The fact that we are merely 'hopeful' rather than very confident speak volumes about where this team is at.
Our dummy halves have hardly run the ball for more than 50 metres between them in 3 entire games. Our backs are hardly any faster than some teams forwards. We don't have genuine speed another than Blake...and he isn't particularly fast off the mark. Mansour= got to be one of the slowest backs in the NRL DWZ=modest speed for a winger/centre Whare= definitely on the slower end of the spectrum Edwards= like DWZ Maloney= slowing down, has lost most of his zip. Pretty slow for a half Cleary = somewhere between slowish to average for an NRL 1/2. This is what we miss the most about Peachey...he was our quickest player off the mark and could just make things happen out of nowhere with the combination of explosive power, agility, balance and a fair bit of power for a shorter player. Over middle distance he was mediocre and over long distances would get run down...but that is why quicker players would have to back up in support.
It is a sad state of affairs when in from of a sold out home crowd against a side that has struggled for years that you have to be hopeful
I think many of you misunderstood my comment here. I am never anything more than 'hopeful' each and every time a game of footy is played. In my mind there are never ever any 'gimmie matches' where victory is assured. I am not prepared to don sack cloth and ashes in a season when it's round 4 not round 24 either. (unlike some of here who resemble John Brown's australian poem 'we'll all be rooned said hantahan' )
There should be though. Injury free playing teams not anywhere near finals. The next 2 games should be convincing wins if we are serious about giving the comp a shake
From the western weekender masked panther column Masked Panther: Cleary’s massive spray By Masked Panther - April 3, 2019, 23:59 I’m told that Panthers coach Ivan Cleary’s spray at his troops after last weekend’s loss to Melbourne was so loud you probably could have heard it back in Penrith. Cleary wasn’t happy with his side’s effort in the second half and certainly let the players know of his disdain, giving them a massive dressing down – his first since returning to the club. Hopefully it’ll have some impact as the Panthers prepare to play the Wests Tigers at Panthers Stadium this weekend. Talking of Phil Gould, not surprisingly there’s been plenty of talk about his relationship with Ivan Cleary, especially given how poorly Penrith have performed in recent weeks. It would be wrong to say Gould and Cleary do not talk to each other. In fact, I spotted them having a lengthy conversation at the Panthers’ season launch last month and they catch up semi-regularly. Gould certainly has less involvement in the day-to-day running of the football side than he used to, and it’s fair to say his relationship with Ivan is not perfect, but any suggestion that there’s a civil war at play is incorrect. Time, and winning, heals all wounds.
It is a point I brought up over Hook's time. A few years ago GC beat all the top 8 yet missed the finals. WT last year beat most of top 8..Yet missed the finals. To me it is better to beat the bottom 8 sides even if that is the only teams you beat Here is the their last year finishing position Round 1. 16th Round 2. 11th Round 4. 9th Round 5. 14th 3 from 5 is ok. But anything less is wasted chances
At no point in the past decade and a half have we been a team you could be certain would beat a team. Not under Matt Elliott, Ivan Cleary or Anthony Griffin. Even while making the top 8 regularly. We still dropped games each year we should have won.
Beating only the bottom 8 isn't good enough. Beating only the top 8 isn't good enough. We shouldn't be ok with either.
'should' is such a useless word. All teams drop games. Often it's again a lowly ranked team You need to go back to the 50's for a top grade side to go through a season undefeated. I'm optimistic about the season ahead. I'm the same about the future too.
Last year we dropped games against 14th placed Bulldogs and 13th placed Cowboys under Hook. In 2017 the 12th placed Souths put 42 on us in Round 17, and beat us 21-20 earlier in the year. 9th placed Dragons beat us twice also. 42 points on us in Round 1. Losing to teams we should beat is a long serving tradition.
I wasn't the biggest Hook fan as most on this forum would know. However most of the time we did beat teams outside the 8. Yes there were a couple of examples where you have highlighted where we didn't but usually we did. Hook struggled tactically against the top teams. That is why I believe we can win the next two against the Tigers and Titans.
@franklin2323 had us looking at 6 wins from the opening 10 rounds. You'd definately take it after the start we have had. Sharks/Rabbits, can't see a win there. Wins against Titans, Warriors, Raiders and x2 against the Tigers will get us there. Raiders the toughest of that bunch. Eels loss hurts.
