them we can, As we are great in the right areas. We won't beat them if we try to outscore them, Need to grind the win out

 

[DinkyDi]

Great article about To'o.

Panthers superstar threatens NRL rival's mantle

While Roosters get last laugh over Latrell fallout

wwos.nine.com.au

 

[maple_69]

As others have said if we can get through the first 20 minutes within touch of any side then I’ll be confident. No side is able to handle 80 minutes of physicality. We’ve given Melbourne a good lead in our last 3 matches and come home stronger, key will be to get into a grind for the first quarter.

The other thing we have that no on else has is the pain and hunger of just falling short.
It’s no coincidence that sides don’t go back to back and sides often have to lose one to win one. Tight game, pressure moments in the grand final, Im backing Cleary to want it more and execute it perfectly.

 

[Girds89]

Melbourne rates very low in a few key areas,
12th in kick metres
5th in Forced Line Dropouts
11th in tackles inside 20

That to me shows, Do the basics well and they struggle.
This suits us as we concede the least Linebreaks in the NRL
We also have the best completion rate.

If any team can beat them we can, As we are great in the right areas. We won't beat them if we try to outscore them, Need to grind the win out

With no disrespect but those stats are not a real representation of their dominance amd your interpretation of them is definitley not right.

They are 12th in kick meters because their whole pack and team is sooo freaking dominant and has been all year that they generally get into positions to kick where a big kick just isnt required. They are very dominant in defence too. And stop teams from making easy meters amd hence a team is kicking deep out of their end and hynes woukd get tackled on the 30m line to start a set.

Theyve also scored 815 points which is just insane. They dont need to force line drop outs or get multiple tackles inside the 20m to score....

If their points scored was low with those stats id agree but all it shows is that they dont need a lot of time down in the attacking zone to score because there attacks lethal. When they get down there they score quickly..

 

[mxlegend99]

Melbourne rates very low in a few key areas,
12th in kick metres
5th in Forced Line Dropouts
11th in tackles inside 20

That to me shows, Do the basics well and they struggle.
This suits us as we concede the least Linebreaks in the NRL
We also have the best completion rate.

If any team can beat them we can, As we are great in the right areas. We won't beat them if we try to outscore them, Need to grind the win out

The areas they rate low in can be misleading though.

Low kick metres can be a result of making so many metres in sets they aren't required to kick long very often. Or even kick at all with how often they score long range tries.

Forced line drop outs could mean more kicks are turned into tries or they score earlier after building pressure and require less drop outs and building pressure to scorr

Likewise tackles in opposition 20. If they score immediately or off long range tries they aren't going to have as many tackles in opposition 20.

I think Cleary manages a game better than anyone and is definitely an advantage for us. But i dont read into any of those stats and see it as an area we have them covered really. They score so often and from all across the park that those lower numbers in some areas could be a reflection of how good they are elsewhere.

 

[Sime_11]

As long as we play our best football this finals series, we’ll go very close.

All 3 of our finals games were close to the worse performances we had in 2020, if we play hungry and confident - we will be very hard to beat.

 

[TheRiff]

With no disrespect but those stats are not a real representation of their dominance amd your interpretation of them is definitley not right.

They are 12th in kick meters because their whole pack and team is sooo freaking dominant and has been all year that they generally get into positions to kick where a big kick just isnt required. They are very dominant in defence too. And stop teams from making easy meters amd hence a team is kicking deep out of their end and hynes woukd get tackled on the 30m line to start a set.

Theyve also scored 815 points which is just insane. They dont need to force line drop outs or get multiple tackles inside the 20m to score....

If their points scored was low with those stats id agree but all it shows is that they dont need a lot of time down in the attacking zone to score because there attacks lethal. When they get down there they score quickly..

They are outstanding at counter attacking footy, That is for sure. They have something like 40% of their tries scored from their side of halfway.

 

[mxlegend99]

I think we have an easy(ish) run to week 3.

To start with we have arguably the easiest match from the top 4 games thanks to Mitchell being out. Not that any top 4 clash in finals is easy, but I think Souths are the weakest of the top 4 sides now and we have the wood on them recently.

But even if they step up and beat us. We face Eels in week 2 which shouldn't be much trouble for us. Slim chance we face Knights but if we did that's an even easier game. If we couldn't win this we truly don't deserve to make week 3 anyway.

Week 3 however gets very difficult. I see us winning week 1. Facing Manly in week 3 and Storm in a grand final. Turbo is just getting better as the season goes on and is single handedly going to keep Manly in games they would have no right to be in. Theres a chance he leads Manly to a win over Storm in which case we're facing Storm in week 3. Either way it's a tough game to get into the grand final. But fairly easy to get to week 3.