Panthers Match Thread

[Karmawave]

It was a gutsy gutsy effort from the Knights.

Penrith were pretty awful though. Frank Pritchard is an imposter. You wouldn't know what Frank turns up on any given week. So is Tony Puletua when he plays. They are devastating and don't realise how good they can be. Not there mentally - simple as that.

Gidley was superb. Our forwards looked much better, and as always the commitment in defence was again excellent.

Naiqama clearly had a major injury because he was barely noticed all night.

It was a big time result and keeps any slim chance of a Top 8 alive.

But most of all , hopefully it keeps the crowd numbers up at our home games.

 

[Karmawave]

I work with Tolar, Royal, White, Faas and all the props. Week in they put 100% into not just my stuff but across the board.

Wicks is the poorest trainer, if he actually does train....his stats are dreadful, and he is in ahead White, Tafua and the like.

Ok seriously Pika, whats the story there.

I've heard some serious mail that he lost respect of his former Dragons team mates because of what you just said. He wouldn't put in at training. Just simply wouldn't have a go at all. So much so that he played reserve grade week in week out because the other players didn't want to play with him.

I heard he was popular at the Dragons from a social perspective ( and he seems so here as well ), but I fear that the training situation and not having a go will form some serious issues with the Knights other players - especially forwards. Surely White, Tafua and the others you mentioned, must be getting sick and tired of Wicks getting a run in first grade in front of them? I know obviously you wouldn't be able to speak up on that front, but I'm just interested as to the general attitude of the club on Wicks.

Clearly he is a massive favourite of Brian Smith, and he seems to be the Coaches pet off the field.

Stories abound about Wicks loving the beer ( too much ), and not taking his diet serious at all. Practically eating whatever he wants.

I mean, I know the grey uniforms don't flatter his figure all that much :lol: , but it does look like he has put on weight from the start of the season. As someone who does fitness/weights for recreation, I am baffled how a professional athlete doing the training Wicks does can gain weight if he was taking it seriously. A professional footballer obviously does way more training than the standard 4-5 times a week gym users.

Wicks , as we all know, is incredibly athletic for his size. He is also in his early 20s. He can get away with things a bit more because of his age. But don't expect to be able to rely on his natural athletic ability into his mid and late 20s.

It would be incredibly disappointing if Danny Wicks is in the first grade team because he is coaches pet.

But how else can you view it?!

I'm not privvy to the financials of his deal at the Knights, but mail says the Knights paid way overs for his services.

Why isn't he putting in?

Is it because he relies on his athletic ability alone?

Early in the year, I really noticed the " extras " Wicks brought to the team. The social side, the encouragement when he is on the park, the lift in team spirit.

But with his awful stats ( the stats don't lie ) , surely there is nowhere near a trade off for poor performance in exchange for the spirit he may bring to the table.

 

[Doctor]

I think Brian Smith had the best summary of the lopsided penalty-count. While there were a couple of really tough calls in there, the real problem was that the Panthers were not penalised for indiscretions that we were nabbed for. There was a lot of sloppiness around the ruck from Penrith that just didn't get penalised and they laid on the ball-carrier a lot longer than the Knights were able to. The Knights had every incentive to just pack up and go home, with yet another week being smashed by the referee, but they didn't. That was an incredibly gutsy effort.

One runs out of superlatives to describe how Kurt Gidley played last night. He was on a whole different level to the other 33 players on show. It was like something out of The Matrix -- he was just seeing the game in code, rather than noting individual players. The worry for most of us is that just a few years ago many didn't rate him. I thought he was a pretty solid first-grader, but certainly doubted his ability to control a team. His many moments filling in for Johns and co proved in my mind that he couldn't be a playmaker. I haven't changed my mind on this, because his kicking game isn't great. But, under Brian Smith, Kurt Gidley has gone from regular first-grader to one of the top three players in the NRL. And Smith has given him licence to do his own thing, rather than slotting into a set position and a set role. Just make it up as you go. His performance last night was just phenomenal.

And what about Matt White. Now there's a bloke who's taking his opportunities with both hands. He ran hard, made plenty of tackles, and was solid all night. That's the sort of effort we need from Danny Wicks (who, incidentally, lifted his game last night but still has a bit more work to do). Fa'aoso was good too -- two weeks in a row where he didn't drop the ball. Tolar was very solid and his try was a good reward.

I thought the Knights played very well given the injuries and the stupid penalties they gave away. That's the sort of win you can get a little bit of momentum from. Hopefully they'll cut the crap out of their game so they don't keep giving away stupid penalties.

 

[Karmawave]

Gidley can do what he does simply because he is the fittest bloke in the NRL.

Just shows what you can do if you put in off the field and at training. Danny Wicks might want to take notice.

 

[Pika]

I said Wicks had an improved performance and I thought he offered more than Taufua. I didn't say I was happy with his performance, but it's a start.

Wicks isn't there to be a defensive workhorse. As long as he's not missing tackles I think what he can offer with ball in hand compensates for his low defensive workload.

We've always known Taufua was a gun defender, but that wasn't seen enough of a reason to keep him in first-grade whilst his hitups were so ineffective. The word over the offseason was that he had dramatically improved that facet of his game, but again last night it was the same story. That's why I was disappointed.

In a fully fit side, I wouldn't pick Wicks or Taufua at the moment.

Fair enough.

Though it still begs the question why they are averaging the same meters if Wicks was so much more effective in the hit up department.

 

[Jono078]

Firsty just on Fa'aoso, his first offload pissed me off majorly, why do forwards continue to do that sort of boneheaded stuff! It was never on.

On Wicks, as i've said before, I think he can be one of the top forwards, but he has to be told until he sorts out a few things, mainly his weight and attitude, he wont be in FG again.

And on Taufua, he looked much better than last year. Although he was very slow in getting to marker after defending, same with White though, so maybe they were just adjusting to FG speed.

But he was solid, his defence wasnt cringe worthy and leaving holes all over the line, he done well. Still can improve his attacking runs though.

 

[~knights~]

Simmo not fit, reason unknown.

they said on NBN last night

it was a hip-flexor injury

 

[Burwood]

Anybody else see one of Taufua's tackles where he was about third man in and he came through and cleaned out two of his teammates? Looks like some of those union habits are hard to kill-off

 

[Newie is God's Country]

House's second try was a bit of a surprise in that he is quite fast off the mark. He split those defenders like Menzies in his prime. I still say he is going to be a top class player sooner rather than later. I think Pato, Houston and Hilder could become one of the best backrows in the game although Waltzing's adept hooking ability may prevent that.

 

[Whats Doing]

Soem thoughts on the game.

1. Gidley's performance was so dominant which i haven't seen since Joey a number of years ago. Incredible whether it was hooker , fullback or in the last 20 minutes at halfback.
2. McManus - very solid performance
3. Naigaima - He apparently had a broken foot which would have been the reason for an extremely quiet match.
4. Sau - Solid performance but cot caught laterally in defence a couple of times
5. Maddog - Better performance on the wing except for his brain explosion in the penalty.
6. Bailey - He is good close to the line but not much else. Doesn't set up the backlinee well.
7. Mullo - Played better when moved to 5/8 and Gidley went to half. Missed a bad tackle
8. White - Great first up performance. He stood up to be counted and made great metres.
9. Ciraldo - Opinion of being a reggie hasn't changed. There was a try on and he ran the wrong lin. Did some ok work in defence but his attack is not up to NRL level.
10 Tolar - Strong performance in both attack and defence
11- Patto - Good performance
12 - Houston - Best perfomance in a few weeks and ran good inside lines. Work rate in defence good.
13. Taia -Great performance and has really lifted his work rate in the last few weeks
14. Dureau - Played well when he went on as hooker in attack and half in defence. Kicked a good 40/20.
15. Faosa - Best performance in a few weeks with strong runs and strong defence. His hands were safe too.
16 Taufau - Defended like a machine but his attacking game doesn't have seemed to have improved.
17 Wicks - Left the worst to last. Why is he in first grade. Seems to have put on considerable more weight since the beginning of the season and is considerably fatter than when he was at the dragons. What a waste of a reported $260k per season.

 

[Karmawave]

17 Wicks - What a waste of a reported $260k per season.

If that figure is true...

Speechless.

 

[Joker's Wild]

Wicks made first contact on zero tackles..........

..........Wicks is the poorest trainer, if he actually does train....his stats are dreadful, and he is in ahead White, Tafua and the like.

And there is the crux of the Wicks issue. He is lazy in training and it flows into his on-field performances. Why is he not motivated? How does he get away with it?

 

[BG]

The time has well and truly come to get Bailey out of the halves. He's still the pony with the one trick.

Harsh. For our second try, he almost sent Ciraldo over close to the line, then got into dummy-half and finished the job himself. In the lead-up to Houston's first try, he handled nearly every play that set. He did dummy-half duty. Then was first receiver to send a long ball out to Mullen. Then got it back on a switch play and did his trademark jink and went close to scoring. That play dragged three or four Penrith forwards in close under the posts which thinned their ranks to their left and allowed Mullen to send Houston over on the next play. Bailey mightn't be a traditional 5/8th but he is getting better at contributing to the development of structured attacking sets.

He also went extremely well against St George. It wasn't till I watched a replay that I realised he was one of our best in that game. I know we only scored points when Dureau came on but it wasn't Bailey's fault that unforced handling errors by others and a brace of penalties starved us of possession for three-quarters of the game. With little opportunity he still had some excellent touches.

Obviously Dureau has organisational skills and a kicking game that Bailey does not, but when Bailey is there we do have the advantage of him playing like an extra backrower in defence--he was getting in and helping round the ruck to bring down some of the big Penrith forwards, including Civoniceva. Not something Dureau's likely to offer; and especially useful while Bedsy, Royal and Hilder are out.

To put it in perspective I agree Bailey has his limitations and I'm happy we didn't pay overs for him for 2009 and beyond. But for the rest of this season, I think it's an advantage to have players with such different styles as viable halves options and as long as they both continue to play well, Smith's approach of picking it to complement the troops we have available, who the opposition is, and any particular week's game plan seems right to me.

 

[perverse]

I think it's an advantage to have players with such different styles as viable halves options and as long as they both continue to play well, Smith's approach of picking it to complement the troops we have available, who the opposition is, and any particular week's game plan seems right to me.

while i think that bailey is indeed a one trick pony.. and rather vanilla beyond that.. he does have his uses, and i agree with this completely.