Sammut axed for 'poor form'
By Josh Massoud | May 10, 2008 12:00am
Axed ... Jarrod Sammut has been dropped from Penrith for 'poor form'. / The Daily Telegraph
A FORMER NSW ballboy will tonight make his NRL debut for the Panthers at the expense of wunderkind Jarrod Sammut, who last night revealed he had been axed from the clash for "poor form".
A dejected Sammut said he got a "kick up the a ...'' from Panthers coach Matt Elliott after last week's capitulation to the Eels and was likely to miss out when the Panthers take on the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.
In a selection bombshell, The Saturday Daily Telegraph has been told teenage Toyota Cup star Wade Graham, 18, will be promoted to the starting side.
Just four years ago Graham won a NSWRL competition to be the Blues ballboy for a State of Origin clash. Last year he captained the NSW under-19s to victory over Queensland.
"Yeah, Graham has been training with the team this week,''Sammut said. "At this stage I think he is playing.''
The selection shock comes just two weeks after Sammut booted the Panthers to a thrilling golden-point win against the Sharks. Earlier this year he beat former Souths halfback Joe Williams to the Panthers' No.7 jersey.
"It is a big kick in the a...,'' Sammut said. "Matt pulled me aside and said my form wasn't good. I am not playing to the level he expects and to the level I expect. I am capable of a lot more but haven't been delivering. It is pretty disheartening but I am still a chance to play on the bench.
"I am not sure yet but I could miss out altogether.'' Sammut was criticised last week for wearing "flash'' boots during the Panthers loss. "I like being a bit different,'' Sammut said.
"And some blokes in other teams were wearing the orange Nike boots I have been wearing. Last week I got an orange one and a red one to represent the Aboriginal colours. They were from different pairs but they were similar.''
Sammut is confident he can regain his spot, but admitted he will have to win back Elliott's respect. "I will just have to put my head down,'' Sammut said. "I need to do what the coach wants.''
Elliott last night said he needed more from Sammut at No.7. "He is a young halfback and I think it is all about his development,'' Elliott said.
"It has nothing to do with his attitude. He just needs to work on some things in his game and there is nothing wrong with going back a grade to work on those things. I think we have already seen that with guys like Mitchell Pearce and Todd Carney.
"Carney had to go back to Premier League and work on his game and look how good he is going now.''
Elliott predicted Sammut would return to the starting side "sooner rather than later''.
"It is just part of his development,'' Elliott said. "He is a terrific young man and a good player. He has done plenty of good things ... he won that game against Cronulla almost on his own.
"But he also needs to brush up on some things. He needs to work on his talk and some of the finer things in his game.''
Elliott said Sammut's outlandish choice in footwear had nothing to do with him being dropped.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have been forced to make a number of changes for the clash. Fullback Luke Patten (back) and five-eighth Ben Roberts (hamstring) are likely to be ruled out.
Brent Crisp will return to the side at No.1 after making his debut for the Bulldogs against Manly in round 7. Reni Maitua is likely to switch to the playmaking role to cover for Roberts if the Kiwi is unfit.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/nrl/story/0,27074,23671906-14823,00.html
