Round 25 v Storm @ AAMI Park

[GongPanther]

Panthers coach Cameron Ciraldo has reduced his squad to face Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park on Friday.

Tyrone Phillips has been omitted and will play for the Panthers ISP side against the Bulldogs on Saturday.

Due to concussion protocol following a head knock against the Warriors, Corey Harawira-Naera is unavailable for Friday night's clash and has also been omitted from the squad. His spot on the bench will be taken by Jack Hetherington.

The Panthers will wear the 2018 Away Jersey.

Panthers v Storm
7.55pm Friday
AAMI Park

1. Dallin WATENE-ZELEZNIAK
2. Josh MANSOUR
3. Waqa BLAKE
4. Tyrone PEACHEY
5. Christian CRICHTON
6. James MALONEY (c)
7. Nathan CLEARY
8. Trent MERRIN
9. Wayde EGAN
10. Reagan CAMPBELL-GILLARD
11. Viliame KIKAU
12. Isaah YEO
13. James FISHER-HARRIS

14. Tyrone MAY
15. Moses LEOTA
19. Jack HETHERINGTON
17. James TAMOU
18. Sione KATOA
20. Kaide ELLIS

https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2018/08/30/updated-teamlist-round-25/

 

[herbert henry1908]

Oh great, jack hetherington. We’ll be playing with 12 men at some point

 

[mxlegend99]

Oh great, jack hetherington. We’ll be playing with 12 men at some point

11. We have Crichton on the wing still.

 

[Wookies&Cream]

As long as when Hetherington does something stupid, its in the first minute, we'll have plenty of time to capitalise on playing storm with Cameron smith in hia for an accidental head knock to the enclosed fist.

 

[martielang]

Looking forward to Hethero having a screamer & silencing his doubters. Kid can play.

Before throwing a punch in the 73rd & being sin binned.

 

[OldPanther]

Looking forward to Hethero having a screamer & silencing his doubters. Kid can play.

Before throwing a punch in the 73rd & being sin binned.

That actually sounds about right. I remember a game this year(was it Warriors?) He was best forward on ground. Clearly has the skill in there somewhere.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Looking forward to Hethero having a screamer & silencing his doubters. Kid can play.

Before throwing a punch in the 73rd & being sin binned.

It’s not doubting his ability, it’s knowing he’s a liability because of his carelessness.

If he can cut out the stupid shit then he could be an asset.

 

[umina panther]

It’s not doubting his ability, it’s knowing he’s a liability because of his carelessness.

If he can cut out the stupid shit then he could be an asset.

Issue is he's moron and as grubby as they come. Some people are just born merkins

 

[franklin2323]

Looking forward to Hethero having a screamer & silencing his doubters. Kid can play.

Before throwing a punch in the 73rd & being sin binned.

If he is going to be giving away penalties can atleast make it worth it and take out Smith

 

[billypilgrimnz]

I never saw the win over the Warriors, but in every other game I've seen him in, Hetherington has done the square sum of f**k all - apart from give away penalties and then look at the ref like a complete mong. He's superb at those two things, granted.

 

[mxlegend99]

Ive been a 'fan' of Hetherington. He sucked his first 2 games. Then had a game where I could see his value and maybe 2 or 3 more since. One in which he was an absolute beast... kind of like JFH vs Sharks in 2016 l think it was.

But his discipline is the worst I can remember in some time for us. His potential is there. But hes a f**king huge risk.

 

[OldPanther]

https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2018/08/31/kikau-credits-maloney-for-confidence-boost/

He shapes as one of the side's biggest strike weapons leading into the Telstra Premiership finals but Viliame Kikau admits he's coming to terms with expectation after a breakthrough season with Penrith.

A self-admitted confidence player, Kikau has gone from a bench project to marquee man in the space of 12 months but is yet to realise the impact he can have on the Panthers' charge towards a title.

Despite damaging numbers in 2018, his form has dipped in recent weeks to coincide with the injury to James Maloney and the side's overall performances since the removal of former coach Anthony Griffin.
He's welcomed the return of left-edge partner Maloney for Friday night's clash with Melbourne and hopes it sparks his own game back into form.

Maloney, one of the game's most resilient players after making an error, could provide the cog for Kikau to deliver in the finals series.

"For me, as soon as something goes wrong in my game I sort of lose that little bit of confidence and it starts to get into my head," Kikau said.

"[Cameron Ciraldo] tells me sometimes 'you don't realise the impact you have on this team, you are the go-forward of this team, we need you'. That's one thing I do keep in mind. If I do a mistake I need to learn from that as quick as I can and keep going.
"Jimmy, he's always into me. You know what he's like. He's a larrikin and he doesn't mind talking for the whole 80 minutes which is what I love about playing with him.

"If I do a silly play, like try to offload when I don't have to, he just comes up to me and he's like 'get your head back into the game, you'll be right'."

Kikau is one of the Telstra Premiership's most improved players with 98 tackle breaks, 39 offloads and 1202 post-contact metres.

Penrith rushed to re-sign the Fijian international on a long-term deal before his asking price sky-rocketed when clubs could have begun to negotiate with him in November.


"I only played nine games last year averaging like five minutes a game," Kikau said.

"To be playing 80 minutes most of the games this year in my first proper NRL season is a really big thing, my body is trying to hold up. I'm getting a painful neck, shoulders after every weekend.
"I'm just trying my best to recover and go again the next week. I think going into the finals I could feel the vibe in the club changing, everyone is excited because the finals are coming up."

Penrith could move into the top four with a big win over Melbourne at AAMI Park on Friday or finish as low as eighth with defeat to the defending premiers in the final round.

 

[PenrithPanther45]

Munster and Croft are both out.

 

[unKwn]

if we don't f**king win this game...

 

[Wookies&Cream]

Munster and Croft are both out.

What!

 

[OldPanther]

if we don't f**king win this game...

We'll be playing a QCup team haha.

 

[Copperhead]

Munster and Croft are both out.

So Panthers 1-17 vs C Smith...........I still don't like our chances.

 

[PenrithPanther45]

This smells of one of those games when Melbourne have everyone out and yet still wins. We'll make Drinkwater and Jacks look like the next JTs. I don't like this. I preferred it a lot more when no one gave us a chance.

 

[PANTHERMIKE]

We will win this..

This will play us into form, and we will get confidence. Thank you Storm...

They were playing shit house before Munster & Slater were out.. Add in the rest..

 

[herbert henry1908]

Soooo

With a win tonight we likely finish 5th, possibly 6th or 4th

With a loss we likely fall all the way to 8th

5th could be against Dragons, Bronocos or Warriors really. All their F/A’s are pretty close.

Pretty much the same is we finish 8th, except we’ll likely have to travel.


If we somehow pull off 4th we’ll likely be back in Melbourne again next week, outside chance to play the roosters at Allianz.