Lifetime Panthers fan but I think there needs to be some spades called spades regarding our squad and the chances of the team being a premiership threat.
Plain and simple we do not have a squad capable of challenging the top teams. We have a severely limited squad with too may similar players and it lacks the things that you need to win a comp.
We have no x factor (our closest is Kikau but he will be heavily targeted and marked this year), we have players with very poor vision and lack natural ‘footy players’, we aren’t aggressive and don’t have a leader of the pack, we don’t have pace and most notably we don’t have any ‘winners’ in the squad (Maloney was suppose to bring this but hasn’t he been a dreadful purchase).
Lets look at our squad subjectively and see why we cant score points against the better teams (or even against anyone really).
Edwards – In such an important position in modern day footy he simply doesn’t offer enough. Relatively safe (barring tonight’s calamity), fair support player but in a team like ours who don’t offload at the line it becomes redundant, he cant ball play and isn’t a threat in the opposition 20m. I will rate all players out of 10. Edwards is an average NRL player 5/10.
DWZ – Runs hard, not overly quick, has terrible hands and play the ball with a few errors a match customary. Does give it his all but he isn’t in the top echelon of wingers (vunivalu, addo-carr, oates etc). 6.5/10
Whare – Bog average, slow, doesn’t break tackles, defence is questionable these days, cant set his winger up like 4-5 years ago when he was so good setting David Simmons up. Really should be playing reserve grade. 3/10
Blake – May get criticised for this but I believe our fan base overrated Blake hugely. Has all the physical attributes, big, strong fast but maybe not entirely his fault he just doesn’t threaten or create enough opportunities to be classed as a top shelf centre. Even with early ball I wouldn’t back him to beat his opposing centre one on one. Lacks that class and still has some absolute howlers in terms of handling and getting pushed into touch etc. 6/10
Mansour – Well unfortunately he isn’t like a fine wine. Injuries and the younger players coming through being bigger and faster in this day and age has show Sauce is now a below average winger unfortunately. Great club man but he is SLOW, doesn’t pose any aerial threat, isn’t making metres or breaking tackles like he did back in the day. 4/10
Maloney – One of the worst big name signings in our history. Has lost more games for us then he has won. Ill disciplined, horrendous defence (remember the semi last year against the Sharks, it has to be one of the worst ever matches from a senior player) his kicking game is poor (so many terrible chip kicks in the attacking zone), he doesn’t run the ball so defence can slide off and his leadership and ‘winning’ mentality just isn’t there. 3/10
Cleary – THIS IS OUR BIGGEST CONCERN. I’m just going to say it. Overrated and a massive issue we have so much of our salary cap invested in him. HE ISNT A HALFBACK. Lets take a closer look; passing game is average (both short and long), his kicking game is very very poor. He doesn’t have a ‘big’ boot and cant produce 40/20’s even in great positions to kick them. My biggest worry is he has no vision, he just isn’t a natural footy player. A great competitor and defence for a half is top notch but he doesn’t create space for his outside men, he cant see what is unfolding in front of him, his running game isn’t a massive threat as he is slow, his short kicking game is terrible with 7 tackle sets or the grubber not even getting through the front line of defence. Jarome Laui is twice the player Cleary is and we should have thrown the bank at Cam Munster instead of re-signing Cleary. 4/10
Tamou – Our best forward this year and that’s more an indication on the rest of our pack. He’s solid, makes his tackles but isn’t a wrecking ball at all. Slow play the balls, rarely offloads. 6/10
Hooker: Katoa/Egan – Less aid here the better. We have two reserve grade hookers running around in first grade. Wouldn’t make any other team. We need to sign a hooker ASAP. Like this year…… 2/10
Kikau – When he is fit (unfortunately injuries are occurring too often for him) he is our only player who can be classed with the other top players in the NRL. Huge potential and lets just hope our halves can start playing at the line and putting him through holes. Often they just shovel it to him 5 metres from the defensive line and hope he can bulldoze over people. 8.5/10
Yeo – Every team needs one, only thing we have about 4 or 5 (not as good, toilers already). Gives his all and is a great defender with an underrated attacking game, runs good lines and never gives up on a play. 8/10.
JFH – Someone as big as him should be doing more damage. Hits hard in defence but lacks much of an attacking game. He should be getting one on one with halves and running over them. Not helped with our playmakers refusing to play at the line. Think he is overrated again by some of our fans. 6/10.
Bench – Wont go through them all but it lacks spark, I will single RCG out. Ship him off now. He is ordinary. A few good runs from goal line drop outs doesn’t mask any of his ability. Doesn’t break tackles, has a slow play the ball, doesn’t offload, cant play as a link in the line, he has lost all confidence after the broken jaws, turns side on at all runs now.
A finishing note – our attack just lacks class, simple as that. We don’t shift the ball fluidly, we are clunky, have poor attacking structures, our halves don’t run the ball or play at the line, our attacking (well kicking game all round) has to be in the bottom four of the comp, we don’t have pace in our backline and we don’t have wingers who are aerial threats, our fullback cant ballplay and our forwards are soft, don’t offload and are average at best.
We are in trouble and maybe finish 6-8th but again once we come up against a top team we will struggle to score 2-3 tries a match.
