Panthers v Cowboys

[Tronald Crump]

I love it when we win on Thursdays & Fridays. It makes the weekend so much more enjoyable. Particularly a long weekend.

 

[umina panther]

Id be looking to move on Aussie Jim at the end of the year but I'm not sure anyone would want him

 

[GongPanther]

I've been critical of him, but tonight he was awesome.

Birdseye are waiting in the wings to sponsor him. "Fish is in for his third try!...he is holding up three fish fingers!"

 

[GongPanther]

I wouldn't be critical of anyone after that performance, they really turned up to play tonight. Our forwards crushed the most vaunted pack in the competition.

In any game,it's easy to nitpick where one could find the most trivial negative point,even after a GF win. For some,it seems that they simply can't take it for what it was ,which is a resounding victory against the odds.

They knew that they have a 10 day break before the game V Parra.So IMO they approached this game with a finals attitude,and the lads deserve every credit that comes their way.

 

[GongPanther]

Posted this in the wrong thread
The Frog's Player Ratings

Edwards 7
Mansour 7
Whare 6
Blake 7
Crichton 7
Peachey 6
Maloney 9
Fisher-Harris 8
Wallace 7
Campbell-Gillard 8
Yeo 6
Kikau 8
Merrin 6

Tamou 5
Harawira-Naera 6
Leota 7
Egan 4 (limited minutes)

Thought Maloney deserves an 11. (one more than ten)

 

[Thirsty Panther]

I think to decision to go for the 2 points early helped.
By the time the Cowboys scored there 2nd try and make it 2 tries each, we were still in front by 12.
Takes a lot of pressure off the team.

 

[OldPanther]

 

[pantherpuddy]

that was a very good team performance with our forwards leading the way. That was top 4 material if we can keep it up every week

 

[Pomoz]

The more I look at the game and the stats, the more I conclude the pack was awesome. JFH, CHN and RCG were just so aggressive. Merrin fed off that and was doing a great locks job getting involved in lots of tackles. Kikau was a handful and also showed he has a half decent engine.

Besides the aggression, the other thing is, they are all fit as a butcher's dog. If there is one thing that has improved markedly under Hook, it's fitness and conditioning. JFH made 50 tackles! I had a sleepless night imagining, Hess, Tamaulolo, Bolton, Scott, McLean and Asiata stomping over Maloney and the pack driving up the middle like Panzers. Instead, they got belted and wrapped up Storm style.

We limited their pack to 5 offloads. They had 7 more sets than us. 7! They made 421 post contact metres. We made 407 with 42 fewer possessions. We averaged 36m per set, they averaged 34m.

This is a pack with a forward who averages 200m a game and the Australian number 1 prop (sure he is coming back from injury, but so is JFH and CHN). We beat that pack fair and square with 5 fewer penalties and a player sin binned. Without the home town reffing, they would have lost by 40 points.

Three weeks in a row we have matched the biggest packs in the NRL. If the ref disallows the obstruction try last week (as the nrl has now admitted they should have) we are 4 from 4 and we have only played well once. Better still, we are not winning by Moylan or Cartwright plucking something out of their arses, entertaining though that is, we are grinding out wins with effort and fitness. Last night was effort, fitness and for the first time, skill.

 

[mxlegend99]

I think to decision to go for the 2 points early helped.
By the time the Cowboys scored there 2nd try and make it 2 tries each, we were still in front by 12.
Takes a lot of pressure off the team.

It made being down 14 nil impossible aswell. And actually put us up 14 nil instead.

 

[mxlegend99]

Panthers odds against Eels have shortened a bit.

Last night I put money on us at $2.40, today it's already $1.90 and after our game against Cowboys I expect the odds to swing a lot more. Im think we will be $1.50 favorites atleast.

 

[mxlegend99]

The more I look at the game and the stats, the more I conclude the pack was awesome. JFH, CHN and RCG were just so aggressive. Merrin fed off that and was doing a great locks job getting involved in lots of tackles. Kikau was a handful and also showed he has a half decent engine.

Besides the aggression, the other thing is, they are all fit as a butcher's dog. If there is one thing that has improved markedly under Hook, it's fitness and conditioning. JFH made 50 tackles! I had a sleepless night imagining, Hess, Tamaulolo, Bolton, Scott, McLean and Asiata stomping over Maloney and the pack driving up the middle like Panzers. Instead, they got belted and wrapped up Storm style.

We limited their pack to 5 offloads. They had 7 more sets than us. 7! They made 421 post contact metres. We made 407 with 42 fewer possessions. We averaged 36m per set, they averaged 34m.

This is a pack with a forward who averages 200m a game and the Australian number 1 prop (sure he is coming back from injury, but so is JFH and CHN). We beat that pack fair and square with 5 fewer penalties and a player sin binned. Without the home town reffing, they would have lost by 40 points.

Three weeks in a row we have matched the biggest packs in the NRL. If the ref disallows the obstruction try last week (as the nrl has no admitted they should have) we are 4 from 4 and we have only played well once. Better still, we are not winning by Moylan or Cartwright plucking something out of their arses, entertaining though that is, we are grinding out wins with effort and fitness. Last night was effort, fitness and for the first time, skill.

Jfh looks so good in the middle. He and RCG can control the tempo of the game in the middle. JFH defensively. RCG with his runs. Our pack was ontop from the start. Kikau starting helped.

 

[OldPanther]

The more I look at the game and the stats, the more I conclude the pack was awesome. JFH, CHN and RCG were just so aggressive. Merrin fed off that and was doing a great locks job getting involved in lots of tackles. Kikau was a handful and also showed he has a half decent engine.

Besides the aggression, the other thing is, they are all fit as a butcher's dog. If there is one thing that has improved markedly under Hook, it's fitness and conditioning. JFH made 50 tackles! I had a sleepless night imagining, Hess, Tamaulolo, Bolton, Scott, McLean and Asiata stomping over Maloney and the pack driving up the middle like Panzers. Instead, they got belted and wrapped up Storm style.

We limited their pack to 5 offloads. They had 7 more sets than us. 7! They made 421 post contact metres. We made 407 with 42 fewer possessions. We averaged 36m per set, they averaged 34m.

This is a pack with a forward who averages 200m a game and the Australian number 1 prop (sure he is coming back from injury, but so is JFH and CHN). We beat that pack fair and square with 5 fewer penalties and a player sin binned. Without the home town reffing, they would have lost by 40 points.

Three weeks in a row we have matched the biggest packs in the NRL. If the ref disallows the obstruction try last week (as the nrl has no admitted they should have) we are 4 from 4 and we have only played well once. Better still, we are not winning by Moylan or Cartwright plucking something out of their arses, entertaining though that is, we are grinding out wins with effort and fitness. Last night was effort, fitness and for the first time, skill.

The fact we won while they had the better of the stats as you've said shows something special. That effort is what we've all been waiting for. That's the top 4 squad I've been saying exists since the off season.

 

[OldPanther]

Jfh looks so hood in the middle. He and RCG can control the tempo of the game in the middle. JFH defensively. RCG with his runs. Our pack was ontop from the start. Kikau starting helped.

A nice pic from the game of Fish.

 

[Pomoz]

Jfh looks so good in the middle. He and RCG can control the tempo of the game in the middle. JFH defensively. RCG with his runs. Our pack was ontop from the start. Kikau starting helped.

Kikau's stamina surprised me. He really is going to be awesome once he fills out a bit and matures physically. F%ck. Imagine that!

 

[TheFrog]

Ok watched the game twice now and if Jimmy is going to be that dominant then it's the perfect time to debut Luai. The Eels ain't shit

Somewhere between what we saw last night and what we saw in Rd 1 and 2 would about cover it for BBQ I reckon.

I was going to have something to say about disrespecting opponents, but I don't know whether you are saying the Eels are shit or they are not shit. It doesn't matter anyway. Shit teams quickly change to worldbeaters, and vice versa at this time of year.

 

[umina panther]

Somewhere between what we saw last night and what we saw in Rd 1 and 2 would about cover it for BBQ I reckon.

I was going to have something to say about disrespecting opponents, but I don't know whether you are saying the Eels are shit or they are not shit. It doesn't matter anyway. Shit teams quickly change to worldbeaters, and vice versa at this time of year.

Eels are shit. Very weak pack and soft halves who go missing

 

[OldPanther]

I also think Wallace needs some credit for his game. Hope he can keep that quality all year. Turned the clock back to before his groin injury last year.

 

[OldPanther]

Just watching the game and the set where Leota gets driven back just played.

It was Tamou's fault. He got dominated with a poor hit up and it set the next runner up for failure. At the time I blamed Leota and it wasn't fair on him.

 

[umina panther]

I also think Wallace needs some credit for his game. Hope he can keep that quality all year. Turned the clock back to before his groin injury last year.

Yeah but playing hooker is a piece of piss when your pack dominates like we did