Exactly this - nobody can take away that feeling of the full-time whistle sounding and knowing you’ve won it, even if after the event everyone knows that it’s a tainted victory.
We know better. No matter what they might like to throw out there, you can’t take anything away from 17 straight wins, a grand final, coach of the year, 5 players in the team of the year, the ABC player of the year. And maybe a record 18 straight and 2020 premiers.
Well no they also had their 7 out, who was man of the match in their winning Prelim, so a decent out I’d say. Both teams are full strength this week though, apart from a bench forward for Melbourne, so no excuses for either.
There are massive gibberers all across social media but particularly on this forum. Claiming that a fortunate travel schedule (not actually the most fortunate) and a low injury toll, accounts for going from an 11-13 season and 10th place to a 18-1-1 season and 1st place and at least Grand Finalists. Even the Griffin coached teams that made the 8 could only go 14-10, 13-11 and 15-9. No where near this team, Not simply based on win-loss record but also in terms of being a quality and together unit. Luck apparently has a great influence and not astute recruitment- buying Api to solve the joke of a hooker situation we had, getting Baz in to help fix the attacking structure and the incredible improvement of Cleary. Then the outstanding rise of the young talent- Chrichton, Luai, Martin etc etc A really well coached team with buckets of talent and spirit basically sums it up. Not trash like lack of travel or favourable calls. That might explain just making the 8 or a lucky top 4 finish. It doesn’t explain winning 17 straight games.
You idiot. The club was not investing in juniors at all when Gus got here we had been pulling money out of our junior development, now we spend more on it than any club. We had a lot of juniors but we never did much with them. Gus is 100 percent the reason why the club is churning out talented nrl ready kids right now. That was his goal, he stated it many times. Our junior development was completely rebuilt because of Gus, he specifically hired Matt Cameron for this purpose, Cameron is our gm of football now. He added the academy out in Bathurst and pushed our connection with that area and further west. He personally brought a number of the kids and players who are not locals to the club. Honestly to say he did nothing is really dumb. He did to much, he was to involved, that was his problem. His ego and arrogance no doubt would have caused some issues but he really does deserve a shit ton of credit for this clubs current position. We were tenth last year but prior to that we had played finals 3 years straight. 4 out 5 years from 2014-2018, now a gf in 2020.
I've worked out also why the Panthers players are so relaxed. It's because Gus is constantly giving them wet fellatio massages in public.
To be fair it's easier to relax with your eyes closed. With Gus slobbering away on your stork it's best not to open them. It kind of kills the mood. The added bonus is he shuts the f**k up while doing it.
Are you really trying to link our lack of injuries to a soft draw? Lol f**k me there are some real morons on here. So you are less likely to get injuries playing bottom 8 teams?
So the team who finished 1st and are on a 17 game winning streak aren't favourites. Seems reasonable.
Check the odds. Tab and sports bet have storm at 1.70 and Penrith at 2.15/2.2.0. There are many reasons to think the storm are going to win. Big game experience, Smith retiring even just recent form, their win was a better one than ours in the prelim.
Nobody can say for sure - but I’d certainly say there’s an increase in injury risk if you’re playing the better teams in tough close games back to back more regularly, and that’s before we even look at the travel other teams have had, particularly on game days which impact on both pre-game regimes and post-game recovery both on match day and the following days. Only a ‘real moron’ would think that those factors wouldn’t potentially impact on a teams injuries. I am glad you can recognise it as a soft draw though.
It would be easy to see if there was any validity to that idea, I think it is dumb as f**k tbh. Personally I dont think our draw was that soft, I just dont care if others think it. We have won 17 in a row and already beat all the best teams and you are talking about a soft draw, I guess you have to clutch at whatever straws you can.
Mixed messages from panthers fans as the pressure mounts. On one hand they've beaten everything that moves so they're saying f**k you, on the other hand they're grabbing the underdog tag because they think they're f**ked. Smug fading?????????????
Arguments on the soft draw stem from the beginning of the season based on who played top sides from the previous year but don’t take into account how the season evolved. For example, pundits agreed Easts were given the toughest draw because they played all the previous top four twice. No one knew at the beginning that playing Broncos twice would turn out to be a blessing. And playing Penrith once was equally a blessing. In the end I think Penrith’s only advantage came down to travel - lack there of. 17 wins in a row is still a big deal and should be celebrated.
Tall poppy syndrome is the right of opposition fans. Just embrace that your team will not be liked. Back in 2016 we had hardly any injuries and a nicely balanced squad. Yet we were copping crap about: - peptides (geez didnt that do us a lot of good), - getting a slap on the wrist from ASADA (even though they had an iffy case and were happy to settle), - having a mercenary squad (even though they were a team of rejects) - then Gus came up with the cracker "it's a soft comp" out of nowhere Chooks have the nrl darlings and paper bags to deal with. Melbourne the same, but with cheating to boot. If the worst Panthers get is having a soft draw, Cleary's tiktok time and being a bunch of smug unlikelable lads that over-react every time they score a try you are getting off lightly. Just own it.
You are right. I guess you just notice the jibes a lot more when it's your team getting them. Being a non threat for so long makes you forget. ha ha.
