Rumoured Targets 3

[Woody90]

What about last year when the broncs had the game won until the biggest choke in GF history?

If the had even AOB as coach instead of kevvie they would have won.

We’ll have to disagree in the sense that I never at all myself thought the Broncos had that game won when they were out in front. Sure if they were playing us I’d think they had it won but not against a Penrith team we’ve seen do it over and over again.

Saying that though it wasn’t even close this year which is my point that every year people say they’ve gotten worse and won’t win again and they do.

 

[perverse]

Penriths dynasty will come to an end soon enough. If you're one of the other 16 teams and your attitude isn't "why can't we be the ones to break it?", then what is your purpose in this competition?

 

[Woody90]

Penriths dynasty will come to an end soon enough. If you're one of the other 16 teams and your attitude isn't "why can't we be the ones to break it?", then what is your purpose in this competition?

This is just my opinion obviously and I obviously hope it’s not what happens (that they just keep winning for another 3-4 years).

The club obviously don’t see it the way I do if Ponga thinks us winning a comp is a realistic enough prospect that he wants to bypass rep jerseys (which is a good thing).

 

[Mr_Knightside]

Put it this way. I can see Penrith winning another 3-4 over the next 8-10 years. Provided Cleary doesn’t retire due to injury. But I can’t see them winning another 3-4 on the trot.

It’s going to get harder every year for them to win another comp consecutively. Every other team is out to prove themselves against them and they’ll keep losing 3-4 players every year. Yes they’re well placed to cover those losses given how strong their lower grades are but they’ll be brought back to the pack a little bit.

Whilst Melbourne will start as comp favourites next year, and the bookies will probably have Penrith up there too. I think Souths, Broncos, Cowboys and possibly Sharks & Manly could give things a shake.

It’ll be an interesting year in 2025 for sure.

 

[slotmachine]

Yes they’re well placed to cover those losses

This is a bit different, they're losing their second most important forward and one of their halves.

Before now it's been a couple of centres, edge forward and bench forward.

 

[Apey]

This is a bit different, they're losing their second most important forward and one of their halves.

Before now it's been a couple of centres, edge forward and bench forward.

Imo these two are in their top 3 losses, the other being Crichton.

They also don't have a home ground next year.

They're a Cleary injury away from being out of the top 4. They've got a decent replacement at 6 but he's not going to stand up like Luai did if given the keys.

Also I'm not sure how anyone can say the GF this year wasn't even close, yes Storm got dominated, but it was 10 - 6 after 60 minutes and Storm were a bees dick away from at least levelling it at 10 all with the Howarth no try in the 50th minute. Poor guy kinda f**ked it but he's only 21.

All that being said, there's a lot more than just Penrith standing in the way of us or Ponga winning a Premiership.

 

[Burwood]

I also seem to remember a half decent hooker that Penrith lost a couple of years ago…

Losing Luai will be by far their biggest loss to date though. He and Cleary have been connected at the hip and playing together for over 10 years- you can’t just replace that sort of understanding and bond between players. Plus you get the feeling that Luai is the life and blood of the club on and off the field.

 

[Dr Dr Gimedanews]

Interesting how when we sign a couple of journeymen like Gamble and Elliott we never hear the end of how terrible it is, but when the Bulldogs sign Kurt Mann they're apparently geniuses.

read the post very carefully mate ( and I take it you need to read slowly as well) , they ( and Mann) are the type of players to churn through in a rebuild. Not to win a Premiership with.

 

[HarVeeGee]

We’ll have to disagree in the sense that I never at all myself thought the Broncos had that game won when they were out in front. Sure if they were playing us I’d think they had it won but not against a Penrith team we’ve seen do it over and over again.

Saying that though it wasn’t even close this year which is my point that every year people say they’ve gotten worse and won’t win again and they do.

This seems a bit hindsighty hahaha. The one thing we really hadn’t seen Penrith do is pull a game out of the fire when they were in trouble. 16 points was the biggest lead they had ever run down to that point and they did it in 20 minutes. If you didn’t think it was game over when Mam went over for the third time, you’re the only one.

 

[Knight Tales]

So according to some news sources KPP is testing his value in the open market. His stats are absolutely shite, if they are accurate. He has 3 LBs, 15 off loads and no tries in 22 games. Now I get his defence was solid but it may in part explain why. I knew about the tries being a barren desert but the other two are frankly piss poor efforts. An indictment on the coaching?

 

[HarVeeGee]

1 try. But yes he doesn’t seem to explode through contact and you probably want to get him early ball, which isn’t how AOB tends to use his back rowers.

 

[Apey]

I also seem to remember a half decent hooker that Penrith lost a couple of years ago…

Losing Luai will be by far their biggest loss to date though. He and Cleary have been connected at the hip and playing together for over 10 years- you can’t just replace that sort of understanding and bond between players. Plus you get the feeling that Luai is the life and blood of the club on and off the field.

You're not wrong, Api is/was the most talented hooker in the game when Penrith lost him but I guess for me he wasn't vital to their style, just a luxury. Similar to Kikau. Such is the greatness of their 2021 & 2022 teams though.

 

[HarVeeGee]

I think the way Penrith have continued to kick on without Api is at least partially attributable to Luai and Cleary both improving heaps as players year on year.

 

[alexwilliams_66692007]

Whilst Melbourne will start as comp favourites next year, and the bookies will probably have Penrith up there too. I think Souths, Broncos, Cowboys and possibly Sharks & Manly could give things a shake.

It’ll be an interesting year in 2025 for sure.

That doesn't sound interesting at all

 

[Mr_Knightside]

That doesn't sound interesting at all

Well obviously it would be more interesting if every team had a legitimate chance of winning but that’s clearly not going to happen. But what I mean is there are maybe another 4 or 5 teams outside of that top 2 who are likely to show big improvement next year and could make it interesting if that’s the case.

 

[Knight Tales]

1 try. But yes he doesn’t seem to explode through contact and you probably want to get him early ball, which isn’t how AOB tends to use his back rowers.

Playing him left when he is right side dominant as a player is likely a huge reason.

 

[Yosh]

Love Lucas. It's a pity KPP isn't being used correctly. He could be so special.

I think Ponga was always the most talented player in the game but is now the best player in the game now. Let's get a team around him and smash Penrith.

 

[ryan.a87]

Smh reporting Bennett has enquired about a swap for Hastings with Illias

 

[Yosh]

Smh reporting Bennett has enquired about a swap for Hastings with Illias

Wow really? Hope they take most of his contract as well.

 

[Alex28]

Smh reporting Bennett has enquired about a swap for Hastings with Illias

Taking Ilias in exchange for not having to pay any of Jacko’s salary is a good deal honestly.