What? Tell that to the Manly team. Penrith are a funny team, no big boppers, but everything done at SPEED.
In A they engage the defenders (very important so they compress or hold the defensive line) before passing the ball, very rarely going through the middle, and attacking the edges but all done at SPEED.
In D they move up quickly at SPEED, hit and most importantly, stick, and get 2-3 defenders in and either walk them or get them on the ground. And hold until told to release so they get their defensive line in order. Simple footy but extremely effective. They'll be at the pointy end again unlike us who seem to be bumbling around still not sure what we're doing.
Mate I didn't say they weren't going to be there at the pointy end. They are still a very well coached team with a good balance of talent...obviously.
The point is they are not as good as they were in previous seasons due to the fact that they have lost one of the best dummy halves in the game who is a great defender and runner of the ball. Of all the personnel losses that they have had recently he in my opinion is the most crucial followed by Kikau. If you can't see that you can't see much.
Penrith are more them beatable this year by us if we have our best team in, fit and we can find an NRL ready bopper and or a big outside back that can relieve our two middles from all that draining extra work we keep insisting they do.
I can't believe we are so close to being the best team that can actually win this years premiership if we strengthen our middle by one or two players or a back that can defend ok but just as importantly drain the opposition of energy with the ball in hand. It's not like we don't have the space or money to bring someone in.
The club/coach should be moving Heaven and earth right now to finagle, seduce, manipulate or coerce a player of substance and quality to our club. This is vital if we want to go to the next level and actually win this damn comp while we still have a team capable and at their best.
We should even look to get one of the lowly teams to loan a player out to us in a month or so when they know that their season is done and dusted. Someone like that merkin Junior Tupou who was the best of the Tigers on the weekend might be ideal for a loan if he keeps playing like he did last Monday.
But what we really need is a middle that can bend the line and hold the middle when the two boppers are off so they can get good and consistent rests during games for the rest of the season. This is the only way that they will have the beans and the legs to carry the team when the real fire starts at the big end of season games.
We are at a very critical and tricky point of our season right now. We need to win this weekend or the hole we have dug for ourselves may have become to insurmountable psychologically and or physically, especially if a few injuries come our way, to climb out of. Also the team seem to be treading water in the way they are approaching each game. I feel they need some new and exciting blood to trigger them into real action again and even more importantly belief. Coach on his own isn't the man for that type of job as most on here already know it.
A new face that can add and contribute will do wonders for this team. Not a player that is just another average fill in but a player that can add his own unique mark and give our current crop a minor surge of sorts.
This is all we need, I believe to be in with a real shot at the end of the season to take it out. But of course none of this will matter if we can't beat the Dogs on Sunday with the lot we have right now and then keep winning till we get back into the 8 again. But I really do hope that we are doing everything possible to add a player or two of note to our ranks before the cutoff time. Remember no matter who it is their salary will only be half of what their full salary is right now for the rest of this season. Very affordable for our purposes.
If we don't do this this season then we have failed miserably when victory is so very near if we just use our freakin smarts and do something about it proactively.
