Round 26 V Manly

[Westernised Panther]

Yeah, we beat them by 16 poin-

Get the champagne out.

Manly beat us by the same margin.

Put the champagne on hold

 

[The Realist]

You only need to look at 2005.

The Panthers gave the Wests Tigers a thumping in the final round of the regular season. The rest, as they say in the classics, is history.

I still remember the quote in the after game summary on radio; "There will be a lot of team breathing a sigh of relief that the Panthers are not playing in the finals this year".

 

[OldPanther]

The thing the club needs to take out of that game was what happened when Katoa went to 9. Our halves suddenly had time and we had some zip out of the ruck. The same thing happened in the games when we have started Rein or Kota earlier in the year. 2 weeks ago(can't remember exactly which game) when Katoa started we looked downright amazing with how much time and space our halves had to ball play.

 

[GongPanther]

Apparently Blake looked to be carrying a shoulder injury.There was a backline reshuffle with Whare going to centre and DWZ going to FB with Blake on the wing (via SMH)

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-to-book-nrl-finals-spot-20170902-gy9ixz.html

although that rearrangement was midway in the first half,the players needed time to get their defensive structure in place.

This is the reasoning why we stemmed the flow of points in the 2nd half and came out with a 12 all result,which if there was a positive,this was it.But why Whare,who is an international centre,didn't start there in the first place beggars belief.

 

[OldPanther]

Apparently Blake looked to be carrying a shoulder injury.There was a backline reshuffle with Whare going to centre and DWZ going to FB with Blake on the wing (via SMH)

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-to-book-nrl-finals-spot-20170902-gy9ixz.html

although that rearrangement was midway in the first half,the players needed time to get their defensive structure in place.

This is the reasoning why we stemmed the flow of points in the 2nd half and came out with a 12 all result,which if there was a positive,this was it.But why Whare,who is an international centre,didn't start there in the first place beggars belief.

Just think. With Katoa on and Whare at centre we matched them. Food for thought though I don't have any confidence in Griffin to recognise it.

 

[Kev07]

Manly pack dominated us!

 

[herbert henry1908]

Apparently Blake looked to be carrying a shoulder injury.There was a backline reshuffle with Whare going to centre and DWZ going to FB with Blake on the wing (via SMH)

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...-to-book-nrl-finals-spot-20170902-gy9ixz.html

although that rearrangement was midway in the first half,the players needed time to get their defensive structure in place.

This is the reasoning why we stemmed the flow of points in the 2nd half and came out with a 12 all result,which if there was a positive,this was it.But why Whare,who is an international centre,didn't start there in the first place beggars belief.

Whare at fullback was the most basic mistake he could make. Griffin is headstrong in his belief that it's best not to disturb too many positions if there's an injury. But we're talking about a key spine position here, it was an absurd call.

 

[Sime_11]

not to mention starting RCG, we need his impact off the bench as no other Prop in our squad provides any impact, Tamou and Browne need a rocket up themselves, RCG is the only prop who has performed consistently this year at the club. maybe i am just very biased against Browne but he offers absolutely nothing.

 

[Fangs]

RCG is the only prop who has performed consistently this year at the club.

I wouldn't say for the year. I thought he was pretty terrible for the opening months. Definately improved though, the best forward in the team this year after Yeo.

 

[Pomoz]

But why Whare,who is an international centre,didn't start there in the first place beggars belief.

Exhibit 1. DWZ passing the ball to Sims last week and costing us the game.

 

[Fangs]

Its amazing just how important Dylan Edwards has become to this team. Only after a handful of games as well.

 

[mxlegend99]

Exhibit 1. DWZ passing the ball to Sims last week and costing us the game.

The ball was stripped from him... his fullback play had nothing to do with it. Could have happened on the wing also.

Go back and watch Whare in 2013 at fullback... any coach dumb enough to pick him there after that is out of his mind. Every fan knew he was not a fullback.

Hook had us f**ked from the start with his lineup. When Manly got ontop of our pack... how exactly were we ever going to stop it? We had no impact from the bench.

We desperately needed blokes with size and aggression running hard and hitting hard. RCG had swung momentum everytime he came from the bench showing how valuable size and aggression are to inject. But we had Tim Browne waiting to take over.

 

[herbert henry1908]

Exhibit 1. DWZ passing the ball to Sims last week and costing us the game.

One mistake VS a guy who hadn't played FB for 4 years, and when he last played FB he had an absolute shocker.

Not even close.

 

[Pomoz]

The ball was stripped from him... his fullback play had nothing to do with it. Could have happened on the wing also.

Go back and watch Whare in 2013 at fullback... any coach dumb enough to pick him there after that is out of his mind. Every fan knew he was not a fullback.

Hook had us f**ked from the start with his lineup. When Manly got ontop of our pack... how exactly were we ever going to stop it? We had no impact from the bench.

We desperately needed blokes with size and aggression running hard and hitting hard. RCG had swung momentum everytime he came from the bench showing how valuable size and aggression are to inject. But we had Tim Browne waiting to take over.

Who was Hook going to pick to give us size and aggression on the bench in a crucial match? Latu and McKendry are injured. Kikau is a rookie and is error prone.

As for DWZ's terrible mistake, he has also been dropping the ball every other week so I don't blame Hook for trying Whare, who to be fair, was ok at the back. He adjusted our defence to help out Blake who was struggling with his shoulder. I think Walllace's busted hand and subsequent terrible passing and Blake's bad shoulder caused more problems than Whare at the back..

 

[umina panther]

People are actually trying to justify Whare at fullback, amazing

 

[OldPanther]

Who was Hook going to pick to give us size and aggression on the bench in a crucial match? Latu and McKendry are injured. Kikau is a rookie and is error prone.

As for DWZ's terrible mistake, he has also been dropping the ball every other week so I don't blame Hook for trying Whare, who to be fair, was ok at the back. He adjusted our defence to help out Blake who was struggling with his shoulder. I think Walllace's busted hand and subsequent terrible passing and Blake's bad shoulder caused more problems than Whare at the back..

You pick Browne to start so he can soak up some intensity to start and put RCG on the bench to add punch.

 

[hindy111]

They said that about your mob in 2009 after they lost to the Dragons 37-0 in the final round and had to play them again the following week. Rugby League is a funny game. You just never know.

Eels had not only won abput 11/12 but blown teams off the park doing so.
Panthers have limped into finals. Im still waiting for a good game from them. Clunky and out of wack at best. I hope i am wrong. They are my 2nd team but they have no set plays. No structure. Just an odd looking team.

 

[Pomoz]

You pick Browne to start so he can soak up some intensity to start and put RCG on the bench to add punch.

Which he had done previously and it has worked. But I don't think it would have made any difference this week. RCG still topped the metres for the forwards. Manly kept their defensive intensity up for pretty much the whole game. I think RCG would have had the same treatment if he came on after 20 minutes. We really needed another front rower to take the sting out of the forwards. We forget that we have two props out injured, one of them a seasoned, grizzled NRL veteran. McKendry isn't what he used to be, but he would have been real handy off the bench yesterday.

 

[hindy111]

Whens Edwards back

 

[Fangs]

Hook started Merrin and RCG last night and it backfired. They were no match for Big Jake.

What would have happened if they played off the bench?

Will be interesting to see what Hook decides to do if we are up against Manly again next week.