Round 18 VS Dragons

[Fangs]

He played limited centre this year. Just inexperience

Lets hope so.

Not trying to shit on him. He has been a revelation since he came into first grade. Needs to learn fast though.

 

[box57l]

There are some tough markers here tonight. We won. We put on 40 points. We beat a team which was coming off a big loss. We will win by 7 next week to continue the trend.

 

[Westernised Panther]

Can’t see panthers winning 7 in a row

Time to load up on the dragons

TTTTHHHHAAAANNNNKKKK
YYYYOOOOUUUU
@Rhyno !!!!

Merkin........

 

[age.s]

Very happy with that. We've been threatening to do that to a few teams now but kept butchering opportunities. We didn't butcher many tonight and had the refs against us to boot.

As some have said Cleary was fantastic but everyone was very good. The Dragons were crap but we dispatched them in the manner youd expect from on of the top teams in the comp.

Huge test next week. If we can get on top of the Raiders it might be time to start having a whiff of hope.

 

[mxlegend99]

Tbh I thought it was a sin bin. They set the precedent early regarding late hits on play makers & they’ve been semi consistent with it. Was a silly play by Kikau.

Silly play? How could he pull out of it?

Thats not f**king close to a sin bin. There's less than a second in it in slow motion.

 

[age.s]

The Kikau sin bin is just part of the game. The media and admin get fixated on one part of what is (and should remain) a very physical sport. They create a poorly thought out, knee jerk solution to a non existent problem. A few teams get dicked over stupidly. There's an outcry from the broader community and the rule is quietly killed. The wheel turns.

It's stupid and the bottle spun to us tonight, but it's unlikely to change until the people running the game grow a pair. Fortunately it didn't hurt us in any meaningful sense.

 

[franklin2323]

Lets hope so.

Not trying to shit on him. He has been a revelation since he came into first grade. Needs to learn fast though.

I said the same last week. He still gained 220m that game so not like he played bad.

Round 4 & 5 he played bench backrow. Week before that he was on the wing. Now in a settled role can keep developing

 

[herbert henry1908]

If we beat the Raiders next week we have an actual shot at 4th spot on the ladder at the end of the season, a loss would make the gap to big, as much as 6 points.

More likely we’re shooting for 5th or 6th spot at best, but there’s that sniff of 4th if we beat the Raiders.

 

[GongPanther]

Haha, great game but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

I'm saving the middle finger till after the last round, IF we make it into the final 8. Until then, one week after another.

 

[franklin2323]

If we beat the Raiders next week we have an actual shot at 4th spot on the ladder at the end of the season, a loss would make the gap to big, as much as 6 points.

More likely we’re shooting for 5th or 6th spot at best, but there’s that sniff of 4th if we beat the Raiders.

Actual home semis this year so not a bad thing finishing 5th or 6th

 

[GongPanther]

Biggest mistake you can make in analysing any sport is to just take one game and extrapolate it. Our attack was great tonight, but you need to see much more to see patterns. It could be we’ve fixed our attack, it could be we match up well against the dragons, it could be the dragons were rubbish or it could be a combination of any of those things.

Canberra a huge test, I suspect if we’re to win there it’ll be more of a grinding match.

I seriously see then in the top 4. Easts and Souths are simply not as consistent as we thought they would be.

 

[Kilkenny]

I thought tonight was a little bit of a statement of intent. Particularly pleasing given there were some baffling decisions by the match officials.

Great win. Nice to score a few more tries than normal and would have put more than 50 on them if not for the baffling decisions.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I seriously see then in the top 4. Easts and Souths are simply not as consistent as we thought they would be.

I see the roosters & rabbits improving going in to the finals. Maybe we can catch the roosters if we beat them at the SCG.

Speaking of which, when would’ve the Panthers last played at the SCG? Must’ve been 1985 I think.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Actual home semis this year so not a bad thing finishing 5th or 6th

5th or 6th would be a great result after where we were, but I’d still take 4th.

Even if it wasn’t a home semi this year we can now host finals at BankWest, which is close enough.

 

[franklin2323]

5th or 6th would be a great result after where we were, but I’d still take 4th.

Even if it wasn’t a home semi this year we can now host finals at BankWest, which is close enough.

I'd be wary. We are confidence team I think we go out in straight sets if Storm put us away week 1.

The flip side is 20k at Penrith and the buzz the players would get

 

[The Realist]

Just back from the game and having a shower. The thing I want to add is that our execution 'through the hands' is still quite off. We bombed at least 3-4 tries tonight and also gave away possession pushing too hard after a break on 2-3 occasions. This must scare other teams because we still have significant room for improvement, we are playing at max 70% capability ATM but we are trending up with each win.

Next week will be a huge test for us.

 

[forby]

Another game holding the opposition to <20, another win! Defence wins premierships!
One can only dream!

 

[forby]

Equal 5th in the premiership now at $17. Cronulla are now $34. I knew I should have backed them 7 weeks ago when they were much longer!

 

[betcats]

Only saw it at the game, thought it was late & he could of pulled out. Looked a bit like a shoulder charge too?? I stand corrected if what your saying is true.

Nah on replay it’s not late or a shoulder charge, would’ve looked much worse live than it really was.

He was braced and ready for the tackle with his head down before Nichols passed the ball and he made a definite attempt at a real tackle, no shoulder charge.

Vossy said there are 25 clips of film in a second, kikau was 4/25ths late on that hit according to fox which is nothing. Penalty at the worst.

The on field ref actually said just a penalty and the bunker overruled them which is mind boggling because on replay it’s really hard to see anything wrong with it, not high, not shoulder charger, barely late and he hits him from right in front not from the side or in the back.

 

[herbert henry1908]

I'd be wary. We are confidence team I think we go out in straight sets if Storm put us away week 1.

The flip side is 20k at Penrith and the buzz the players would get

I remember this conversation from last year, you’ve always gotta take the automatic second week option. Melbourne in Melbourne would be extremely tough, but playing in those games is actually good for the teams development.