Penrith Panthers V South Sydney (otherwise known as the wabbits)

[Girds89]

I feel we got a bit lucky. I've never seen a team defend its way to wins 3 games in a row like that. Will probably never happen again. Was such an amazing thing to witness but if we try that again we'll get spanked

Cant do it again. Dont have someone who can defend like momo at centre...

For all he copped he was a great great defensive centre.

Critta is probably as good but we needed what he offered on the wing..

Theres a reason trent robinson is running with him. Might not be good enough for the forum boys but good enough for the best coach of the last 5-10 years.

We didnt get lucky.

We worked our arse off and went to hell and back to win that comp.

No luck.. the boys wouldve done anything for the trophy

 

[Smug Panther]

Cant do it again. Dont have someone who can defend like momo at centre...

For all he copped he was a great great defensive centre.

Critta is probably as good but we needed what he offered on the wing..

Theres a reason trent robinson is running with him. Might not be good enough for the forum boys but good enough for the best coach of the last 5-10 years.

We didnt get lucky.

We worked our arse off and went to hell and back to win that comp.

No luck.. the boys wouldve done anything for the trophy

We got very VERY lucky. The amount of tries Melbourne bombed wowee, Jennings deserves the CC medal almost as much as Nathan.
We had to defend because the whole right hand side attack was compromised with Cleary’s injury and playing Momo. No points were coming down there and every side knew it

 

[Girds89]

We got very VERY lucky. The amount of tries Melbourne bombed wowee, Jennings deserves the CC medal almost as much as Nathan.
We had to defend because the whole right hand side attack was compromised with Cleary’s injury and playing Momo. No points were coming down there and every side knew it

Momo was brilliant in defence the whole finals series mate.

I bagged him out till about half way through the year.

First half of the year i was with everyone elses fillings.

But it was obvious to me we had to change staines. It just wasnt working..

Momo at centre was a rock defensivley and critta on the wing was the same except he offered 10x more than charlie did last year with the ball..

Melbs may have bombed tries but that sorta stuff generally comes down to fatigue.. especially with well drilled teams like melbs..

You only see them make mistakes like that wen they are really buggered OR they are losing the niggle..

Cronulla beat them through winning the niggle... we beat them just through pure fitness..

People will blame their mistakes on just poor footy but they were out on their feet most of the game.. pur line speed and tenacity in defense was to much for them.

Ill admit the first try george jennings dropped was poor and they shouldve scored.

The other errors imo was just down to our line speed, hits in defence and our relentlesness.

Storm generally dont have off games.. i dont buy into it was an off night for them. We pushed them physically and they couldnt cope.. they got fatigued and made mistakes..

Our guys were broken but the will to win won out

 

[soc123_au]

For those talking down latrell. I think hes a brilliant fb.

He just doesnt have the fitness or the work ethic to do what edwards does EVERY single week..

Latrell wont be there 50m on the other side of the field to take someone into touch after making a stop on the other side. He wont save a try 10m in from touch than be there to take a grubber in goal next tackle 15m the other side of the stick...

He does the flashing things so well and hes a beast with the ball in hand. Edwards will never be close to him with ball in hand..

But the only fb in the whole comp id swap edwards for is turbo..

Teddys better but hes 30 this year..hasnt exactly started the year great either. Edwards is the form fb.

Those are the reasons he isn't a brilliant fullback. He is good for a nice highlight reel each year, but overall he costs as much as he produces. Gun centre, decent 6, shit fullback.

 

[Smug Panther]

Momo was brilliant in defence the whole finals series mate.

I bagged him out till about half way through the year.

First half of the year i was with everyone elses fillings.

But it was obvious to me we had to change staines. It just wasnt working..

Momo at centre was a rock defensivley and critta on the wing was the same except he offered 10x more than charlie did last year with the ball..

Melbs may have bombed tries but that sorta stuff generally comes down to fatigue.. especially with well drilled teams like melbs..

You only see them make mistakes like that wen they are really buggered OR they are losing the niggle..

Cronulla beat them through winning the niggle... we beat them just through pure fitness..

People will blame their mistakes on just poor footy but they were out on their feet most of the game.. pur line speed and tenacity in defense was to much for them.

Ill admit the first try george jennings dropped was poor and they shouldve scored.

The other errors imo was just down to our line speed, hits in defence and our relentlesness.

Storm generally dont have off games.. i dont buy into it was an off night for them. We pushed them physically and they couldnt cope.. they got fatigued and made mistakes..

Our guys were broken but the will to win won out

Momo is a career journeyman for a reason. Can plug a hole but shouldn't ever be a regular starter. Staines needed a spell but moving Critter broke that whole side really. It came off so who am I to argue?

 

[Girds89]

Those are the reasons he isn't a brilliant fullback. He is good for a nice highlight reel each year, but overall he costs as much as he produces. Gun centre, decent 6, shit fullback.

But mate, turbo to an extent doenst do those things.

I said it last year on here.. he doesnt cover half the ground edwards does without the ball...

Turbo will do the hard work when its tight around the ruck.. he isnt great at back to back efforts..

Teddy is but he is slowing down as he gets older..

But honestly dylan is twice as good off the ball than any other fb.

I still think latrell is brilliant at the back but...

Not all fbs can do what dylan does... i mean in terms of off the ball work he is all time elite..

Billy slater was the best fb on and off the ball ive seen.

Without it he was everywhere. He had a desire to get every ball on the full and return it a million miles an hour.. dylan matches billy in terms of workload of the ball imo. Not with the speed billy had but the same tenacity.

Big call but i rate dyl that highly off the ball.

With the ball at the back latrell is probably the best in the nrl.

He is soo soo strong. He can kick better than teddy, turbo, paps, can pass better than those 3.. hes a better tackle breaker than those 3..

The attacking stuff he does sooo well..

He just lacks the fitness to complete things.

I dont think hell ever be as good as gi but hes a great fb..

Hes still young and hasnt been back there long..

If he puts in the effort and drops 5kgs one off season and doubles his fitness he could be anything..

I mean, it took 5 or 6 to stop him scoring that try last night!!

And i dont mind hes attitude and competiveness.. no different to luai..

Hes supposedly a great person away from footy.

 

[betcats]

I think critta is already a better defender than momo and with staines improvement so far that combo could and should be better than the right side was through the finals, on top of that we now have may showing how good he is to the point he could end up a starter once Brian is back if staines doesn’t keep doing well. Tago has filled burtons hole nicely and Martin has stepped into the starting role nicely as well. Capewell still a loss as our bench is weakened without Martin but I think that can be offset with the development we have seen with some of the guys. Yeo and Dylan are in career best form, Luai and Api not far off the best I’ve seen them play. Cleary will be better off for not having to carry that shoulder injury. Our defence as a unit is not where it was through the finals but our scramble defence was brilliant last night so the desperation and effort is there. We need our key guys to stay fit and in form but if we have that at the right time of the year I can see this team being as good or better than last years. Every premiership winner needs luck in those areas to win and it’s a long season so anything can happen but if we are fit at the end of the season we are the clear favourites imo.

 

[age.s]

Fullback is a terrible position for a guy with Latrells temperament. Easiest position on the park to hide if you don't feel like participating.

 

[Girds89]

Momo is a career journeyman for a reason. Can plug a hole but shouldn't ever be a regular starter. Staines needed a spell but moving Critter broke that whole side really. It came off so who am I to argue?

I dont think you can argue...

Dont be staines biased mate...

your love for him was embarrasing at times last year...

And hes performances in fg were so bad.. those 3 or 4 weeks before he got dropped where he wasnt even running and was just catching and passing to dylan who was out on his feet was the worst..

17m against the chooks when blokes were hobbling on 1 leg was the last straw.

And that was always my issue..

Whilst at the start of the year i agreed he was and is a journeyman... always probably will be...

Sometimes you need that...

You knew youd get 120m or so a game..no mistakes, no missee tackles...

Theres a reason robinson picked him up..

I wasnt ever a momo fan but i was a fan of that call of him centre and critta wing..it wasnt luck.. it turned out to be spot on.

 

[soc123_au]

But mate, turbo to an extent doenst do those things.

I said it last year on here.. he doesnt cover half the ground edwards does without the ball...

Turbo will do the hard work when its tight around the ruck.. he isnt great at back to back efforts..

Teddy is but he is slowing down as he gets older..

But honestly dylan is twice as good off the ball than any other fb.

I still think latrell is brilliant at the back but...

Not all fbs can do what dylan does... i mean in terms of off the ball work he is all time elite..

Billy slater was the best fb on and off the ball ive seen.

Without it he was everywhere. He had a desire to get every ball on the full and return it a million miles an hour.. dylan matches billy in terms of workload of the ball imo. Not with the speed billy had but the same tenacity.

Big call but i rate dyl that highly off the ball.

With the ball at the back latrell is probably the best in the nrl.

He is soo soo strong. He can kick better than teddy, turbo, paps, can pass better than those 3.. hes a better tackle breaker than those 3..

The attacking stuff he does sooo well..

He just lacks the fitness to complete things.

I dont think hell ever be as good as gi but hes a great fb..

Hes still young and hasnt been back there long..

If he puts in the effort and drops 5kgs one off season and doubles his fitness he could be anything..

I mean, it took 5 or 6 to stop him scoring that try last night!!

And i dont mind hes attitude and competiveness.. no different to luai..

Hes supposedly a great person away from footy.

I don't hate him, he comes across as a bit of a flog with the chip on his shoulder sometimes, but I don't doubt he is overall a pretty good bloke.

I just don't rate him as a fullback. He isn't fit enough to be dominant on the ball in a tough game. Let alone the off the ball stuff. He is brilliant for maybe 6 sets a game when he is on, average for another 10 and invisible for the rest. I'm also rating him based on his wage and profile. Very few games he earns his pay imo. At centre he is elite, I'd still take Manu over him at the same money though.

 

[Smug Panther]

I dont think you can argue...

Dont be staines biased mate...

your love for him was embarrasing at times last year...

And hes performances in fg were so bad.. those 3 or 4 weeks before he got dropped where he wasnt even running and was just catching and passing to dylan who was out on his feet was the worst..

17m against the chooks when blokes were hobbling on 1 leg was the last straw.

And that was always my issue..

Whilst at the start of the year i agreed he was and is a journeyman... always probably will be...

Sometimes you need that...

You knew youd get 120m or so a game..no mistakes, no missee tackles...

Theres a reason robinson picked him up..

I wasnt ever a momo fan but i was a fan of that call of him centre and critta wing..it wasnt luck.. it turned out to be spot on.

I literally just said Staines needed to be dropped haha come on

 

[Girds89]

I don't hate him, he comes across as a bit of a flog with the chip on his shoulder sometimes, but I don't doubt he is overall a pretty good bloke.

I just don't rate him as a fullback. He isn't fit enough to be dominant on the ball in a tough game. Let alone the off the ball stuff. He is brilliant for maybe 6 sets a game when he is on, average for another 10 and invisible for the rest. I'm also rating him based on his wage and profile. Very few games he earns his pay imo. At centre he is elite, I'd still take Manu over him at the same money though.

Yeah in terms of fbs i agree in terms of value for money for sure.. hes work with the ball doesnt solely equate to the mil a season hes probs on..he needs to work on the rest to be elite..

I guess what im.saying is i think he probably has the highest ceiling of any nrl player atm..

He could be as good as GI but even stronger.. i just dont think he has that dedication tho.... or coaching.. GI had bellamy all through the important years...

And id take manu over him at centre..

Joeys best centre in the game. Daylight 2nd.

But id latrell put his head down and worked as hard as dylan did he would be a seriously scary prospect for teams

 

[Smug Panther]

Yeah in terms of fbs i agree in terms of value for money for sure.. hes work with the ball doesnt solely equate to the mil a season hes probs on..he needs to work on the rest to be elite..

I guess what im.saying is i think he probably has the highest ceiling of any nrl player atm..

He could be as good as GI but even stronger.. i just dont think he has that dedication tho.... or coaching.. GI had bellamy all through the important years...

And id take manu over him at centre..

Joeys best centre in the game. Daylight 2nd.

But id latrell put his head down and worked as hard as dylan did he would be a seriously scary prospect for teams

Not trying to just pick fights with you haha buuuut he's not close to GI. The young skinny Inglis was something very special, Latrell will just get fatter and fatter.

Feel dirty backing GI because he's not a very nice human

 

[Girds89]

I literally just said Staines needed to be dropped haha come on

Fair enough if you did mate hahq. Might be getting confused with you harping on forever about momo having to be wing and critta centre

Look i was so against momo first half of the year but i think after about rd 12 or so i started to realise why we bought him..

 

[Girds89]

Not trying to just pick fights with you haha buuuut he's not close to GI. The young skinny Inglis was something very special, Latrell will just get fatter and fatter.

Feel dirty backing GI because he's not a very nice human

Mate latrells 24... hes a freak..

If he puts hes head down and drops 5 kgs he could be the best player in the game..

Thats from a non bunnies non latrell fan point of view..

Hes kicking game and passing game is better than gregs was.. hes stronger than greg but not by much.. might be about even if he loses 5kgs..

Greg probs has him covered for speed but greg slowed down as he put i weight and wasnt the skinny boy you alude to...

Im.not trying to take away from GI..he was all time!!! So so special...

Just saying, with the right coaching and attitide latrell could be anything..

 

[Iamback]

Still a bit injured or just a poor performance? Have high hopes he would break the squad this year.

Tried too hard.

NSW Cup were horrible. Instead of get back into the grind their youth showed and they threw passes that weren't on etc

 

[Iamback]

I'm sure a lot were fine with it. He's an alright player I'm just not a fan.

As I said elsewhere. I think we are better with big wingers, we just struggle to use fast ones better.

Crichton was wasted on the wing. Someone like Naden or even Momo should of been the winger but the big body was needed

 

[soc123_au]

Mate latrells 24... hes a freak..

If he puts hes head down and drops 5 kgs he could be the best player in the game..

Thats from a non bunnies non latrell fan point of view..

Hes kicking game and passing game is better than gregs was.. hes stronger than greg but not by much.. might be about even if he loses 5kgs..

Greg probs has him covered for speed but greg slowed down as he put i weight and wasnt the skinny boy you alude to...

Im.not trying to take away from GI..he was all time!!! So so special...

Just saying, with the right coaching and attitide latrell could be anything..

He hasn't got it in him. I'm sure he enjoys playing and the team environment, but his motivator is the cash. His goal is to get set up on his property at Taree, take care of his family and live a cruisy life. Nothing wrong with any of that, and good luck to him imo, but I just don't see him putting in the work to emulate GI. Could he? Yeah, quite possibly. Will he? Not on your f**king life.

 

[Iamback]

GI and Latrell at FB are the same.

Centre is his position

 

[Smug Panther]

GI and Latrell at FB are the same.

Centre is his position

20 year old GI was a better fullback than Billy but the coach had to make the squad fit together