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And here we are, here we go! South Sydney marches on to another Preliminary Final!! What a massive week this will be for us and you don't need me to tell you how big Saturday night will be as we go up against the Panthers for a shot at the Grand Final. It'll be one hell of an occasion and one hell of a game, certainly our biggest game of the year so far and that goes without saying. Need to be honest, we've had a bit of a Prelim hoodoo the past two years which have hurt us really bad. But this 2020 side is a different team. I'm really hoping we've learnt from past Prelims and we can go into this one with hopefully a different approach. This might be a 'home' Prelim for the Panthers but really, it's a home Prelim for us because we're at ANZ so the Panthers are playing on our turf which will hopefully be an advantage for us.
It's going to be an extremely tough game going up against Penrith. They are the Minor Premiers for a reason and have won sixteen straight I think the number is. Sixteen straight. That'c crazy in the NRL and it just goes to show what a quality side they are. Everywhere you look there is class right across the park for them. Edwards, Crichton, Mansour, Luai, Cleary, Tamou, Koroisau, Martin, Fisher-Harris, jeez the list goes on and on. That's why for this massive game I don't think there's a particular 'key' to winning. We just have to be on right across the park. To add to that, Penrith will be fresh and well rested from the week off and will be ready to go. We'll be ready to go as well as we bounce into this one having played last week and I hope them having the week off doesn't give them too much of an advantage.
For us, once again we all know what we have to do. As Wayne said, we probably played at around 70% last week. That was good enough to make a Preliminary Final but it won't be good enough to make the Grand Final. We need to be at 100% this weekend. That all starts with completion rates. We simply must complete well against the Panthers or they'll make us pay, there's no two ways about it. If we can do that, apply pressure and play patient Footy (as cliche as it sounds), it will give us the best chance of beating Penrith and making the Grand Final. What's more, both attack and defence was a bit off last week so we have some work to do to ensure that's not the case come Saturday.
So yea, Preliminary Final. Massive occasion as a Grand Final awaits one of us. It's our third Preliminary Final in a row so we are on the edge of greatness or ridicule. I really feel like our destiny is in our own hands and we've got to do something with it. It's up to the boys to decide their own fate. It's do or die in a huge game, we can do this!!!
It's going to be an extremely tough game going up against Penrith. They are the Minor Premiers for a reason and have won sixteen straight I think the number is. Sixteen straight. That'c crazy in the NRL and it just goes to show what a quality side they are. Everywhere you look there is class right across the park for them. Edwards, Crichton, Mansour, Luai, Cleary, Tamou, Koroisau, Martin, Fisher-Harris, jeez the list goes on and on. That's why for this massive game I don't think there's a particular 'key' to winning. We just have to be on right across the park. To add to that, Penrith will be fresh and well rested from the week off and will be ready to go. We'll be ready to go as well as we bounce into this one having played last week and I hope them having the week off doesn't give them too much of an advantage.
For us, once again we all know what we have to do. As Wayne said, we probably played at around 70% last week. That was good enough to make a Preliminary Final but it won't be good enough to make the Grand Final. We need to be at 100% this weekend. That all starts with completion rates. We simply must complete well against the Panthers or they'll make us pay, there's no two ways about it. If we can do that, apply pressure and play patient Footy (as cliche as it sounds), it will give us the best chance of beating Penrith and making the Grand Final. What's more, both attack and defence was a bit off last week so we have some work to do to ensure that's not the case come Saturday.
So yea, Preliminary Final. Massive occasion as a Grand Final awaits one of us. It's our third Preliminary Final in a row so we are on the edge of greatness or ridicule. I really feel like our destiny is in our own hands and we've got to do something with it. It's up to the boys to decide their own fate. It's do or die in a huge game, we can do this!!!
