PENRITH VOW TO PLAY THE BEST TEAM
By Steve Mascord | March 31, 2008 12:00am
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/sport/nrl/story/0,26799,23456393-5006066,00.html
RELIEVED Penrith officials last night followed up their drought-breaking victory over South Sydney by taking decisive steps to head off another looming controversy - this time over off-contract stars.
The Panthers put a difficult week underpinned by a highly publicised meeting between coach Matthew Elliott and his leadership group behind them by racing to a 22-6 halftime lead at CUA Stadium and hanging on to leave the Rabbitohs winless after three rounds.
Elliott lauded his charges' commitment as they repelled the injury-hit Bunnies, who laid siege to their line for much of the final eight minutes.
But after reassuring Elliott all week that he was safe in his position, Panthers general manager Mick Leary responded to concerns that possible departures Luke Lewis, Luke Rooney, Tony Puletua, Luke Priddis and others might be dumped to reserve grade just as Peter Wallace was last year.
Elliott demoted Brisbane-bound Wallace after he made his intentions known and Lewis late yesterday told The Daily Telegraph he was unsure if he would cop the same treatment should he accept an estimated $300,000 deal with Souths within the next week.
But Panthers general manager Mick Leary issued the following assurance: "We'll certainly be selecting our best side each week.
"We've signed these players for this year. If they are the best players, they'll definitely get picked. Last year we were out of the running for the finals and Matthew wanted to try out a new halves combination. It was different."
Earlier, Lewis - who hopes to return from a hand injury next week said he was "not too sure" if it would be held against him should he sign with Souths. "Matty's a pretty good coach and I'm sure he'd do the right thing," he said.
"Whatever he does, the team is going to have to go with his decisions."
It was the final piece of solidarity on an afternoon which abounded with it at the foot of the mountains. The Panthers began in startling touch, centre Brad Tighe flashing over after lead-up from Priddis, Frank Pritchard and Rooney in the seventh minute.
Only five more minutes had elapsed before second-rower Pritchard's superb ball handed Tighe his second and when a benefit-of-the-double call favoured Panthers five-eighth Maurice Blair in the 22nd, Souths were the proverbial rabbits in the headlights.
Making matters worse were Roy Asotasi's concussion, Michael Greenfield's ribs and Issac Luke's broken hand.
But Greenfield returned in the second half and his kick-and-chase try off the upright in the 58th minute caught referee Tony De Las Heras so much by surprise he asked video referee Chris Ward if the prop had been offside chasing his own kick.
That touchdown narrowed the scoreline to 24-18 in Penrith's favour and Souths managed another try to make a game of it before falling short.
"In the contact areas of running and tackling, Penrith just dominated us in the first half," coach Jason Taylor said. "We've got to get it going and make sure we get some victories."
Elliott said: "The players fought real hard when they needed to fight hard and I'm just over the moon for them. Winning in that style was something we needed to do as a group."
Pritchard, who was outstanding yesterday, said that the two days off that Elliott had offered the players following internal talks had done wonders.
Leary said he wanted a decision on Lewis this week, "so we know what Luke's future is and we know what we have to do to maybe replace him.
"If the offers are so far apart, as I've been led to believe, it's going to be very difficult."
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