Round 9 vs Tigers - Bathurst

[Iamback]

Not at all saying this season is a write off but look where we are sitting on the ladder, we are on the same points as the team coming 11th. Warriors, roosters, broncos in the next few weeks and origin going to take 3 players out, We are in a tough spot right now imo.

We desperately need some players back and to address our ball handling and attacking attitude

Nailed it.

 

[Iamback]

My God we were crap... it was so frustrating watching api kill us in the wet as we got that piss poor service from Kenny and luke
Peach should never see the starting 13 again, lucky to be anywhere near the 17 same a huth
Maybe we give tito a go at centre and bring jenkins or McLean on the wing I don't care coin toss it but honestly I'd be more confident in garnz at centre peaches defence gave me anxiety all night.

The only chance we have to win it this year is the starters hold their own then the bench has some x factor. Peachey is the only one that has that and 2 tries from 2 games. Just need to use him better 20 min stint

 

[Iamback]

Yep. It’s not working and we keep going straight to these sideways plays. I was pretty gobsmacked last night watching us go right with these tip on plays from Dylan to critta/biz. It didn’t work one time. I don’t know if the tip on was a result of the defence seeing it coming and pressuring them or it was just the plan but either way it was dumb. All last night needed was simple direct footy not expansive and risky play. Down on troops and not in good form and they are throwing it around in the soaking wet trying to go around the defence, mind boggling stuff to me.

There is a place for tip ons, Last night though the winger was going out if they got them.

We threw a good cut out that almost saw Turuva go in then nothing else

 

[Iamback]

I didn't expect to win this game and was impressed we lost by four points and only conceded two tries, in spite of the fact we had 45% possession and made 25% more tackles. We played 65 minutes with 16 players.

The player missing was our fourth choice prop. We were missing our 1st and 3rd choice prop.
Martin was missing. Injured.
May was missing. Injured.
Tago was missing. Injured.
Garner was missing. Still not fit.

I don't know in what universe we thought we could be brilliant with six first graders missing and a seventh out injured after 15 minutes. With so many fowrads missing, we were out gunned through the middle with Klemmer making 215m and Twal 173m. Their forwards owned us.

Losing Eisenhuth was the straw that broke the camels back, with now a fifth choice prop taking the field. Couple that with a misfiring attack and we would struggle to beat any side let alone a fired up Tigers.

Of course we look poor in attack, the team had six new players in the team. We may be a development club, but we are not that good we can win easily fielding rookies like Smith, Turuva, Luke, Henry. Even Hosking is a rookie with 10 games to his name. Those players will benefit from this next year, but meanwhile, we are going to struggle.

That said, I don't understand why Jenkins wasn't given a shot instead of Peachey, who delivered his two mandatory penalties a game. I don't understand why Cleary didn't kick more grubbers, the ball was sticking to the ground in the wet.

I didn't expect to win 40-0 or something but you shouldn't be owned by the worst team. We still had 4 Origin players and 2 test props out there.

Ivan needs to get better at adapting to the situations.

So many combinations in that 17 to get better impact of the bench and certainly it shouldn't lead to 11 errors.

For example. Even if Ivan felt that was the best 17. Salmon to start. Sorenson on the bench.

Hell even switching Lindsay Smith and Leota gets some impact off the bench and can swing momentum late in halves.

The squad was put together, adapting the squad to the situation should of been a consideration

 

[Luke Bowden]

Good chat sweetie

This is actually your first sensible post.
Please try and keep this up.

 

[Fangs]

You get fantasy points for amount of kicks not variety

Pretty sure threw the pass for the Turuva bombed try too

Turuva and Cleary bombed certain tries. We've had quite a few of them this year. Easy argument in hindsight but we'd have 2-3 more wins with a slither of luck in this area.

Fun fact. Tigers delivered Penrith their biggest loss of 2023 so far (4 points).

 

[Iamback]

Turuva and Cleary bombed certain tries. We've had quite a few of them this year. Easy argument in hindsight but we'd have 2-3 more wins with a slither of luck in this area.

Fun fact. Tigers delivered Penrith their biggest loss of 2023 so far (4 points).

Edwards also saved a few too. Particularly on Naden.

If we are counting Crichton as an origin player then we had 5 Origin players and 2 kiwi players out there, You shouldn't lose in those cases

 

[hindy111]

Peach needs to go back to NSW - obviously the side will be better with Fish Martin Tago Leniu but you can’t excuse injuries every side has them. Players need to have a hard look at themselves - those errors and missed tackles were reserve grade standard. Intensity was non existent, enthusiasm wasn’t there - Clearys kicking game was average. Luai has no direction in attack and looks lost. NSW Cup isn’t doing much better so no one is knocking door down to come in. But it might be time to look at Jenkins Cole McLean at that center spot. Time for Blacker or Geyer in that Salmon spot. Kenny isn’t working at dummy half either, he is bench player at best.

You take them out along with May, Api and Kikau and that's 6 of your starting 13 and best bench player from the grand final. OK well Staines did play not May but he isnin your best 13.

What does one expect to happen? This just isn't the same side. At full strength and that means not one injury Penrith can take out the crown. You take out 1 of your above average players and then I don't think are good enough anymore.

Tigers aren't bad. They should of beat the Dogs and Parra as where the better side. Only just lost to the Knights and Manly.
A bit of luck and they are 5 wins right now and sitting pretty.
Its a close comp. A few injuries and a bit off your game and the bottom sides will beat you. They've all improved.

 

[hindy111]

I dont think they played that well. We are that bad.

Our forwards were smashed. Because we have no depth in them and we have the worst hooker in the competition pushing into the front row where he's equally bad.

Kenny has let us down so many times this year it's not funny. How bad are our management to think we could do anything with him as our starting 9 instead of Api?

A few fans were dumb enough / biased enough to think we could be a threat with them still. But honestly our starting 13 carrying him and Salmon last year gave us a false hope we could do so again without Kikau and Api.

At full strength Penrith are a threat. JFH,Spencer,Martin,Tago make the side far better. A weeks a long time in the NRL.
They should of beat Souths last week for example and that changes the way you see it.

It's a very even comp right now. Every top side has weaknesses. Sharks look great with the ball but gee they leave gaps in the middle. Manly,Brisbane,Souths,Storm,Roosters.... None look polished at all and beatable.

I wouldn't write Penrith off yet. I will say that they need to be close to fit towards the buisness end to be any chance but.

 

[hindy111]

This is a side effect of having the worst 9 in the comp. Much easier to pressure Cleary when our hooker isn't a threat and his service is terrible.

Take out our front row rotation and he's going to be behind beaten packs too. His job is so much harder this year.

I think its a side effect of being up for so long and mentally fatigued. Its been a tough 3yrs for everyone. Throw in the world cup and players are a bit bored. They almost want it to be finals now.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

Its all well and good talking about life after Kikau/Api, our hooking rotation being inadequate or arguing about Cleary vs Luai. But all that pales in in terms of how poor our middle has been at times. This has been the platform upon which our dominance has been built and we've been beaten in this area of the pitch regularly this year. In fact I'd say the Canberra/Manly games were the only two in which we won this area in any clear cut way.

Fish and May being out has been a massive loss in hindsight but take out Spencer too and we're teams like the Tigers are able to roll over us. We talk a lot about shoring up a variety of weaknesses in the squad but we can't be having many nights where we’re outmatched in the middle like that going forward. If last night is what a world without Spencer looks like...

I was going to write something very similar.

After the game yesterday (would have been middle of the night Oz but mid afternoon here), Kayo replayed all the games from the finals series last year. God we were dominant; even when we went down by 12 against the bunnies in the prelim we were rolling over them early.

From those very dominant performances we were missing Fish, Martin, Spencer, as well as obviously Kikau and Api (albeit we looked good in those games before Api came on).

 

[ColdWetPanther]

I think its a side effect of being up for so long and mentally fatigued. Its been a tough 3yrs for everyone. Throw in the world cup and players are a bit bored. They almost want it to be finals now.

Well said Hindy. What has amazed me most about this side for 3 years has been the consistency; week in week out the performance has been to a very high level with little variance. We are seeing more swings this year. Newcastle and last night we were poor (mentally first and foremost) while agains the Bunnies we were up for the match and just beaten by a good side that did just about everything right.

I am still confident we make the top four barring injuries and from there I think we are the team others will fear most in the finals.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

I didn't expect to win this game and was impressed we lost by four points and only conceded two tries, in spite of the fact we had 45% possession and made 25% more tackles. We played 65 minutes with 16 players.

The player missing was our fourth choice prop. We were missing our 1st and 3rd choice prop.
Martin was missing. Injured.
May was missing. Injured.
Tago was missing. Injured.
Garner was missing. Still not fit.

I don't know in what universe we thought we could be brilliant with six first graders missing and a seventh out injured after 15 minutes. With so many fowrads missing, we were out gunned through the middle with Klemmer making 215m and Twal 173m. Their forwards owned us.

Losing Eisenhuth was the straw that broke the camels back, with now a fifth choice prop taking the field. Couple that with a misfiring attack and we would struggle to beat any side let alone a fired up Tigers.

Of course we look poor in attack, the team had six new players in the team. We may be a development club, but we are not that good we can win easily fielding rookies like Smith, Turuva, Luke, Henry. Even Hosking is a rookie with 10 games to his name. Those players will benefit from this next year, but meanwhile, we are going to struggle.

That said, I don't understand why Jenkins wasn't given a shot instead of Peachey, who delivered his two mandatory penalties a game. I don't understand why Cleary didn't kick more grubbers, the ball was sticking to the ground in the wet.

Great post.

I said else where we were outcoached last night Nathan’s kicks weren’t creative enough (all year our outside backs have been swarmed by line speed from the opposition, we need more dinks behind the line from Cleary, Luai and even Yeo). And why last night we kept on going wide I will never know; with Edwards, Luai and Peachy all on the field we should have kept on going back inside and straight up the middle with power and footwork.

 

[Souths Till I Die]

It's pretty clear to everyone that Penrith are finished. As supporters you're probably going to need to find a new team to support because theres no way you guys will ever return to the top. I heard the Tigers are doing some great things with their young gun Luke Brooks.

 

[BossleyPanther]

It's pretty clear to everyone that Penrith are finished. As supporters you're probably going to need to find a new team to support because theres no way you guys will ever return to the top. I heard the Tigers are doing some great things with their young gun Luke Brooks.

33 years been through the hard times, never will I follow another club. In fact us fans show their passion more, when we have that down time.

 

[betcats]

I don’t buy mental fatigue. Our defence is still to good to suggest a team that isn’t there mentally. What I see is a team that has lost their patience in attack. When it doesn’t immediately happen for us like the raiders and manly game they get frustrated and start pushing more and more passes and making more errors. Even with Api and kiks we would attack off the back of momentum and fast ptb’s. Now as soon as we sniff the tryline we are running plays wide which leads to errors or us being pinned to a sideline which limits our options more often than not.

I want see us grind teams early, use our backs to punch out metres getting into good field position then kick in behind. Repeat sets or handing the ball over a metre out should be the goal.

For next week I’d be telling the halves to forget we have centres and wingers in good attacking positions until we’re on a repeat set. Short or inside balls to our edge forwards in good field position, grubbers to the in goal or just run it on last, force the other side to defend then kick from deep inside their half consistently. We aren’t going to just run around a committed defensive side from the get go. We need to earn the right to be expansive.

 

[Flashstep]

I don’t buy mental fatigue. Our defence is still to good to suggest a team that isn’t there mentally. What I see is a team that has lost their patience in attack. When it doesn’t immediately happen for us like the raiders and manly game they get frustrated and start pushing more and more passes and making more errors. Even with Api and kiks we would attack off the back of momentum and fast ptb’s. Now as soon as we sniff the tryline we are running plays wide which leads to errors or us being pinned to a sideline which limits our options more often than not.

I want see us grind teams early, use our backs to punch out metres getting into good field position then kick in behind. Repeat sets or handing the ball over a metre out should be the goal.

For next week I’d be telling the halves to forget we have centres and wingers in good attacking positions until we’re on a repeat set. Short or inside balls to our edge forwards in good field position, grubbers to the in goal or just run it on last, force the other side to defend then kick from deep inside their half consistently. We aren’t going to just run around a committed defensive side from the get go. We need to earn the right to be expansive.

Agree with you a lot. Building pressure should be the main priority for this team. Get down there, get some repeat sets and watch the cracks in teams start to appear. Right now teams are just doing it easy against us in defence but like you said repeat sets and turning the ball over on the opposition try line would make the game so much easier for us.

We have skilful players close to the line, start utilising them again ffs and we’ll get somewhere

 

[The Realist]

Peachey might be but the squad is built in a way that lacks options. He had mistakes but he was the only one that looked like creating anything

He was creating penalties for the other team and slow in cover defense. I am a fan of his and loved his first stint with us, but he isn't close to that player anymore. I honestly don't want to see him playing centre again unless we have another 1 or 2 injuries there. I'd much prefer Jenkins or Cole.

 

[The Realist]

NSW Cup are travelling worse then NRL are. Cole is probably capable of replacing Crichton next year but is another year from playing 6

My bet is on Taylan May being shifted to centre. I pray that his rehab is as good as possible. People are sleeping on him, he is basically an Elite winger and I think we would have won last night and also the Bunnies game if we had him. He is a massive step in quality compared to Turuva who is basically a blog average winger.

So even though he has NRL experience on the wing only he has played centre in reserves and has shited there mid game a few times and done well. Better than throwing in a rookie with close to zero NRL experience.

My personal preference would have been Cole though. Big body and has good balance and ball skills - very much a Crichton type of centre.

 

[BxTom]

I don’t buy mental fatigue. Our defence is still to good to suggest a team that isn’t there mentally. What I see is a team that has lost their patience in attack. When it doesn’t immediately happen for us like the raiders and manly game they get frustrated and start pushing more and more passes and making more errors. Even with Api and kiks we would attack off the back of momentum and fast ptb’s. Now as soon as we sniff the tryline we are running plays wide which leads to errors or us being pinned to a sideline which limits our options more often than not.

I want see us grind teams early, use our backs to punch out metres getting into good field position then kick in behind. Repeat sets or handing the ball over a metre out should be the goal.

For next week I’d be telling the halves to forget we have centres and wingers in good attacking positions until we’re on a repeat set. Short or inside balls to our edge forwards in good field position, grubbers to the in goal or just run it on last, force the other side to defend then kick from deep inside their half consistently. We aren’t going to just run around a committed defensive side from the get go. We need to earn the right to be expansive.

This is a great post. We need to grind and become unpredictable again. We are a one story book at present - put up a bomb on the fifth. Let's put a few grubbers/chips behind the line etc, mix it up a bit.