What's new
The Front Row Forums

Register a free account today to become a member of the world's largest Rugby League discussion forum! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Please, anyone else in 2021

firechild

First Grade
Messages
8,042
I don’t think the draft is the right way. The Dogs have responded to what we have done are are lifting their game across the organisation (Gould common denominator) and I can see them having a good few years.
The dogs are just trying to buy what Penrith has done, not respond to it. Parra did it when Manly were having a run of success. They bought a few players (didn't get as many as they were after) and coaching staff but fizzled out because it doesn't really work that way. The dogs are a stronger club than Parra so they may have a bit more success but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a few good years and then fall back to mediocrity when they don't get the near instant results.
 

MugaB

Coach
Messages
14,326
The dogs are just trying to buy what Penrith has done, not respond to it. Parra did it when Manly were having a run of success. They bought a few players (didn't get as many as they were after) and coaching staff but fizzled out because it doesn't really work that way. The dogs are a stronger club than Parra so they may have a bit more success but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a few good years and then fall back to mediocrity when they don't get the near instant results.
Don't be fooled, these dogs purchases are not the team that will give them their run of success, it's the teams below them that will be the real challenge, we've already seen a few debut this season, but the mercs "utilities" are there purely to help these kids become steady 1st graders, this is what happened at Penrith, give it a few more seasons, I would say only a handful of this current team remain, the rest will be from their crop below
 

titoelcolombiano

First Grade
Messages
6,379
Let me preface this comment by being upfront, do I dislike most of the Panthers team because of Origin? Yes. Do I have a soft spot for the Storm because of Origin? Yes. Am I still pissed off that the Broncos choked away a 16 point lead last year? Yes

Ok now that my disclaimer is out of the way, Penrith are obviously a supremely talented side and deserve everything they get but f**k me their style is boring as batshit and I'd be happy to see them take a break from winning premierships for a good decade or so.

I know their fan base will be bigger in the future but currently they are a small club and a small club dominating the NRL does very little for the game as a whole. If this were dogs or Warriors doing a four in a row for example, attendances everywhere would be lifted on the back of it.
 

MugaB

Coach
Messages
14,326
Let me preface this comment by being upfront, do I dislike most of the Panthers team because of Origin? Yes. Do I have a soft spot for the Storm because of Origin? Yes. Am I still pissed off that the Broncos choked away a 16 point lead last year? Yes

Ok now that my disclaimer is out of the way, Penrith are obviously a supremely talented side and deserve everything they get but f**k me their style is boring as batshit and I'd be happy to see them take a break from winning premierships for a good decade or so.

I know their fan base will be bigger in the future but currently they are a small club and a small club dominating the NRL does very little for the game as a whole. If this were dogs or Warriors doing a four in a row for example, attendances everywhere would be lifted on the back of it.
I doubt you've walked the streets of Western Sydney to suggest they are a small club.. the fanbase is large, and it's mostly to do with how they are engaging with their fans especially after each game, most players hide in the sheds after any club game, these guys are out there well after the games done, even at away games, shows the effort of the team as a whole to ensure that they are milking their time with the public as much as possible
 
Messages
14,931
It will be interesting to see the long term implications of this. A lot of the boomers on the younger end of that generation are Dragons fans (brining/grew up during the 11 straight). A lot of the 45-50 year olds I work with are Eels fans (started watching the game in the early 80s).

In 50 years will kids be talking about how they know a heap of older Panthers fans?
 

MKCS

Juniors
Messages
639
Let me preface this comment by being upfront, do I dislike most of the Panthers team because of Origin? Yes. Do I have a soft spot for the Storm because of Origin? Yes. Am I still pissed off that the Broncos choked away a 16 point lead last year? Yes

Ok now that my disclaimer is out of the way, Penrith are obviously a supremely talented side and deserve everything they get but f**k me their style is boring as batshit and I'd be happy to see them take a break from winning premierships for a good decade or so.

I know their fan base will be bigger in the future but currently they are a small club and a small club dominating the NRL does very little for the game as a whole. If this were dogs or Warriors doing a four in a row for example, attendances everywhere would be lifted on the back of it.

Definitely not a small club at all, Penrith has one of the biggest support areas, you start seeing Penrith fans from about Blacktown, Hawkesbury and Liverpool and then obviously more as you get closer to Penrith. That's a million potential fans from those areas alone but then outside of Sydney you see Penrith being widely supported in places like Bathurst, Blue Mountains, the entirety of the Central West, Dubbo etc so it has strong city support and regional support like the Dragons and Knights. Panthers would have 1.3 million people or so that could (Obviously not all of them will) identify with the club and be catered to via community outreach etc.

Bulldogs in comparison have an area of 300,000 people and no regional areas to get fans from, to the west they compete with Penrith, to the north they compete with Parra, to the east they compete with the Tigers or Roosters/Souths and to the south they compete with the Sharks. Bulldogs have a shit ton of money, that's why people view them as a big club.
 

flippikat

First Grade
Messages
5,057
This run started with Gus sorting out the set up from top to bottom, slow burn but we got there. No reason other clubs can't duplicate it at least to an extent. Not all our "juniors" were born in the Penrith Council area. Other clubs had an equal shot at guys like Edwards, Martin, Yeo and plenty of others. Plenty of clubs also have decent junior comps left to wither on the vine.
From what I gather, Gus is trying to replicate what he did at the Panthers with the Bulldogs - and there's a good chance that will reach fruition by the end of this decade.
 

flippikat

First Grade
Messages
5,057
Don't be fooled, these dogs purchases are not the team that will give them their run of success, it's the teams below them that will be the real challenge, we've already seen a few debut this season, but the mercs "utilities" are there purely to help these kids become steady 1st graders, this is what happened at Penrith, give it a few more seasons, I would say only a handful of this current team remain, the rest will be from their crop below
Precisely this - the Bulldogs spending spree is a short term move that was always going to happen once their cap was freed-up. (They had a LOT of dead money in their spending - duds, paying out contracts, you name it)

Now that's largely behind them, they have a decent amount of space under the cap to fill. Meanwhile, Gus is working on systems to nail-down pathways for the medium-long term - and that's where the "Penrith way" comes in.
 

mxlegend99

Referee
Messages
23,284
From what I gather, Gus is trying to replicate what he did at the Panthers with the Bulldogs - and there's a good chance that will reach fruition by the end of this decade.
Next step. He needs to sack Ciraldo because he is looking tired and hire Walters without interviewing anyone for the job.

Walters brings his kid with him and the pieces are falling into place.
 

Wb1234

Immortal
Messages
31,534
I doubt you've walked the streets of Western Sydney to suggest they are a small club.. the fanbase is large, and it's mostly to do with how they are engaging with their fans especially after each game, most players hide in the sheds after any club game, these guys are out there well after the games done, even at away games, shows the effort of the team as a whole to ensure that they are milking their time with the public as much as possible
They are still one of the smaller Sydney clubs being amongst the last to come in the nswrl and the small population Penrith has had for 50 years which is now changing
 

BunniesMan

Immortal
Messages
33,709
4 premierships in a row and they still can't average 20k a week crowds. Small clubs are small for a reason.

Souths, Dogs, Dragons, Eels would be averaging bigger numbers than the Broncos if we had 4 in a row
 

soc123_au

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
19,707
4 premierships in a row and they still can't average 20k a week crowds. Small clubs are small for a reason.

Souths, Dogs, Dragons, Eels would be averaging bigger numbers than the Broncos if we had 4 in a row
Only one Goldenrod for this one, feels like as much effort went into it as a Latrell prelim circa 2022
 

Latest posts

Top