Dylan- 9/10. What a year again.. if injury hadnt struck him down no doubt he wouldve been a chance of the dally m. Should how special he really is by owning origin. Bloke is just a winner.. whatever happens in the future we should look to lock him up post footy in a coaching/mentoring role.
Too- 7.5/10. Another good year by bizza.. not his best over the last 5 but still very good.. loses half a point for the stuff arounds post origin
Tago- 6/10. Disappointing year overall but he made it count when it mattered most..was hurt by an ever changing right edge making it hard for him to get going. But showed hes qualities in the big dance.. defence was incredible. Hopefully he takes this year as a big learning curve into next year. Never ever thought he was as bad as some made out and always was confident he was our best centre and we had to stick by him. Turned out to be a great decision by ivan to do just that. Im confident next year will be his best yet.
Alamonti- 7/10. Defence was an issue. Statistically the worst but he improved significantly as the year went on and he really showed glimpses of his attacking abilities. Hopefully like tago will build on this for next year.
Tito- 5/10. Like tago had a bit of a drop off compared to previous year. Struggled badly at times in d but came through at the end. Goes out as a winner and has been great for the panthers.
Luai- 10/10. Absolute incredible year. At all levels. Dominated origin.. dominated for us at 7 with most thought he couldn't. He steered us round through injuries and big outs soo well. He really straightened up his attack this year and his long kicking game was exceptional. Will go down as one of the great panthers of all time. 89% win record with nath. Just incredible. Other than being the energy man for the team, the thing we will probably miss most is his defence. Without doubt likely the best defensive half in the game. Great reader of defence and incredibly tough defender. Will be a huge loss.
Nath- 8/10. When fit he was very good. Just did nath things. Loses some points just due to heing out half the year but still a great year..
Leota- 5/10. Quiet a disappointing year by big leota. I think fish leaving may have affected him more then we know.. obviously now we know hes been carrying injuries all year but we will need much more from him next year.
Kenny- 8.5/10. Probably one of the most underatted players in the game. Hes work off the ball and defence, line speed is best in the game..other than one or two games his service was first class and he developed a tiny bit of a running game and short kicking game this year..
Fish- 6.5/10. Probs a good time to farewell the great man. Will go down as our best ever prop but i think we got the best out of him and is on the decline. What a player he has been for the panthers tho. Just a tough fit beast.
Marto- 5.5/10. Not his best year by his owm admissions. Will need to wear his "blue" jersey mindset every time he plays for us next year as when he plays in that mindset hes a 9/10 like the gf..
Soro- 5/10. Same as above. Not his best year but in the big dance found his best and was instrumental in us getting the win..hopefully one more great year left in him.
Yeo- 10/10. The best player in game. Say no more.
Garner- 8/10. Great year and he really wemt to another level. We missed him terribly whem he was out. I reckon he will be even better next year. Become an intergral part of the team
Smith- 8.5/10. What a year capped off as a roo. Needs to build on this and really come into next year firing on all cylinders. He has skills and an offload and he should be encouraged to use them
Henry- 8/10. Really developed nicely as the year went on. He will just get better and better. Absolute workhorse who is sooo reliable. Hopefully another year in the gym and he builds a bit more power and really take his running game up a level.
Eiso- 7/10. Just did what he had to amd never let us down. Great clubman
Casey- 8/10. Yep higher then tago and Alamonti. I think what he did in a rookie year in a team without cleary and battling injuries and origin was pretty incredible. Huge future ahead of him..will be interesting to see how he fits in. Imo he will be someone we cant leave out.
Others that played worth a shout-
Trent and sommo both did great when they were called upon.
Mav started pretty average but got stronger the more games he played. I think he will struggle to crack first grade next year but i hope im wromg and hope he really can kick on next year. Hes a bloke that needs to really go after it.. this coming season will be make or break for him. So he needs to get back for pre season a 3-4 weeks early and really go hard in the gym and fitness.
Patea obviously going to have a big future but probs still 12 months away.
Schnieder- 5.5/10. He did what he had to.. i dont rate him but he did a job i guess. I would prefer trent or cole next year to fill in.
Cole- the main concern is he is just sooo injury prone. The big thing that impressed me was how strong he was in defence. Like mav he probs needs to come back early and knock the house down in the pre season.
In terms of next year i think garners development in the 2md row may chamge where we look to play papali. I think they got him as a 2md rower but given how well garner played this year and ivan clearly trusts soro at 2nd row as shown in the gf youd think marto, soro and garner may have 2md row locked up. Papali is good in the middle and offers good leg speed and leg drive and is mobile.
Talagi for mine like mav and cole needs to get in early. Maybe a month before pre season amd hit the gym and fitness and start to learn the structures. Hes my tip for 6 and from what ive seen in the nrl and highlights of juniors on YouTube i think hes the closest we have to a luai replacement all be it a fair bit bigger.. but hes running game is great. Has a good passing amd short kicking game. Very skillful player who is clearly more naturally gifted than cole, schnieder and trent.
Lastly where does daine laurie fit in.
For mine if you take out the ivan brain fade where he played him on the wing he was a 9/10 for us this year..when he filled in for dyl he was brilliant and a genuine game breaker. He is such a skillful player who has electric speed over 20-30m. Similar to moylan in the fact he has that great vision and passing game but can see a whole popping up and isnt afraid to put his body on the line.
Id love for nothing more than for ivan to spend the off-season working out a way to get daine 20 or so mins a game as a 14. Not sure how wed do it but i think hed be absolutely dynamic off the bench against tired packs. He would cause havoc against tired big fellas.
I know its early but my team for rd1 2025 if everyone is fit-
1. Edwards
2. Too
3. Tago
4. Alamonti
5. Jesse
6. Talagi
7. Nath
8. Leota
9. Kenny
10. Papali
11. Soro
12. Marto
13. Yeo
14. Laurie
15. Smith
16. Henry
17. Garner
18. Cole
19. Casey
20. Eiso
21. Mav
22. Schnieder
23. Sommo
24. Trent
25. Patea
Casey to be first cab off the rank if theres a injury to the back 2-5
Daine if edwards goes down.
Eiso or patea if a prop goes down
Mav for 2nd row
Sommo for kenny
And mav as 2md row cover.
Overall i actually think given the debuts weve had and the development of blokes plus bringing im papali and talagi i think we are in a really really strong position for next year.
If we can keep the big 3 on the park all year in yeo, nath and edwards we will be right up there again i think.
Looking forward to vegas already.
Last but not least..
Ivan cleary and all his staff- 10/10. There was maybe one or two things i think where he couldve lost half a point here or there. Daine laurie on the wing was horrendously bad. But he showed faith in Tago when he needed to. He stuck solid on alot of guys that ppl said needed to be dropped.
All year i said each year weve won we have done it a little bit different. All year i said it felt like we were playing the long game this year... turned out that was exactly the case. Ivan did ivan things and got the boys primed and firimg on all cylinders exactky when it mattered.
In terms of keeping the desire and fire in the belly for 5 years you have to commend him. He really has been incredible. And not just him. All the marketing team and everyone at the club deseves praise. The jersey presentations. The media guys. Whoever created the billboards for each player in the gf whith there junior club under the Panthers jersey with words of things important in their role deserves an award. Brilliant idea!!!
No doubt in my mind we are the greatest team in history. And i cant see it stopping
Too- 7.5/10. Another good year by bizza.. not his best over the last 5 but still very good.. loses half a point for the stuff arounds post origin
Tago- 6/10. Disappointing year overall but he made it count when it mattered most..was hurt by an ever changing right edge making it hard for him to get going. But showed hes qualities in the big dance.. defence was incredible. Hopefully he takes this year as a big learning curve into next year. Never ever thought he was as bad as some made out and always was confident he was our best centre and we had to stick by him. Turned out to be a great decision by ivan to do just that. Im confident next year will be his best yet.
Alamonti- 7/10. Defence was an issue. Statistically the worst but he improved significantly as the year went on and he really showed glimpses of his attacking abilities. Hopefully like tago will build on this for next year.
Tito- 5/10. Like tago had a bit of a drop off compared to previous year. Struggled badly at times in d but came through at the end. Goes out as a winner and has been great for the panthers.
Luai- 10/10. Absolute incredible year. At all levels. Dominated origin.. dominated for us at 7 with most thought he couldn't. He steered us round through injuries and big outs soo well. He really straightened up his attack this year and his long kicking game was exceptional. Will go down as one of the great panthers of all time. 89% win record with nath. Just incredible. Other than being the energy man for the team, the thing we will probably miss most is his defence. Without doubt likely the best defensive half in the game. Great reader of defence and incredibly tough defender. Will be a huge loss.
Nath- 8/10. When fit he was very good. Just did nath things. Loses some points just due to heing out half the year but still a great year..
Leota- 5/10. Quiet a disappointing year by big leota. I think fish leaving may have affected him more then we know.. obviously now we know hes been carrying injuries all year but we will need much more from him next year.
Kenny- 8.5/10. Probably one of the most underatted players in the game. Hes work off the ball and defence, line speed is best in the game..other than one or two games his service was first class and he developed a tiny bit of a running game and short kicking game this year..
Fish- 6.5/10. Probs a good time to farewell the great man. Will go down as our best ever prop but i think we got the best out of him and is on the decline. What a player he has been for the panthers tho. Just a tough fit beast.
Marto- 5.5/10. Not his best year by his owm admissions. Will need to wear his "blue" jersey mindset every time he plays for us next year as when he plays in that mindset hes a 9/10 like the gf..
Soro- 5/10. Same as above. Not his best year but in the big dance found his best and was instrumental in us getting the win..hopefully one more great year left in him.
Yeo- 10/10. The best player in game. Say no more.
Garner- 8/10. Great year and he really wemt to another level. We missed him terribly whem he was out. I reckon he will be even better next year. Become an intergral part of the team
Smith- 8.5/10. What a year capped off as a roo. Needs to build on this and really come into next year firing on all cylinders. He has skills and an offload and he should be encouraged to use them
Henry- 8/10. Really developed nicely as the year went on. He will just get better and better. Absolute workhorse who is sooo reliable. Hopefully another year in the gym and he builds a bit more power and really take his running game up a level.
Eiso- 7/10. Just did what he had to amd never let us down. Great clubman
Casey- 8/10. Yep higher then tago and Alamonti. I think what he did in a rookie year in a team without cleary and battling injuries and origin was pretty incredible. Huge future ahead of him..will be interesting to see how he fits in. Imo he will be someone we cant leave out.
Others that played worth a shout-
Trent and sommo both did great when they were called upon.
Mav started pretty average but got stronger the more games he played. I think he will struggle to crack first grade next year but i hope im wromg and hope he really can kick on next year. Hes a bloke that needs to really go after it.. this coming season will be make or break for him. So he needs to get back for pre season a 3-4 weeks early and really go hard in the gym and fitness.
Patea obviously going to have a big future but probs still 12 months away.
Schnieder- 5.5/10. He did what he had to.. i dont rate him but he did a job i guess. I would prefer trent or cole next year to fill in.
Cole- the main concern is he is just sooo injury prone. The big thing that impressed me was how strong he was in defence. Like mav he probs needs to come back early and knock the house down in the pre season.
In terms of next year i think garners development in the 2md row may chamge where we look to play papali. I think they got him as a 2md rower but given how well garner played this year and ivan clearly trusts soro at 2nd row as shown in the gf youd think marto, soro and garner may have 2md row locked up. Papali is good in the middle and offers good leg speed and leg drive and is mobile.
Talagi for mine like mav and cole needs to get in early. Maybe a month before pre season amd hit the gym and fitness and start to learn the structures. Hes my tip for 6 and from what ive seen in the nrl and highlights of juniors on YouTube i think hes the closest we have to a luai replacement all be it a fair bit bigger.. but hes running game is great. Has a good passing amd short kicking game. Very skillful player who is clearly more naturally gifted than cole, schnieder and trent.
Lastly where does daine laurie fit in.
For mine if you take out the ivan brain fade where he played him on the wing he was a 9/10 for us this year..when he filled in for dyl he was brilliant and a genuine game breaker. He is such a skillful player who has electric speed over 20-30m. Similar to moylan in the fact he has that great vision and passing game but can see a whole popping up and isnt afraid to put his body on the line.
Id love for nothing more than for ivan to spend the off-season working out a way to get daine 20 or so mins a game as a 14. Not sure how wed do it but i think hed be absolutely dynamic off the bench against tired packs. He would cause havoc against tired big fellas.
I know its early but my team for rd1 2025 if everyone is fit-
1. Edwards
2. Too
3. Tago
4. Alamonti
5. Jesse
6. Talagi
7. Nath
8. Leota
9. Kenny
10. Papali
11. Soro
12. Marto
13. Yeo
14. Laurie
15. Smith
16. Henry
17. Garner
18. Cole
19. Casey
20. Eiso
21. Mav
22. Schnieder
23. Sommo
24. Trent
25. Patea
Casey to be first cab off the rank if theres a injury to the back 2-5
Daine if edwards goes down.
Eiso or patea if a prop goes down
Mav for 2nd row
Sommo for kenny
And mav as 2md row cover.
Overall i actually think given the debuts weve had and the development of blokes plus bringing im papali and talagi i think we are in a really really strong position for next year.
If we can keep the big 3 on the park all year in yeo, nath and edwards we will be right up there again i think.
Looking forward to vegas already.
Last but not least..
Ivan cleary and all his staff- 10/10. There was maybe one or two things i think where he couldve lost half a point here or there. Daine laurie on the wing was horrendously bad. But he showed faith in Tago when he needed to. He stuck solid on alot of guys that ppl said needed to be dropped.
All year i said each year weve won we have done it a little bit different. All year i said it felt like we were playing the long game this year... turned out that was exactly the case. Ivan did ivan things and got the boys primed and firimg on all cylinders exactky when it mattered.
In terms of keeping the desire and fire in the belly for 5 years you have to commend him. He really has been incredible. And not just him. All the marketing team and everyone at the club deseves praise. The jersey presentations. The media guys. Whoever created the billboards for each player in the gf whith there junior club under the Panthers jersey with words of things important in their role deserves an award. Brilliant idea!!!
No doubt in my mind we are the greatest team in history. And i cant see it stopping
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