Penrith's draw this year...

[This Year?]

Ben Creagh kicking on the fourth 10 out wtf? The whole team was kick happy today.

Yes and as a dragons fan it was very frustrating to watch given the importance of that game.

Dragons started kicking early when they realised there was no way through the defense, they had multiple sets on our line and couldnt bust through, I put it down to the Dragons not having any notable forwards, usually teams can throw one or two hit ups at us condense the defense, then spread it wide. Had Dugan been at fullback, Creagh been at second row and Merrin played 80 Dragons would have been a challenge but inept coaching made it easier.

Penrith defended really well and they done their homework on us. They smothered Dugan and Widdop rarely had any space. As the time went on, the scoreboard played on the dragons minds and it felt to me the wrong people were getting the ball in attacking situations. We simply weren't good enough to compete with Penrith yesterday.

 

[Doomednow]

This is my favourite thread. Guaranteed to have a couple of sooky Broncos fans in it trying to make themselves feel better about their own team.

 

[ellskimore]

This thread... Panthers have well and truly earned their spot up the top. I admire the way they have played this season. Despite that injury toll they refuse to believe they aren't a chance. Instead of whinging about the Panther's draw we should be acknowledging their strong team culture. Riff fan's should be deservedly excited about the future of their club. But while they are hanging around, why not get excited about the finals?

 

[shiznit]

I still don't think they will be in the top 4 come finals time...

They have an incredibly tough last month...

But they certainly deserve to be where they are... And good on them...

 

[maple_69]

Moylan, Mansour, Idris, Whare, Simmons, Smith, Soward, Plum, Segeyaro, Mckendry, Yeo, Manu, Docker, Brown, Robinson, Latimore, Grant
If you looked at that side at the start of the year it'd be bog average. Soward was derided. Moylan was just that guy that wasn't allowed to play last year. Segeyaro a flashy bench hooker. Mansour a fringe winger and the rest plodders or you wouldn't know them. Soft draw or not it's a big effort from players and staff to have this team 1 win off the top, beating teams playing for their season away from home.

I think it'll take a bit longer for us as fans to get out of the pessimism we've had to adopt for so long, but It is a pretty nice feeling to be proud of your club.

 

[MrAnonymous]

This is my favourite thread. Guaranteed to have a couple of sooky Broncos fans in it trying to make themselves feel better about their own team.

That's in most threads around here.

Broncos, back to back years missing the finals, feels good.

 

[betcats]

Its really only the one broncos genius in this thread. Hes been going at it since last season...something happened to him to have this unnatural dislike of a great team.

 

[Blues Riff]

The amount of easy games the panthers have had this year is just beyond amazing,I can not think of a team less deserving of a top 4 spot in the last 10 years.

Exhibit A
Most of the Trolls have gone into hiding, but this one's not very bright.

 

[Jason Maher]

The amount of easy games the panthers have had this year is just beyond amazing,I can not think of a team less deserving of a top 4 spot in the last 10 years.

They will go out of the finals without a whimper, they have been exposed v the top teams this season the few times they play them.

 

[ACTPanthers]

Exhibit A
Most of the Trolls have gone into hiding, but this one's not very bright.

The result of incest... He can't help it

 

[Blues Riff]

you have about a 3 year window I would suggest before the salary cap kicks in and these depth players will get starting gigs at struggling clubs

Haha no ,not really. What we've done is avoid future Salary cap issues by punting over-paid under-performers and invested in good value players who all pull their weight. The system and culture are the only Superstars here.
There's no window mate. the door's been kicked open.

 

[maple_69]

I think he was referring to the strength of our reserve side being unsustainable. I agree on that front. We'll have good juniors coming up consistently but guys like Anderson, Eto, BMM etc will leave for a first grade gig eventually.

 

[Blues Riff]

No doubt. We'll always be supplying quality players for other teams, but I just don't see the current situation as a "window".

 

[blaza88z]

So what do you see it as? you think you can retain them all without exceeding the cap?

compare what Moylan is on now in comparison to what he will be demanding next time around, I know it's only 1 guy but that's where the problems will be and if your crop is as good as you all make them out to be, you can probably multiply that a few times over.

I have Souths in the same boat, I think if they can't get it done this year they'll be waiting a long long time (in addition to the 4 decades since their last premiership)

 

[soc123_au]

I think the hope is that we will no doubt loose some, keep the freaks like Cartwright, DWZ, Blake etc. Then replace the solid first graders with the next batch.

The other hope is that players will want to stay. Mansour is both a good and bad example of that. Good because he took less to stay & we still are a way off where we want to be. Bad because it was only the Raiders.

 

[Dufmack]

There's no doubt we will lose many but we will get our first pick of the stars that we can sign cheap whilst relatively young, we wont always have such incredible depth but we will always have strong competitive juniors to fill in injuries. Also players such as segeyaro have expressed their will to stay long term at penrith and their is definitely a positive culture building.

I think Gus and Ivan have worked hard to not just buy for a stab at a one off premiership but to establish a club which can maintain itself as competitive over a long period.

 

[Blues Riff]

Gus wanted to emulate the professionalism of the Broncos.
Hopefully he does a better job of managing the salary cap ;-)

 

[maple_69]

Spine players like Moylan and Segeyaro may be a different story as you keep them together as a priority if they're guns. For everyone else. When they need a big contract, they can either ship them out and replace with a junior or they take a pay cut. Whare needs to go, Robert Jennings can go in. As long as our juniors are well managed we should be pretty insulated from the effect of the cap. It should have always been like this for a club with as many juniors as Penrith.

 

[MaxPower]

That's in most threads around here.

Broncos, back to back years missing the finals, feels good.

*freds

 

[broncos2010]

I guess the NRL does have to help the small time clubs out with an easy draw to give the fans some hope :roll::roll: