An unhealthy combination of bedwetters and doomsday fans in internet land tonight.
At this stage of the season, you'd have to be an absolute fool to put the line through Penrith.
1. Their key players are clearly underdone. For Penrith after their big two years, that is not a bad thing and is to be expected. They are going to take a while to come out of the blocks and hit their straps. I'd actually be a bit concerned if their form was in top notch right now. There are new players replacing some key players that will need some time before they make some impact. A guy who hits holes like Garner is going to need some time. Penrith's first two games were played in the rain.....hardly friendly conditions for a new recruit who has a hole hitting style. Let's see how they go after 6-8 weeks before making a call on their premiership defence.
2. It is round........one. As I stated in the previous paragraph, I think many of their players would have had a relatively light off season. Give them some time!
3. The wet weather. Penrith have played their first two games in the wet.....not a great assistance towards building a platform of attacking footy. If the St Helens and Broncos games were played in dry weather.....some of those close opportunities in attack would have been converted into points. Penrith win both of those games in dry weather.
4. Penrith's defence. Over the last two years, the quality of Penrith's attack has wavered from game to game (mostly good though). What I had not seen waver though is the quality of their defence. I don't think I had seen a soft try scored against them in the last two years. While Chriction seems to be quite off, the rest of them still appear very much in sync with their defence and put on their best efforts. They are still tough to break down. While this is still the case, I cannot put a line through them. The day I will write off Penrith as a contender is when a few players in their squad begin to let soft tries in. I have seen no evidence of this, despite losing their last two games.
I am not saying Penrith will or won't win the title. Im saying.....f**k....it is round one and far too early to tell. Lets check back in week eight or so.
