round 1 v the gummy sharks

[Caged Panther]

Pritchard out, Bell in.
Final line-up:
1. Lachlan Coote 2. Michael Gordon 3. Michael Jennings 4. Brad Tighe 5. Shane Elford 6. Luke Lewis 7. Jarrod Sammut 8. Tim Grant 9. Paul Aiton 10. Petero Civoniceva (C) 11. Trent Waterhouse 12. Gavin Cooper 13. Nathan Smith. Interchange: 15. Adam Woolnough 16. Frank Puletua 17. Masada Iosefa 18. Matthew Bell

Worst forward pack ever? (Excluding Petero).

Personally I've been very impressed with Cooper in the first half.

 

[murraymob]

not often you get to see but
Frank pulutua one of the stand outs in the game

 

[pantherz9103]

Sammut isn't up to it as a first grade halfback. Tonight proved that. He plays for himself as all those early tackle kicks proved.

Certainly had chances to win the game but had no idea how to attack. Only individual brilliance from Jennings could get us over the line.

 

[bigfoot]

Sammut isn't up to it as a first grade halfback. Tonight proved that.

He still hasn't been given a fair chance to prove himself though. Was screwed around with the whole of last year by Iddiott, and is now playing at halfback with a 5/8 who is a centre/lock (preferably), a lock who has never kicked a footy in his life, and a young fullback playing one of his first ever games of first grade... how can you say he is not up to it under those circumstances? :crazy:
Not to mention it was the first game of the season, we were playing a very good defensive team who finished equal first last year, and it was pelting down rain...

He plays for himself as all those early tackle kicks proved.

Sammut, Lewis and Coote were ALL kicking early though, weren't they?
Must have been what supercoach was working on for the last 6 months. :lol:

Ok, to sum up:
We scored one try the entire game, through nothing more than Jennings brilliance (did it all himself). Other than that, we didn't score a SINGLE try, even though we had insane amounts of possession. Lewis and Sammut struggled.
So why the f**k did Iddiott drop Graham, the best playmaker in our side? :x
Looks like this is going to be a long year.
Nothing has changed since last season.

 

[*Sandy*]

Women prefer the rugged mountain men anyday as opposed to the bleached beach yuppies from the Shire.

Maybe Zelda...


On the game. Didnt get the flogging I expected. Personally thought Lachlan Coote, Michael Gordon and Michael Jennings had great games. I also though Sammut was active.

Lots of improvement to work on.

 

[pantherz9103]

He still hasn't been given a fair chance to prove himself though. Was screwed around with the whole of last year by Iddiott, and is now playing at halfback with a 5/8 who is a centre/lock (preferably), a lock who has never kicked a footy in his life, and a young fullback playing one of his first ever games of first grade... how can you say he is not up to it under those circumstances? :crazy:
Not to mention it was the first game of the season, we were playing a very good defensive team who finished equal first last year, and it was pelting down rain...


Sammut, Lewis and Coote were ALL kicking early though, weren't they?
Must have been what supercoach was working on for the last 6 months. :lol:

.

Quite simply he's not who I'd pick if I was coach. I'd pick Graham as chief playmaker and Lewis should be in the backrow.

Yes we were playing a good defensive team in heavy rain but we had alot of good field position and didn't make anything like good use of it because of all the silly options. If we were going to fail to score points I atleast wish we would use up our tackle count.

On a more positive note, I think Elford and Cooper played alright in their debuts tonight. They are useful signings.

It could be another long year, but its only Round 1 and we are usually even worse in Round 1 games than tonight, lol.

 

[Caged Panther]

Sammut isn't up to it as a first grade halfback. Tonight proved that. He plays for himself as all those early tackle kicks proved.

Certainly had chances to win the game but had no idea how to attack. Only individual brilliance from Jennings could get us over the line.

yeah except for the fact lewis and coote also had a go at those early kicks.

 

[Mr Angry]

Lewis to lock, Graham in to help Sammut.

 

[*Sandy*]

Lewis to lock, Graham in to help Sammut.

Yep. It's how it should be. Hope the injuries tonight don't hurt you too much over the season Mr Angry. I take it your home and the night was relatively an early one and the Mrs is happy? ;-)

 

[bigfoot]

Quite simply he's not who I'd pick if I was coach. I'd pick Graham as chief playmaker and Lewis should be in the backrow.

Fair enough then. I would pick Graham as chief playmaker too, however I don't think you can write off Sammut's skill and ability when he hasn't exactly had a dream run. I would select him at 5/8, helping the young(er) bloke out.

Yes we were playing a good defensive team in heavy rain but we had alot of good field position and didn't make anything like good use of it because of all the silly options. If we were going to fail to score points I atleast wish we would use up our tackle count.

This is where it would have helped to have Graham in the side and Lewis at lock, IMO. Pity we have a coach who has no idea... :roll:

And yeah, Elford and Cooper did ok. Tighe though should be dropped to make way for Gordon to move to centre (doesn't get enough ball on the wing) and Tia Kilifi to the wing.

Hopefully things pick up from here, and I hate to be all doom and gloom... but when the team produces this first round, its hard to be confident about the rest of the season.

 

[Munky]

Lewis to lock, Graham in to help Sammut.

With Smith to sit on Elliot's lap.

 

[Dave Q]

Gameplan held up for awhile but the boys just couldnt see it through.

It was simple but the luck didnt roll the Panthers way and then sadly, the white flag came out a little bit earlier than it should have.

Considering the Sharks are just about premiership favourites, I reckon the result is excusable, at least something to build upon for next week.

The sharks are white-hot, dripping with experience and notable talent and your youngsters had a real dig. Kudos for the kids, they will improve and on a dry track, who knows what they can do?

I would have preferred the upset win, but in all of the circumstances, they did OK.

 

[Mr Angry]

Yep. It's how it should be. Hope the injuries tonight don't hurt you too much over the season Mr Angry. I take it your home and the night was relatively an early one and the Mrs is happy? ;-)

She went out, good on her.

Given time together Coote, Graham, Sammut and Iosefa will be a good core, start next week I say.

Many think they have seen the spoon team tonight.

Experience in Petro and Lewis and pace out wide, you will win games.

Elliot though...............

 

[Pantha-Boy]

I think Smith had a wonderful game and proved himself worthy of his lock spot.
If he can keep it up i think he will keep his spot.

 

[snoozer]

the early kicking killed you guys tonight.

i dont think sammut is up to first grade standard.
coote needs a bit more time to mature(i think he's got heaps of potential though), he was getting too frustrated and showed his inexperience.

 

[Fibroman]

Shark Park in the dripping wet. Fisrst game of the season. I can't really complaint about too much as a diw hard Panther supporter.

No real wek links aside from the age old last tackle kicking options. Please never give the ball to Luke Lewis on the 5th tackle. He is one of the best defenders in the game and a great runner of the ball, but he can't kick for sh1t.

 

[maple_69]

My thanks to the lady at the gate who wouldn't sell me a seat under cover even though there were thousands empty. So we ended up enjoying all the joys of a coastal shower.

Coote was safe, and ran it back with confidence, looked like he was half through a few times.
Gordon was a bit quite I thought but my view was pretty horrid.
Elford and Cooper went ok. Jennings was solid and looked dangerous at times.
Forwards I guess did their job and matched it with the Sharks and can't really be blamed for dropped ball, we held onto it better than the Sharks.
Sammut did nothing spectacular and Lewis is not a kicking option, its no longer a question.

I can't be too hard on the side. I think we will struggle a lot in the rain. It's a side full of flair that will want to throw the ball around and try things. Not exactly suited to wearing such a hard nosed side down as we attempted to do. Give a few smart selections, Pritchard coming back in, I'm not to dispirited by tonight's showing.

Oh and Tighe did nothing to prove he warrants a first grade spot.
I'll be looking forward to seeing Gordon in the centres, Tia Kilifi outside him, Graham in the halves, Pritchard on the bench and Lewis at lock next week.

 

[anjado]

I thought we were very poor last night to be honest, Cronulla were awful if they were playing anyone decent they would of been smashed. We really lacked any sort of cutting edge with the ball with the exception of Jennings, Why we kept kicking early in the tackle count i have no idea we seemed more worried about forcing goal line dropouts then scoring points.

Really i personally don't think we will play a worse side all year Cronulla dropped so much ball and we were camped in there 20 for most of the game and could only score once it is very worrying.

I personally never expected much this season i thought we would finish last if we continue to play as poorly as that we might struggle to win a game and this isn't some knee-jerk reaction we were just so inept at scoring points, Our bench is very very poor Frank Puletua and Adam Woolnough you can maybe have one on the bench, Matthew Bell is solid but really offers no impact at all which is what you want from the bench.

I hope next week we bring back Graham he has a good long passing game which might improve the teams attack, Move Lewis to the Centres or Lock. Sammut hasn't really done much but Penrith in there infinate wisdom feel we don't need halves only backrowers at the club.

If Matt Elliott stays coach i really can't see any improvement forth coming, We need a Neil Henry or Tim Sheens type coach who will let the players express themselves we are just so unimaginitive in attack really i can't think of a Penrith team worse in attack then the current one.

 

[t1tan]

Gameplan held up for awhile but the boys just couldnt see it through.

It was simple but the luck didnt roll the Panthers way and then sadly, the white flag came out a little bit earlier than it should have.

Considering the Sharks are just about premiership favourites, I reckon the result is excusable, at least something to build upon for next week.

The sharks are white-hot, dripping with experience and notable talent and your youngsters had a real dig. Kudos for the kids, they will improve and on a dry track, who knows what they can do?

I would have preferred the upset win, but in all of the circumstances, they did OK.[/quote]

This unfortunately is the mindset of management..

 

[murraymob]

penrith would have won last night if tighe was on the wing or not there same with sammut if graham has his place we win .The kick happy attitude cost dearly.Kicking at times on the second .My concerns about this was there even during the trial.Most of penrith tries came fromkicks