Round 19 V NZ

[betcats]

Kikau had more than enough chances to cement hi FG spot and kept f**king it up. Besides the two sin binnings his form has been good in cup since being dropped, he will get another chance soon. He seems to do better playing on the edge, maybe we should try him there in FG when he comes back up. Bring him on to give CHN a breather or something and use JFH in the middle off the bench, he did well being forced into that role with Merrin going down on Friday night.

 

[martielang]

Yeh i think a few of us are on the same page wanting Kikau on the edge.

 

[umina panther]

Needs to play in the middle to play at all with Yeo and CHN being 80min players. Griffin actually got something right with how he tried to use Kikau but he let himself down.

 

[betcats]

Needs to play in the middle to play at all with Yeo and CHN being 80min players. Griffin actually got something right with how he tried to use Kikau but he let himself down.

Can easily give one of CHN or Yeo a spell, they don't have to play 80 just because they can. If Merrin doesn't go down early on Friday JFH was likely going to spell CHN or Yeo, just let JFH play in the middle and use Kikau for a short stint on the edge.

Im just saying its worth considering, if we can get Kikau having an impact for us it would be huge.

 

[franklin2323]

Can easily give one of CHN or Yeo a spell, they don't have to play 80 just because they can. If Merrin doesn't go down early on Friday JFH was likely going to spell CHN or Yeo, just let JFH play in the middle and use Kikau for a short stint on the edge.

Im just saying its worth considering, if we can get Kikau having an impact for us it would be huge.

And if he doesn't get on? Better to play NSW Cup then 10mins of FG. Regardless I wouldn't rather a bench full of payers we would use. I do like JFH in the middle cutting people down though

 

[franklin2323]

I'd play fish in the lock position.

If only for his defence. It will make way for Peachey/Bryce bench combo in the coming weeks

 

[ACTPanthers]

Well I was off the mark with my prediction this weekend - We got the win, @GongPanther got his Jam, and with the Raiders getting up as well, I got lucky with my green machine supporting missus... All in all, a pretty good f**king weekend to be honest

 

[umina panther]

Can easily give one of CHN or Yeo a spell, they don't have to play 80 just because they can. If Merrin doesn't go down early on Friday JFH was likely going to spell CHN or Yeo, just let JFH play in the middle and use Kikau for a short stint on the edge.

Im just saying its worth considering, if we can get Kikau having an impact for us it would be huge.

80min second rowers are VERY important when the coach likes having a centre on the bench. Can also see Griffin keeping Rein in the 17 and we have to fit Carty in.

 

[betcats]

And if he doesn't get on? Better to play NSW Cup then 10mins of FG. Regardless I wouldn't rather a bench full of payers we would use. I do like JFH in the middle cutting people down though

He will get on, it just depends what he does while he is on there as to how long he stays on. If he is giving us a meaningful 10-15 minute stint then I'd be very happy with that and it will do his development a world of good, running out wide he is a f**king handful, he can change the game with one good run and physically there is less pressure on him so hopefully less mistakes.

I've got no problem with leaving him NSW cup for now but im just saying when he does come back up lets try him on the edge.

Agree re JFH defence in the middle, that was what I liked also. He is a hard worker with great aggression who can hit, I really liked what he did in the middle on Friday.

 

[betcats]

80min second rowers are VERY important when the coach likes having a centre on the bench. Can also see Griffin keeping Rein in the 17 and we have to fit Carty in.

We used to rotate Hiku with an edge forward so they weren't playing 80 when we were carrying him on the bench. We haven't had a centre on the bench for a while anyway, Peachey covers the forwards adequatly and so does Katoa. I'm not doubting the importance of 80 minute players, but its not ideal having two edge players playing 80 every week, its a nice luxury to have for certain but ideally you are giving one of them a rest and allowing them to come on fresh.

When Carty is fit one of JFH or Carty is going to be rotating with Yeo or CHN on the edge so they wont be playing 80, there is no reason Kikau couldn't do that if he is paying well in reserve grade and we need an option off the bench.

 

[TheFrog]

Tamou is shit.

It is certainly time for him to earn his keep in this side, with Merrin out for a few games. Of course exactly the same could be said of Foran at the Warriors, but being on the way out, he doesn't appear interested.

 

[OldPanther]

Can easily give one of CHN or Yeo a spell, they don't have to play 80 just because they can. If Merrin doesn't go down early on Friday JFH was likely going to spell CHN or Yeo, just let JFH play in the middle and use Kikau for a short stint on the edge.

Im just saying its worth considering, if we can get Kikau having an impact for us it would be huge.

When you have limited interchange we should be keeping our middle fresh. Not interchanging our 80 minute second row. One of our advantages is we are one of the teams not getting overly gassed late game.

 

[MrBlack]

Happy with the win.

We are now 6 wins from our last 8 games and on the cusp of the 8.

Assuming we need 28 points we are just 4 wins away from finals football (with an ok for and against).

The run home

Titans
Dogs
Tigers
Cowboys
Raiders
Dragons
Eagles

5 of these games at home.

Should be able to jag 4 from that final 7 games. Can see the Dragons game and the Raiders game as critical as by then they both will be playing for their season.

Don't really care if we are playing bad, or knocked out in the first week of the semi's. Just be nice if we could get there.

 

[Fangs]

Bring back Adam Docker for one more stint in the 13.

 

[Fangs]

Don't really care if we are playing bad, or knocked out in the first week of the semi's. Just be nice if we could get there.

You'd expect Penrith to get bundled out of the 8 pretty quickly with the form they have shown.

Like you I feel like I'm okay with that result, though we shouldn't be. If you told me this before round 1 I'd be extremely disappointed. Penrith are a side that shouldn't just be making up the numbers.

 

[franklin2323]

You'd expect Penrith to get bundled out of the 8 pretty quickly with the form they have shown.

Like you I feel like I'm okay with that result, though we shouldn't be. If you told me this before round 1 I'd be extremely disappointed. Penrith are a side that shouldn't just be making up the numbers.

If Moylan goes on a run. With Cartwright off the bench who knows once there may cause trouble. We have struggled in years following a finals appearance. I have only seen us play finals in 2004 after playing in 2003 finals. So even a finals appearance this year especially with how we started is a decent year.

 

[franklin2323]

He will get on, it just depends what he does while he is on there as to how long he stays on. If he is giving us a meaningful 10-15 minute stint then I'd be very happy with that and it will do his development a world of good, running out wide he is a f**king handful, he can change the game with one good run and physically there is less pressure on him so hopefully less mistakes.

I've got no problem with leaving him NSW cup for now but im just saying when he does come back up lets try him on the edge.

Agree re JFH defence in the middle, that was what I liked also. He is a hard worker with great aggression who can hit, I really liked what he did in the middle on Friday.

He was a centre in NYC. We played him at prop all last year. Wide seems his spot at worst he has NSW Cup finals to still keep improving at what is a new position. Next year though he should be very deadly but I would have Peachey and Bryce as the bench backrowers for this year

 

[MrBlack]

You'd expect Penrith to get bundled out of the 8 pretty quickly with the form they have shown.

Like you I feel like I'm okay with that result, though we shouldn't be. If you told me this before round 1 I'd be extremely disappointed. Penrith are a side that shouldn't just be making up the numbers.

I do think our halves are a work in progress. Cleary too young and Moylan cant produce every week, he over tries his hand and we come undone. If we make the 8 we finish higher than most teams.

Who knows, maybe we do go on a run.

 

[Fangs]

We have struggled in years following a finals appearance. I have only seen us play finals in 2004 after playing in 2003 finals. So even a finals appearance this year especially with how we started is a decent year.

Thats correct. It feels unusual.

2014 - Prelim Final (With a high number of injuries)
2015 - 15th (Horrific injuries)
2016 - Semi-Final
2017- ?

If they make it this year its the finals 3 times in 4 years. Not bad for a Panthers fan.

But look at a club like the Bulldogs. They make the finals every year under Hasler, and they were calling for his head straight after their loss last year in the first week. Even recruiting some big stars for 2018 still hasn't stop the calls for Hasler to be sacked. Their fans and club expect much more.

Said it at the start of the year, this is the best football team Penrith has fielded since 2003-04. So making up the numbers in the 8 isn't what I'd consider to be a decent year. Like the Bulldogs, we should expect more.

 

[betcats]

When you have limited interchange we should be keeping our middle fresh. Not interchanging our 80 minute second row. One of our advantages is we are one of the teams not getting overly gassed late game.

Limited interchange lol these guys get subbed in the last ten minutes and jog off. We can easily afford to rotate a sub through the back row barring an injury during the game, the only reason we are leaving them both our there for 80 atm is injuries, the two guys that would replace them haven't been fit all year.

We carried Kikau for weeks playing ten minutes in the middle and we weren't getting gassed. We carried Hiku for weeks on the bench also. We had Merrin out early and CHN in the bin and we still finished strongly on Friday.