LU penrith Panthers all time 17 - nominations for Five Eighth

[franklin2323]

how many games did fittler play at lock .He would not have played that many

He was playing lock when he signed with the Roosters and the lock of the year in 94

 

[Pomoz]

just a twist but Campbell and Alexander as a combination would not of worked both of the top of the head players.Carter took the presure of Alexander as Gower took the presure of Campbell with there ability to plot and organize.I think playing the most games and winning a comp go a long way to picking carter at 5/8 then Alexander at half

Murraymob, I'm not sure how often you saw Brandy play, but organising was a key strength of his. Carter used to play off the top of his head more than Brandy did and when it come to organising the defence, Brandy used to patrol behind the line barking instructions and then come across in cover if somebody made a breakthrough. I agree that Carter helped Brandy because he used to do a lot of work in defence. He was like a drovers dog, buzzing around getting in the way.

I can't agree that winning the comp means Carter gets picked. Fittler is a better 5/8th and the centre who would replace him, Jennings, makes for a much better team than with Carter at 5/8th. If winning a comp is the main issue then we only have two teams to pick from. 91 and 03. Even then I would pick Whatuiwira or Izzard at centre and still put Fittler at 5/8th. Just a more balanced and skilful team.

There is no right answer of course, just opinions, but an interesting discussion nevertheless. When you look at the talent that Penrith has had at various times, you can assemble a team just about as good as any team produced anywhere. A spine of Wesser, Alexander, Fittler, Gower/Priddis/Simmons (one day even Segyaro might be considered a great, he has the potential) is a match for most sides. Throw in Lewis at lock and Jennings and Girdler in the centres and you have a team with ball playing skill all across the park. The weakest link is probably Wesser who only really had a running game. That said, he was almost unplayable at times with his balance and raw speed.

 

[Doomednow]

He played plenty of lock for us aswell though

Well we could wait till the lock is finished, too. Maybe jump to that one next? Take a reserve from each poll. Or have a separate Fittler poll where majority decision decides which position he can be voted for. This should be the only player we have to do this for, right?

 

[soc123_au]

Well we could wait till the lock is finished, too. Maybe jump to that one next? Take a reserve from each poll. Or have a separate Fittler poll where majority decision decides which position he can be voted for. This should be the only player we have to do this for, right?

Thats a good idea actually. The order can stay the same, but once Lock is finished a separate Freddy poll can decide his position with the options being whatever positions he wins. The next highest in the position he doesnt play takes that spot.

 

[franklin2323]

Well we could wait till the lock is finished, too. Maybe jump to that one next? Take a reserve from each poll. Or have a separate Fittler poll where majority decision decides which position he can be voted for. This should be the only player we have to do this for, right?

Freddy poll seems the way to go.

 

[Panther Mick]

As someone who witnessed Fittler the whole of his career I can honestly say his time at Penrith he was more of a centre than a lock.
Others disagree.
There were times during 94/95 seasons while at lock he would constantly get bashed by opposition packs tiring him out and blunting his offence.
The assertion that we can't pick Campbell because he wouldn't gel with Brandy is laughable. This is a virtual dream team they are not going out tomorrow to play anyone.
It should be a team sheet so when the next star come along we can debate whether he was Penrith's best centre or prop.
I thought the whole process of this was to pick Penrith's best players in their best positions. Not sos and so played there for half a dozen games lets put in that position.
I think the whole idea is going off course a little.
What next Tony Puletua who played his best football for the club in the second row being shifted to prop because he finished his career there and we don't like the nominations for prop.

 

[soc123_au]

As someone who witnessed Fittler the whole of his career I can honestly say his time at Penrith he was more of a centre than a lock.
Others disagree.
There were times during 94/95 seasons while at lock he would constantly get bashed by opposition packs tiring him out and blunting his offence.
The assertion that we can't pick Campbell because he wouldn't gel with Brandy is laughable. This is a virtual dream team they are not going out tomorrow to play anyone.
It should be a team sheet so when the next star come along we can debate whether he was Penrith's best centre or prop.
I thought the whole process of this was to pick Penrith's best players in their best positions. Not sos and so played there for half a dozen games lets put in that position.
I think the whole idea is going off course a little.
What next Tony Puletua who played his best football for the club in the second row being shifted to prop because he finished his career there and we don't like the nominations for prop.

We are not going to get everybody agree on who gets picked where. The majority will win out. Fittler & Gower will most likely cause the most debate as to where they fit. The rest should be fairly straight forward. 2nd Row - Lock could be contentious, but again the majority will win out.

The reason Freddy played Centre & Lock more than 5/8 at Penrith is the 6 was covered well by Carter. Centre & Lock at various times were bigger holes to fill. Freddy played in those positions to better balance the team with what was available at the time. Had we have not had Carter he may well have only played in the halves. Just my opinion of course, but that all this is, everyone's opinion.

 

[Nugget10]

We are not going to get everybody agree on who gets picked where. The majority will win out. Fittler & Gower will most likely cause the most debate as to where they fit. The rest should be fairly straight forward. 2nd Row - Lock could be contentious, but again the majority will win out.

The reason Freddy played Centre & Lock more than 5/8 at Penrith is the 6 was covered well by Carter. Centre & Lock at various times were bigger holes to fill. Freddy played in those positions to better balance the team with what was available at the time. Had we have not had Carter he may well have only played in the halves. Just my opinion of course, but that all this is, everyone's opinion.

The reason Freddy played centre was he was a big kid with explosive hole running and a monster right foot step. He was not a 5/8 but developed into One of the best. Freddy played his best footy at Penrith in the centres and that's where he should be picked

 

[Pomoz]

The assertion that we can't pick Campbell because he wouldn't gel with Brandy is laughable. This is a virtual dream team they are not going out tomorrow to play anyone.
It should be a team sheet so when the next star come along we can debate whether he was Penrith's best centre or prop.

Mick, there isn't any rule that says we have to pick the best player in the position they played the most in. Are we picking the best Penrith team, or the team with the players who were best at that position? The latter will almost certainly not give us the best team because you need to make sure players compliment each other, hence the Campbell and Brandy discussion. I guess we could pick both and discuss the differences.

What if a player like Fittler was the best centre, the best 5/8th and the best lock we ever had? My problem is this. If we pick Fittler at centre we leave out Jennings or Girdler. I think that is a travesty and any team we pick after that would not be our best team. Just my view. If there is no argument that Fittler should be in the team somewhere, then put him in the position where we are weakest and where he played for us. You could argue we were weakest at lock, with Col Van Der Voort a good clubman, but no superstar and Scott Sattler the same. Luke Lewis would be a good choice as well and he is the same as Fittler, he played centre, wing, lock and 5/8th.

 

[Pomoz]

Well we could wait till the lock is finished, too. Maybe jump to that one next? Take a reserve from each poll. Or have a separate Fittler poll where majority decision decides which position he can be voted for. This should be the only player we have to do this for, right?

Luke Lewis? Brilliant lock, centre, wing and a reasonable 5/8th (better than Steve Carter, but not as good as Preston, Freddie or Soward?).

 

[maple_69]

Honestly while Lewis is a great option to have in the 17 to fill in at 5/8 in case of an injury, he wasn't a great 5/8. To be fair like Graham he was always paired with tripe..

 

[Doomednow]

We are past centre and wing and he's not likely to win 5/8. Lock would be Luke 's best chance, surely.

 

[betcats]

Lewis should not be mentioned as a 5/8 for our all time time team lol wtf he was an average at best 5/8, and thats being generous. I remember yelling at him every time he looked like he was gonna kick or throw one of his long balls(2 metres forward).

 

[franklin2323]

Lewis should not be mentioned as a 5/8 for our all time time team lol wtf he was an average at best 5/8, and thats being generous. I remember yelling at him every time he looked like he was gonna kick or throw one of his long balls(2 metres forward).

ah yes. The Lewis/Blair halves combination was a thing of beauty to witness

 

[betcats]

Blair....there is one guy I thought would eventually find a spot somewhere and play regular FG for a long time, not a rep player but he was pretty good.

 

[Pomoz]

The discussion about Lewis is really about having a poll tot pick the position that a player should play in. Fittler and Lewis are two players who could play in three positions. Even if Lewis isn't nominated for 5/8th (unlikely to win in that position, so a waste of time), he could play wing centre and lock.

 

[Panther Mick]

Mick, there isn't any rule that says we have to pick the best player in the position they played the most in. Are we picking the best Penrith team, or the team with the players who were best at that position? The latter will almost certainly not give us the best team because you need to make sure players compliment each other, hence the Campbell and Brandy discussion. I guess we could pick both and discuss the differences.

What if a player like Fittler was the best centre, the best 5/8th and the best lock we ever had? My problem is this. If we pick Fittler at centre we leave out Jennings or Girdler. I think that is a travesty and any team we pick after that would not be our best team. Just my view. If there is no argument that Fittler should be in the team somewhere, then put him in the position where we are weakest and where he played for us. You could argue we were weakest at lock, with Col Van Der Voort a good clubman, but no superstar and Scott Sattler the same. Luke Lewis would be a good choice as well and he is the same as Fittler, he played centre, wing, lock and 5/8th.

I am sure a lot of people when this idea came up were picking our best players. eg best fullback, best centre and so on. Not the strongest side.
If that was to happen who would our coach be Gould ? I wonder how Jennings would have performed under him.
Fittler started his career in the centres and won numerous dally m awards there. it wasn't until the 95 season did his game grow enough in my opinion for him to handle five eight fulltime. Not that he played much of that at Penrith. I believe 20 odd games.
Later on with his time at the chooks he did further develop into a great five eight. Interestingly it took him until 1998 to finally win dally m five eight of the year as his career finally blossomed. Not to overlook his achievements here.
I think alot of people are rushing to get Jennings into the side when they should remind themselves how lousy his last 2 years at the club were.
His first 4 years here were brilliant but after that he did struggle. Alot of people blame Walsh not giving him enough ball but he could have gotten off his arse and looked for more action.
Hence the 1992/93 seasons were not much to cheer about for Panther fans but that didn't stop Fittler excelling at centre in a struggling team.
I believe Girdler and Fittler were Penrith's best Centres in their time at the club with Jennings coming in third. The nominations for five eight in my opinion aren't as good as the other positions but Fittler shouldn't win due to limited time there.

 

[Cranky Sod]

I believe in picking players for what they actually did at the club in their positions.
Fittler was a fine centre here a decent lock and a fill in six.
Thats my thoughts.

 

[Pomoz]

...
If that was to happen who would our coach be Gould ? I wonder how Jennings would have performed under him.....
Fittler started his career in the centres and won numerous dally m awards there. it wasn't until the 95 season did his game grow enough in my opinion for him to handle five eight fulltime. Not that he played much of that at Penrith. I believe 20 odd games....
I think alot of people are rushing to get Jennings into the side when they should remind themselves how lousy his last 2 years at the club were....
I believe Girdler and Fittler were Penrith's best Centres in their time at the club with Jennings coming in third. The nominations for five eight in my opinion aren't as good as the other positions but Fittler shouldn't win due to limited time there.....

Good points Mick.

Gould would probable be our best coach because he got us to two GF's and Lang only one. I would hope Jennings would have performed well under him because he would have been managed differently from the start and not indulged by somebody soft like ME. We'll never know...

Jennings having a bad year (I don't think he had two bad years), is still better than Bradley, Izzard and Bentley playing a blinder. I agree that he should have got off his behind and gone looking for the ball, but he had a poor coach and mentor in ME and look how good he is with the right environment. Many times he won games for us with his brilliance. Girdler and Fittler are the only two centres who could say similar.

We will never agree on where Fittler should play if we are picking our best team. You think 20 odd games isn't enough and I do and like the added bonus of putting Jennings in the team. It's an interesting debate which highlights we can't wait for the real thing to start.

 

[betcats]

In all of Jennings time in fg for Penrith our best year was 2010. Jennings scored 1 try that year.