Round 1 Panthers Vs Cowboys - Panthers Stadium

[betcats]

The amount of mistakes was disappointing but it’s round 1. My biggest concern was the attack without barret and wat I saw last night was an attack that had definitely changed(evolved). Cleary going down the short side on the left and linking with Luai never happened last season, the first five minutes we almost scored a few tries off that. I am stoked with what I saw tbh, we could of very comfortably scored 50 points if we took our chances

I thought momo was excellent with the ball he will be the right centre all season no doubt. Forwards stood up, halves were great. Sadly the most disappointing we had was critta but again it’s round 1.

We are easily top four this season, really should be top two.

 

[betcats]

So May is going to spell Api. I'm not big on May at hooker but he looked pretty good there tonight and I guess it's probably the best option to get him in there and involved. I'd assume if the game was in doubt Api would come back on towards the end, and May might shuffle elsewhere then.

The only time the cows had the ascendancy was at the start of the second half and I put it down to Martin, Huth and Spencer not having been strong defensive during that period. Martin's defence particularly concerns me, it's all effort without any perspective.

Fish doesn't need to play so long that first stint and Yeo doesn't need to play so long. No need to kill them.

More bombs, less Kikau stepping inside.

Martin will be ok, he is a really smart guy off the field he will figure out how to apply that effort effectively given time

 

[betcats]

I didn't notice anything wrong with Staines. He beat HTF who's a speedster while having to turn and chase

hammer is supposed to be faster than the fox and Staines held his own.

 

[betcats]

Staines has been great, especially defensively.
I thought he may get pushed back a bit but he holds his own well.

Got plenty of skill too. Couple nice little kicks from him, he is going to add plenty.

 

[betcats]

Attack was rusty. Defence was top notch.

Attack should improve naturally though. Better start than our 2020 season. Honestly we didnt look good until after our loss to Eels last year. Some very ugly games along the way.

We were rusty but the structure and the ability to move the ball and create chances was great I thought. We just couldn’t ground the ball or stick the last pass. I was honestly so pleased with our attack, we seemed to make linebreaks or half breaks at will.

 

[betcats]

Did anyone see Edwards throw a cut out pass to the right. I didn't think he was capable. If he makes that a consistent skill with Staines on that side we are going to be scary good.

Edwards passing honestly looked great compared to last season. All this shit I talked about him and he comes out passing the ball like a young Matt Moylan lol happy to be wrong about that.

 

[betcats]

also gotta mention Nathan. He doesn’t get much credit for games like that where he didn’t directly score or setup tries but he really just makes the smart decision most of the time and allows the talent around him to do their thing. His kicking is so good. The difference in our set finishes and the cowboys was noticeable tonight.

 

[panthersam]

also gotta mention Nathan. He doesn’t get much credit for games like that where he didn’t directly score or setup tries but he really just makes the smart decision most of the time and allows the talent around him to do their thing. His kicking is so good. The difference in our set finishes and the cowboys was noticeable tonight.

Yeah Nathan looks to be continuing his development into an elite player of our game. No doubt he will be the Australian halfback by the end of the season. His kicking game to me is far and away better than any other half in the comp, he knows when to kick long at the perfect times (I honestly think he will average a 40/20 per game this season) and his attacking kicks when closer to the opposition try line are always pin point accurate. Add that with his evolving running game and the defensive efforts that not many other halves match and he is a true superstar. Happy that he will be leading this club for years to come and I’m hoping it ends up being for his whole career too!

Speaking on kicking games, I really liked seeing both Critta and Staines put in a few nice little kicks last night - really adds another element to everything we already have going on. They both seemed to have great kicking technique when striking the ball.

 

[Girds89]

Probably not, but he's got 3 more weeks. Momo was OK but he doesn't have Naden's x factor.

Agree on this. I thought momo was solid, did nothing wrong. But really didn't stand out, which, for a side with 65% of possession is a bit average.

To me he looks a great back up player but lacks a bit of x factor.

 

[Girds89]

On Naden's form today he is no where near ready for FG

Well he shouldn't be fb or wing. Needs to be at centre

 

[martielang]

Well clearly I am seeing things differently to everyone else.

The Cowboys were Diabolically bad. They were so pathetic there were reserve grade teams that would have beaten them today. Kyle Feldt by himself was a one man horror show.

Our efforts against them were poor. I could never imagine being this unsatisfied with a 24-0 Victory but here we are.

The other 'good' teams in this comp would have put 50-60 on that complete rabble - those teams being Storm, Roosters, Rabbitohs, Raiders perhaps even the Eel's. Our attack was awful and clunky.

The plan seemed to be give it to Laui and the Mt Druitt mob on the left even if they had ZERO space to work with and it was bad. It seemed as though they thought they could score off every play. WRONG. You have to create space on the outside by having your forwards creating momentum and drawing some of the defence toward them! The amount of times I saw them receive the ball flat footed 15 metres from the sideline and think they could go around them was crazy. Even the diabolical Cowboys could defend that most of the time and they did. Seemingly the hype has gotten to their heads. Enough of the 'Hero ball' - I hope that IC cuts that crap out - thankfully they seem to realise it toward the middle of the 2nd half and cut back on that a little.

The handling errors from our team were awful. We have to cut that shit out quick smart if we want to contend for a top 2 spot.

Our Defence was seemingly excellent - but it is hard to judge. The Cowboys offered close to nothing and their mounting error rate fatigued them. So it could have been a case of we 'forced' them into constant error - or they were just hopeless. IMO it was a bit of both.

Based on this game I could say two things - we would have lost to the other Top 6 teams on today's form (maybe not the Eel's) - and the Cowboys would have to be clear favourites for the spoon.

The old team ABC would’ve smashed us today argument. Not sure how you come to such big conclusions based on 80 mins of the season where we were as physically dominant as any other team who has played this week. Our execution was a little off, everything else looked as sharp as last year. We were 2 or 3 (very) poor decisions from winning 40+ zip. The decision from Crichton not to pass to To’o in the first 5 mins a prime example of that.

Good first hit out, no where near the finished product with is exciting to see. New guys slotted in well, the forwards looked strong & fit.

I probably disagree with May looking good at hooker. Thought it highlighted how important Api is. That was the only time I thought we looked clunky. If we’re not going to play him as a roving lock, I’d rather Kenny on the bench.

 

[panthersam]

We were 2 or 3 (very) poor decisions from winning 40+ zip. The decision from Crichton not to pass to To’o in the first 5 mins a prime example of that.

This is exactly right - add in Liam Martin dropping the ball with the line wide open and the two disallowed tries for Momo and To’o and we weren’t far off even looking at 50+. I dare say if this game wasn’t a first out hit up we probably do hit that type of score line.

 

[franklin2323]

This is exactly right - add in Liam Martin dropping the ball with the line wide open and the two disallowed tries for Momo and To’o and we weren’t far off even looking at 50+. I dare say if this game wasn’t a first out hit up we probably do hit that type of score line.

Martin himself said after the game he bombed it.

We missed 15 tackles. You will win most weeks doing that

 

[The Realist]

The old team ABC would’ve smashed us today argument. Not sure how you come to such big conclusions based on 80 mins of the season where we were as physically dominant as any other team who has played this week. Our execution was a little off, everything else looked as sharp as last year. We were 2 or 3 (very) poor decisions from winning 40+ zip. The decision from Crichton not to pass to To’o in the first 5 mins a prime example of that.

Good first hit out, no where near the finished product with is exciting to see. New guys slotted in well, the forwards looked strong & fit.

I probably disagree with May looking good at hooker. Thought it highlighted how important Api is. That was the only time I thought we looked clunky. If we’re not going to play him as a roving lock, I’d rather Kenny on the bench.

Can anyone tell me with a straight face that we'd have beaten the Storm or Roosters last night?

Souths probably would have though I think we'd have beaten the Eel's. Guess we will see with the Raiders.

Last night was as unimpressive as a 24-0 win gets. It was as ameaturish performance (in attack) as I have seen in a while with a scoreboard that looked great only because the opposition were a complete and utter rabble that honestly were not NRL standard.

I guess the positive is, that there is significant room for improvement which is an exciting prospect.

Round 3 will be the real test.

 

[franklin2323]

Well he shouldn't be fb or wing. Needs to be at centre

Ivan wants strong defence in centre though. Mom ticks those boxes

 

[Panther Pete]

James Fisher Harris recorded 211 running meters, and Spencer Leniu, 157 meters. Sounds like they used the Cowboy players as human ten pin bowling pins.

They both put in amazing efforts. See Maple’s post #544, it sums up the game perfectly.

 

[BuddPanther]

They still had about 3 or more gears to notch up. 1st round and yes attack needs some work but defensively were rock solid. Don’t matter if it’s the Roosters or Storm. We would of strangled them as well and they would of looked like the Cowboys.

 

[panthersam]

Can anyone tell me with a straight face that we'd have beaten the Storm or Roosters last night?

Souths probably would have though I think we'd have beaten the Eel's. Guess we will see with the Raiders.

Last night was as unimpressive as a 24-0 win gets. It was as ameaturish performance (in attack) as I have seen in a while with a scoreboard that looked great only because the opposition were a complete and utter rabble that honestly were not NRL standard.

I guess the positive is, that there is significant room for improvement which is an exciting prospect.

Round 3 will be the real test.

It’s impossible to answer that as we weren’t playing the Storm or the Roosters, we were playing the Cowboys.

The game would have been completely different if the opponent was different.

 

[Girds89]

Martin himself said after the game he bombed it.

We missed 15 tackles. You will win most weeks doing that

Cows threw nothing at us.

I know you can only play what's in front of you but we'd have missed much more versing storm or chooks. Storms first half was absolutely clinical and no team in the nrl was stopping that.

Last night was a nice win. A lot to work on now.

Positives for me were clearys kicking game has improved again.
Brian Too fantastic
Edwards continues to prove doubters wrong
Spencer is a very special talent
Eiso made me eat my words. Whilst it's easy to look good with 65% possession..I thought he was strong. I hope he keeps it up. He is a tall guy, should be encouraged to offload in attacking territory

Concerns-
Staines is definitely going to be a work in progress and take time. Only 80 odd meters in a completely dominant performance is not the best. I don't expect him to be mansour but he should be used more around the ruck and tired markers.

I thought our right side in general lacked a bit of punch. Capewell was good but it stopped there. Momo and Staines really did nothing. Our attack was very much dominated through middle and left. Our attack was clunky in general though so im sure it'll improve.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Well he shouldn't be fb or wing. Needs to be at centre

Why not wing? To me that’s his most natural position.