Round 20 v Titans @ Pepper Stadium

[betcats]

Wal straight back in Leota to start at lock. Bit harsh on Rein being named 21.

I like it re Rein. He is to limited to carry on the bench. You couldn't play him anywhere but hooker. Katoa can play as a running forward.

Leota hasn't played more than 20 minutes in a game all year, I will be surprised if he starts, I think Fish will start.

 

[betcats]

Panthers ISP coach Garth Brennan has named his side to face Illawarra Cutters at Pepper Stadium on Saturday. The Panthers ISP side will wear the 2017 Home Jersey.

GET ALL YOUR GAMEDAY INFO HERE

ISP Panthers v Illawarra Cutters
12.40pm Saturday @ Pepper Stadium

1. Jarome LUAI
2. Maika SIVO
3. Jed CARTWRIGHT
4. Christian CRICHTON
5. Lachlan STEIN
6. Tyrone MAY
7. Darren NICHOLLS (c)
8. Kaide ELLIS
9. Mitch REIN
10. Sitaleki AKAUOLA
11. Viliame KIKAU
12. Corey WADDELL
13. Bryce CARTWRIGHT

14. Liam COLEMAN
15. Liam MARTIN
16. Nick LUI-TOSO
17. Oliver CLARK
18. Tom EISENHUTH

Carty at lock, beautiful.

 

[Tronald Crump]

Leota hasn't played more than 20 minutes in a game all year, I will be surprised if he starts, I think Fish will start.

It wouldn't surprise me if Leota did start and play 20 minutes then off. Then Fish comes off the bench for the rest of the match.
Mainly for the punch factor off the bench once the early speed has been taken out of the game.

 

[betcats]

It wouldn't surprise me if Leota did start and play 20 minutes then off. Then Fish comes off the bench for the rest of the match.
Mainly for the punch factor off the bench once the early speed has been taken out of the game.

Yeah that is a good point, similar to what they did with RCG last week.

 

[mxlegend99]

Dropping Rein and keeping Katoa... that's harsh.

Glad to see Carty at lock in NSW Cup. Assuming Hook wants to see if he can play 80 mins there and if he Does he might get 60 mmins or so next week in first grade. Leota at lock isn't quiet what i expected. Hopefully whatever he has planned works.

 

[Copperhead]

Dropping Rein and keeping Katoa... that's harsh.

It is a bit of a surprise.

On a more important note, you're about to beat Betcats to 13,000 posts. Congrats.

 

[tripster]

Dropping Rein and keeping Katoa... that's harsh.

Agree, it seems very harsh to me. However, as I think one of the Bronco supporters who posted on our forum recently pointed out, Griffin seems to have a bit of a size fetish. He probably feels that he can carry Katoa who can fill roles other than just hooker, whereas Rein is only a specialist hooker.

 

[billypilgrimnz]

Not sure Wallace really needs to be rushed back. A game in the reserves would have been a better idea.

 

[martielang]

Disappointed Rein isn't there. Offers far more than Wallace IMO.

 

[Nealo 12]

Yes I think Rein is a bit hard done by here , he's been solid without being great but Wallace will be under done . This could backfire on us .

 

[umina panther]

Even a 80% fit Wallace offers far more. Rein is a very good runner out of dummy half but when thats all he offers its very easy to defend.

 

[kinghippo]

I don't get why RCG is starting, he was awesome off the bench.
It's not like it's a demotion for a front rower to come on after 20.
The forward rotation has sucked all year and as soon as we see a success it's gone again.

I haven't seen much of leota this season, has he been going well? Strange time of the season to get some game time, let alone a start. "Must win game " is a lot of pressure, Up against a very strong titans pack.

 

[Fangs]

Rein's number one fan reporting in. Bottom line is he simply didn't do enough to keep his place in first grade. Wallace is the best option until someone kicks down the door.

I also support the decision for Wallace to come straight back into the 9. Cartwright and JFH have had a couple of injuries each this year, hence why they have come back through reggies. Wallace is a bit 'tougher' as they say.

Agree re JFH. I expect he will start over Leota.

 

[soc123_au]

Wallace is straight back in purely from a game management perspective. A calm experienced head will be crucial in the coming weeks. Cleary is exceeding expectations in that department, but having Wal there to help will be a big plus.

 

[martielang]

Sure he offers good defence + a calm head but he's service out of dummy half is half the pace of Reins, he doesn't offer any threat out of dummy half either. Way too slow.

The Rein/Katoa combination has worked, while our run with Wallace at 9 was poor.

 

[betcats]

I don't get why RCG is starting, he was awesome off the bench.
It's not like it's a demotion for a front rower to come on after 20.
The forward rotation has sucked all year and as soon as we see a success it's gone again.

I haven't seen much of leota this season, has he been going well? Strange time of the season to get some game time, let alone a start. "Must win game " is a lot of pressure, Up against a very strong titans pack.

Because Merrin is out. We can carry one of our bench props starting with Merrin there, but you take Merrin and RCG out of the starting side and our middle looks poor. You'd have Browne starting with Leota, opposition teams would eat that up in the first 20.

 

[betcats]

Sure he offers good defence + a calm head but he's service out of dummy half is half the pace of Reins, he doesn't offer any threat out of dummy half either. Way too slow.

The Rein/Katoa combination has worked, while our run with Wallace at 9 was poor.

Wallace is a good runner out of dummy half that is ridiculous to say he is no threat, he is much better than Rein at picking good times to run that is for sure. He also offers a kicking game and IMO better service and better defence.

 

[PenrithPanther45]

I don't get why RCG is starting, he was awesome off the bench.
It's not like it's a demotion for a front rower to come on after 20.
The forward rotation has sucked all year and as soon as we see a success it's gone again.

I haven't seen much of leota this season, has he been going well? Strange time of the season to get some game time, let alone a start. "Must win game " is a lot of pressure, Up against a very strong titans pack.

They can just as easily swap them over again. Could also end up putting Rein on the bench. wont know till later in the week

 

[OldPanther]

I don't get why RCG is starting, he was awesome off the bench.
It's not like it's a demotion for a front rower to come on after 20.
The forward rotation has sucked all year and as soon as we see a success it's gone again.

I haven't seen much of leota this season, has he been going well? Strange time of the season to get some game time, let alone a start. "Must win game " is a lot of pressure, Up against a very strong titans pack.

It's simple. RCG + Leota with rotation of Browne + Fish is better than Browne + Leota with rotation of RCG and Fish. We'd get eaten alive in that first 20 minutes.

 

[franklin2323]

It's simple. RCG + Leota with rotation of Browne + Fish is better than Browne + Leota with rotation of RCG and Fish. We'd get eaten alive in that first 20 minutes.

Leota really does need to develop an offload or something far too basic. Those saying Rein on the bench. How do we inject him if Wallace plays 80mins? Katoa plays backrow/Lock and 5/8th too or even better play May to cover backs as well. RCG will be out for James this week so not sure to bench him but I think this will be our pack

Tamou
Wallace
Browne
Yeo
CHN
JFH

Katoa/May
RCG
Latu
Kikau

The only thing could be if they want Bryce as lock next week then is it worth keeping JFH as a wide backrower instead and start RCG or someone instead. He did play some lock on the weekend