LU Penrith Panthers preview 2007

[Willow]

2007 season preview: Penrith Panthers

Written by: Michael Treacy
February 12th, 2007 08:59 PM

The Penrith Panthers head into the 2007 with a new coach, a new attitude and renewed enthusiasm which is hoped will usher in a new era in Panthers history. 2005 and 2006 seasons were by all accounts unacceptable in Panthers territory with the team being too inconsistent, too lazy and too big...

More: http://www.leagueunlimited.com/article.php?newsid=12784

 

[mxlegend99]

Awesome read. I love this statistic here:

In his words Elliot stated “There’s no point in looking like Tarzan if you play like Jane”, something the Penrith pack has been guilty of in the last two years. This lighter weight pack will impose themselves, particularly in the periods of the game where the Panthers struggle…the last 5 minutes of each half in which the Panthers conceded 26% of their tries last season.

And at the rate our team has been improving their fitness levels, i can see us cutting that percentage down a lot.

Raiders fans may not rate Elliot, but he has done wonders for several players at the Panthers already. I can't wait to see how much he has improved our forward pack.

 

[Raider_69]

:lol: didnt know firman was with the panthers now
no doubts elliott will revolutionise his game by playing him at hooker :lol:

Elliott is a dunce, that is all.

 

[skeepe]

a nothing Canberra team? If anything Elliot UNDER-achieved at Canberra, and should have done far better with the squad he had.

 

[TheGodFather]

probably a fair call, everyone says how Elliott had no one to work with - but yeah when you really think about the squad:

Clinton.S
Jason.Smith
Simon.Woolford
Jason.Croker
Todd.Carney
Adam.Mogg

to name a few - yeah as coach he probably didn't do anything exceptional - as that squad would always be competitive. Throw in a Tongue or a Thomson and they even have some work a holics.

Very very good point, no media has picked up on it.

Penrith will struggle anyway, been on a downhill slide since 2003, didn't realise the value of Sattler, Paul.Fatiwera <sp?>, Martin Lang and Ryan Girdler.

 

[skeepe]

A case of out of sight, out of mind.

On the subject of Penrith, if Elliott can get the best out of their very talented juniors, they'll give it a real shake... unfortunately his track record with handling juniors isn't fantastic.

The forward pack doesn't impress me greatly, but Elliott's strength is getting the most out of his forwards (see season 2003 for reference) so they should go ok.

 

[Inferno]

a nothing Canberra team? If anything Elliot UNDER-achieved at Canberra, and should have done far better with the squad he had.

I wouldn't say he underachieved with Canberra but he is definitely overated given that Canberra did well only because they were underated.

I would have kept Lang if I was the Pennies, but each to their own I guess. If they are happy with Elliot and he does well for them then I guess they made the right call.

 

[mxlegend99]

:lol: didnt know firman was with the panthers now
no doubts elliott will revolutionise his game by playing him at hooker :lol:

Elliott is a dunce, that is all.

He only does that with teams who don't have any guaranteed first grade players.

Priddis and Aiton will be the only guys to play Hooker barring injury.

Firman will player 5/8, or cover halfback if Gower is injured. Otherwise, maybe a benchie or Premier League player.

a nothing Canberra team? If anything Elliot UNDER-achieved at Canberra, and should have done far better with the squad he had.

LMAO.

He should have done better then 7th with the team picked for the wooden spoon?

Ok then....

 

[mxlegend99]

I wouldn't say he underachieved with Canberra but he is definitely overated given that Canberra did well only because they were underated.

I would have kept Lang if I was the Pennies, but each to their own I guess. If they are happy with Elliot and he does well for them then I guess they made the right call.

Lang?

Are you serious?

He made our forwards beef up. They didn't have the stamina r pace required for the game today. He kept Rooney even when he failed to deliver. He used the same players all the time. Didn't give enough young fellas a go.

Elliot has already made our forward pack faster, more mobile and improved their endurance. Luke Rooney has been working harder then ever to improve his pace, and is our best athlete now. Some of our quality juniors are going to get a run this year (we won 3 of the junior comps).

Panthers haven't looked this good since 2004.

 

[TheGodFather]

on the subject of Langy; it doesn't matter how good a coach is - lengthy stints will always cause staleness.

look at Brian Smith when at Parra; IMO he is a brilliant overal coach, tactics, junior development and implementing all round polished systems and process to give teams every chance of succeeding. Love him or hate him - he turned the Eels infrastructure around from a black hole to the envy of the league, but being there for that length of time means, players slacken off, he himself gets in the comfort zone and the general all repetitive-ness would generate complacency.

 

[Raider_69]

He should have done better then 7th with the team picked for the wooden spoon?

Ok then....

Your an idiot, since when did the "experts" (and i use that term extremely loosely) word become gospel, just because they are clueless doesnt make them right.

The same experts tipped penrith to came last in 2003, and the tigers to win the spoon in 05... spose they both over achieved in the biggest way imaginable

 

[The Rhino]

Some supporters are just bitter at losing an (in their opinion) over-rated coach. Get over it!!!

 

[Raider_69]

:lol: bitter indeed

 

[mxlegend99]

Your an idiot, since when did the "experts" (and i use that term extremely loosely) word become gospel, just because they are clueless doesnt make them right.

The same experts tipped penrith to came last in 2003, and the tigers to win the spoon in 05... spose they both over achieved in the biggest way imaginable

The idiots are those who think Matt Elliot under achieved. :lol:

Because his team was so much better then that of the Doggies, Storm, Broncos, Dragons etc. :lol:

 

[Witch Doctor]

I know we've signed Firman,Who else did we sign for this season?

 

[_Johnsy]

The Penrith Panthers head into the 2007 with a new coach, a new attitude and renewed enthusiasm which is hoped will usher in a new era in Panthers history.

I am sorry to all panthers fans, but as soon as I read those 2 words i stopped. If enthuisiasm is what you were missing in 2006 your entire squad needs new jobs.

 

[legend]

Too many guide dogs at the Panthers and Elliott will have superfit backs that will never see the ball.

If Gower is injured they are stuffed.

Firman is fair dinkum dud. Four clubs in four years tells me he is sh*te!

My pick for the spoon. I'd love tosee those feral Tigers get it but I have the balck cats a paw ahead at the moment.

 

[matts]

I know we've signed Firman,Who else did we sign for this season?

Nathan Smith from Raiders and Mark Meridith from .....elsewhere.

"Everyone is talking about Michael Jennings"

Could be a the theme song for the NRL next season.

 

[Witch Doctor]

Nathan Smith from Raiders and Mark Meridith from .....elsewhere.

"Everyone is talking about Michael Jennings"

Could be a the theme song for the NRL next season.

Did'nt we also sign Brendan Worth from the Knights?

 

[Dave Q]

The Panthers success will depend upon their run of injuries.

They still boast a very intimidating pack. Gowie, Wesser and Rooney can play like silk too.

But good call earlier re: Lang, Satts and Girds. They havent managed to recover from their loss leaving too many positions, essentially, vacant.

They are way to good for the spoon but I cant see them seeing the top 8 from anywhere other than the grandstand.

Happy to be proven wrong.