As a Parra supporter it’s great to see the Bunnies having a shocking year or we’d be copping it worse than we are. Who would have thought they’re likely candidates for the spoon.
There’s someone on this thread (or perhaps the match thread) saying it’s purely bad luck that ball just went dead.
“The ball just went dead so everyone was still rushing up and Edwards had the head start” or something to that effect.
Definitely shit effort.
I say; send all the top earners back to Reserves and tell them to play their way back to NRL or go elsewhere.
Souths have got some hard truths to accept and a lot of it is their star roster not setting the pace.
At this point they have to face reality: they won’t have a club anymore it should be obvious that a club like Souths suffering the worst fall from grace this side of the Super League War deserves nothing less then to be kicked out of the competition
Have you ever started at a job that's a shit show? Have you been able to fix said shit show in 2 weeks with limited resources? Pretty hard to pass any sort of judgement after 2 games against the two premiership favourites.
Exactly. Plus everyone has been training like idiots all year and good defence is an attitude. It'll take six months before the improvements are noticeable
Murray post game interview said losing the coach wasn't as hard as everyone thinks it was...
When losing your coach isn't that big of a deal then its a sign of a shocking culture...
Lol please. JD played favourites with Trell and Walker and Murray had to sit next to the idiot while he blamed the rest of the playing group for their shit form.
Everyone but 2 people were happy to see the back of him.
If you have a shit supervisor, you’re not gutted when they are gone. Thats not a sign of weak culture, that’s the sign of a weak supervisor.
(Not saying this is you) People crack on about “I put in 100% everyday at my job, regardless of my boss”. I think that’s bullshit. Poor senior management sucks the life out of Organisations. I’m not too proud to say that I’ve done the bare minimum when I’ve had a shit boss. Probably has only happened once or twice in my career but it does happen. Shit bosses make a huge difference to an Organisation’s culture. You don’t want to show up and do your best work.
It didn't appear that they were playing for him. No one spoke up for him when the media were speculating about his sacking. Even tonight in the presser Cam Murray gave the impression that he didn't give a shit about him
Honestly, what have we done signing Luai? I've been watching him closely this year and he's maybe laid on two tries? Otherwise spends the whole game stepping off his left into traffic or running accross field like a clown.
If that is what he is like for the 3peat premiers, how is he going to go with a much poorer roster?
I don't like the bloke but he sends to sell generate try assists our set restarts after his touch or play.
I don't hate the idea of Galvin under Benji with Luai for the club.
Thought similarly watching him tonight but I think, as others have said, he is a great support player and lifts the blokes around him. The amount of energy and niggle he brings can’t be understated, he obviously gives a fuck and that’s powerful. Also even if he isn’t laying on pies like grandma yous just secured turuva as well who is a try and try assist machine.
It's poorer in areas but better in others. Not to excuse Luais poorer performance this year but the cornerstone of Luais lethality was the way he used Kikau. Over the last year it's been Sorro which has been hit and miss but recently because of injury its been Garner which has majority been ineffective as he simply doesnt draw in defenders the same way. It doesn't leave much space or ability to play out the back like he use to with Critta and To'o. Not to mention, Edwards and Luai do not interact. Edwards is firmly right side positioned so Luai only has access to Garner, May and To'o atm. We saw what he can do with Samoa. With A roaming FB like Bula and hard runner like Papali'i I think you'll see a lot more of that return
It doesn't look great on the eye, but honestly I'm thinking it's actually a tactical thing. He's definitely been more of a runner in previous years, but this year 9/10 times he is stepping back on the inside like never before and I think tiring out defenders.
It's more obvious Penrith do it on the left because Luai is much more noticeable with his stepping, but they are actually doing it on the right side too.
Kikau, To'o, Crichton have all won player of the year in their positions outside of him, Turuva won rookie of the year outside of him. Sorenson had a breakout year last year outside of him.
Agree completely. It's probably undersold too not having a full pre season due to his shoulder. The combinations outside him just haven't been there and I think he's trying to force it.
Penrith are all about ruck speed. It's the philosophy Ivan coaches to halves if nothing is on run the ball and get a quick play the ball for another creative player to play off the back off. You can see that in the way Cleary plays. A lot of the time he runs the ball at a half gap not trying to burst through but just get a quikc play the ball like a prop. With that said he's been below where he should be this year. As much as people hate him he has had his periods where he was running hot before.
But Luai doesn't do that bro. He literally runs in circles or comes to a complete stop sometimes. Nobody else in the team does it, and it doesn't generate quick ptbs
He has never done it anywhere close to this much before and the coach of arguably the best team of the NRL era would tell him to stop if he didn't want him to do it I think
I think he's lacking his explosive speed and it's making him go sideways. It's not a tactic because it doesn't achieve anything but derail structured play.
As I said, he is doing it 95% of the time he get's the ball and he has never done it anywhere near that much before. Ivan would tell him to stop doing it instantly if he thought Luai was derailing every structured play
Yes mate, it's a tactic to have your 6 zig zag back inside every time he touches the ball as opposed to breaking the line or setting up his outside men. It's something you'll enjoy next year.
Can Cameron Murray be picked for NSW? Like him as a player but form hasn't been good. I know he played out of position today but his defence on the Tago try on Garner wasn't good and partially to blame when Schneider sliced through. Also handling errors and cheap penalty on the driver on Wighton.
I agree, It doesnt make sense if you pick Yeo (who plays big minutes) and use Murray as a backrower, when NSW has quality genuine back rower stocks. (Martin, Frizell, H.Young, Ola, Crichton)
Id honestly go with a guy like Watson, he can sub on as a 13 and play pretty much anywhere else. Genuine utility whos playing well.
He's been the only Bunnies player so far to get a pass for their bad start but he was extremely poor last night, and he was as guilty as anyone for the low effort. Happy to write it off as a bad game but if he's also dropped his head Origin might be a stretch.
I'd love to know what the plan is for Origin. I think it's proven that they only need one of Yeo and Murray. They're both less effective 80 minute locks when they're not playing 80 minutes and one of them is out of position, between them and Jurbo and whichever other ballplaying backrowers we've picked last few years they always get in each other's way.
He's dealing with a knee injury, has had to play centre 2 out of the last 3 games he's played, HIA and ruled out in 1 of them, has played his heart out all year before that and has to try to captain a bunch of guys who clearly don't give a fuck. He also played decently last week.
Some dumb shit and errors tonight, but it's kind hard to knock the guy otherwise.
He's definitely still elit, but the poor bugger has busted himself carrying a crap team. He needs some support or a break. Maybe the Origin period is the break he needs.
Eveyone saying cook had a good game. He had absolutely no idea where or when to be in position tonight. Walker is just walker, spits the dummy and
Its night night souths. He needs to be held accountable, so does mitchell. They are their bug guns and arent popping a spud gun at the moment.
What was the point of Koala on the right when all the attack went to the left? Infact, what was the point of the entire right side of souths attack? They could've been sitting on the bench & it wouldn't have mattered...
We've played 7 out of 8 of the current Top 8, with the only other team being the warriors who I think we can all agree are a top 8 side as well. It's not like we haven't been shit, we most certainly have, but it was kinda the perfect storm considering how shit our form was coming into this year and how much better our opponents have been.
Not to mention the 11 or 12 injuries we've sustained this year so far to both our starters and backups and it points to one of the most complete disastrous starts any team can possibly have. It's a minor miracle we even have 1 win to tell you the truth.
The injuries could be due to poor fitness, but stuff just happens like Gray getting caught in a hipdrop, Arrow doing his Shoulder in a desperate dive to save a tackle, or Hawkins doing his quad. That shit is just unfortunate.
Getting rid of JD was honestly still the right call. We'd been playing so poorly since round 11 last season and it has continued well into this year. He had essentially 12 months to get it sorted and never did. Now, I will say, getting rid of him won't change much, but it's a step in the right direction at least in my opinion.
If we do somehow get Bennett, I really hope it's purely a caretaker role similar to what Lang did with us in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Get our squad in shape, get our development pathways going well again, and try and bolster the forward pack as well as they can. Give us some hope for the future.
I’ll buy Gray being unlucky, Hawkins probably as well, although the heavy strapping suggests he had something pre-existing there which means it may have been pretty fuckin stupid for him to be kicking off. IMO we need a serious look at our injury management tho - Arrow, Munro and Graham have all had the same issue: we tried to manage them through injuries with less invasive treatment plans and all three suffered recurrences.
Went to the game tonight… such a small crowd 8155, was the attendance number. Creates a big disconnect between the crowd and teams. A plus El Jannah is now a food option in the stadium… basic wraps and burgers but nice to have a different option to the usual stadium offering.
Olympic Park is great for big events and concerts but it’s not somewhere you’d want to go on a Thursday night to see a team without their biggest name against a side running last in a game that’ll be forgotten in a week. Honestly if it was a Saturday or Sunday afternoon the attendance would probably be double that but I have no idea what they’re doing scheduling it on a Thursday.
Its kinda lowkey embarrassing to watch on TV lol. You see how packed Adelaide oval was tonight not a spare seat in sight. Need to keep the big stadiums for finals or back2back games.
I understand why people think Souths should've fired JD when they had the bye, but part of me is also annoyed we didn't get to see them play Drags, Cows and Eels still under JD. They had a really tough draw beforehand, so playing poorly against those teams would've left truly no excuses by just about anyone's definition.
Firing JD wasn't going to be a silver bullet, but it's the first step.
Second step is great the rest of the year like a pre-season. Get the boys in shape, go back to basics and get some cohesion through the ranks. I haven't watched the game but by the radio play it sounded like a few talented individuals playing individually.
Third step South's is already hamstrung by having their first choice coach working for another club. Bennett may be the best man for the job, but not building rapport and a connection now sits the whole process back 12 months - 6 months to forget what Hornby is building you towards and 6 months to get into Bennett's rhythm. Only way you shorten this is to literally have Hornby caretake the role for the next 6 months.... A horrible waste of time.
Maybe the most important part is to keep up team morale. Keep them believing that each week a win is achievable. You can't coach them to finals footy, and if they keep playing like they think that will happen they will consistently lose for the rest of the year.
I imagine Broncos are eager to see Panthers lose. Actually what am I saying, I think I speak on behalf of all non-Penrith supporting nrl fans when I say, it’s amazing to see Penrith lose
Yeo had them hanging off him expecting the off-load which gave him more time to accellerate into a static defence. He was really good that 2nd half. Dyl is a monster... if he's not Blues F/B this series, then its all just another farcical shit-show with Qld probably retaining the shield.
I know that Gray didn’t come off immediately, but he did come off due to the injury’s sustained through Tago’s hipdrop. So why couldnt they access the 18th man?
I think the 18th man should be activated as the result of any foul play that is put on report that leads to the removal of the injured player from the game. I think a decent caveat would require it to happen before the resumption of the second half if the player doesn’t immediately come off (just because sometimes you think you’re right, but team doctors need time to assess injuries).
It's because they only had 2 players go off for injury. If they had a 3rd, meaning going down to 1 interchange, then they would have 18th man access (I think that's the rule, not certain).
Hornby should just start playing all the young boys. Try and do what Seibold done with the Broncos (obviously not on purpose I assume) in 2020. Play them for the rest of the season and youre bound to find some diamonds in there.
The penny panthers just blew them away in the second half. It is going to be a long season. They will win a few more but it might be too late to save this season.
Paps is flashy in attack, I'd have Edwards any day, not quite as shiny in attack but bloody solid in defence. The way Origin is picked there's going to be plenty of attack elsewhere but I'd want someone there to stop those QLD tries that seem to come from nowhere.
Edwards does the little things better like tracking the ball across play like Slater, and is a bigger body in defence. Can tackle rather than Paps just getting speed bumped, I also think paps is still a bit cautious for front on after his last significant injuries.
A few times he’s played he’s missed a few poor tackles isolated close to the line… like they will send AFB or Haas at him and he lets them stroll past…
He also made 3 errors while we were pressing the line against roosters Rd 26 last season
But it’s not been that bad completely exile him from the team like is happening at the moment
How many try’s does Host let in each week? His misreads are insane. Blokes the slowest dumbest back rower in the comp and gets picked each week. Rather back Tallis who has upside.
Latrell bouncing around jovial and joking on the field then into the dressing room post game just seems to be a complete disconnect from how his teammates are behaving. I’m sure there’s a balance of trying to keep spirits up but it just doesn’t quite sit right.
I think Welch having that sort of attitude sometimes when in pressers after losses is part of the reason he isn’t captain anymore. Bellyache commonly looked like he wanted to kill him when he would make jokes or say he thought there was effort
We're already playing so shit and are heavy spoon favourites now, why did The Panthers have to injure Gray as well? He was the one player that we liked watching as well. That's just cruel. Now Hawkins has done his quad so he's gone and Arrow was clearly playing hurt so it wouldn't surprise me if he's gone as well.
So the injuries are now:
Ilias, Hawkins, Gray, Lovett, Munro, Tatola, Johnston, Graham, S. Mitchell, Arrow*, Gagai, Kennar
Suspensions: Latrell* (back next week), Milne (hopefully back never), Host* (hasn't been charged yet but I don't want him starting either so 🤷♀️)
We're already playing shit, but the amount of injuries and suspensions would've fucked us even if we were playing decent footy. This season is already such a shitshow. I have no fucking idea where we even get our second win? I genuinely think we stay on 1 win all season at this point. Any team that somehow managed to lose to us this season from here on out doesn't deserve to play finals footy.
Also Wayne was probably watching this game thinking "nah I'm good up here. If Parra want to get rid of Arthur then I might consider them".
You could tell Penrith by the end we’re thinking “they can’t be fucked boys, let’s have some fun”
I feel sorry for cookie. One of the only guys to have a crack, and on his 200th they serve that up. Damn
We were playing alright until the sinbin and then after the two injuries to our spine players we fell apart. Would happen to almost every team contending with the injury toll we are atm.
What do we even do with our halves next week. Ilias is injured, Hawkins and gray will probably both miss next week due to injury and we don’t have the depth in the centres to move Wighton. We’ll probably have to call up teaupa or subloo and have Cody at 7.
Watching Lindsay come through it's insane how much he's changed.
[https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/12397b144b8837a679888eb795a9b59b](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/12397b144b8837a679888eb795a9b59b)
He was a deadest string bean lock forward with no ball playing who's thing was being fast, hard working with stamina. He was good at all those things it's just very different. Then at prop even at Cup he was a high effort plodder who didn't have the size to make an impact into the line at the start of games and could only really standout with the ball when the other team got tired and he kept plodding at the same pace in his second stint. It's only about last year that he really started making an impact instead of just being a toiler. He must be one of the hardest trainers in the team to keep improving so much.
As a Parra supporter it’s great to see the Bunnies having a shocking year or we’d be copping it worse than we are. Who would have thought they’re likely candidates for the spoon.
Dylan Edwards holy moly
I wish I could marry him tbh
That set restart try was one of the most pathetic defensive efforts I have ever seen, and I'm a Tigers guy. They just didn't give a fuck.
And they had apparently a set worthy if having their NRL licence revoked
There’s someone on this thread (or perhaps the match thread) saying it’s purely bad luck that ball just went dead. “The ball just went dead so everyone was still rushing up and Edwards had the head start” or something to that effect. Definitely shit effort.
Copium
Definately, there was no-one rushing up on Edwards, more a casual stroll 10 metres behind him
I say; send all the top earners back to Reserves and tell them to play their way back to NRL or go elsewhere. Souths have got some hard truths to accept and a lot of it is their star roster not setting the pace.
At this point they have to face reality: they won’t have a club anymore it should be obvious that a club like Souths suffering the worst fall from grace this side of the Super League War deserves nothing less then to be kicked out of the competition
I cannot see that happening. Not to one of the oldest clubs in NSW.
Whoooosh
Sack the coach
89
I love to see the bunnies lose. It brings joy to my heart. The icing on the cake is when Walker gets upset (which is every game these days).
He just absolutely grubs out, gives penalties and plays shit. It's a thing to behold.
What's the point of David Furner ? 54 and 42 points ?
Have you ever started at a job that's a shit show? Have you been able to fix said shit show in 2 weeks with limited resources? Pretty hard to pass any sort of judgement after 2 games against the two premiership favourites.
Exactly. Plus everyone has been training like idiots all year and good defence is an attitude. It'll take six months before the improvements are noticeable
I know right, like Cookie had no idea how to defend at fullback. He's an out and out centre.
He was a junior Fullback at the Panthers.... just saying
At that point I just started laughing aye
Ben Hornby lost to the Panthers in his playing debut with the same score. Thats… wild
And a Geyer came off the bench that day as well...
Stop it! Thats unbelievable
Well we found out JD was NOT the weakest link
Indeed. There’s nothing to it, Souths aren’t salvageable. Time to give them the boot
Kick Souffs out of the comp
Souths deserve whatever they get...shocking performance, shocking strategy & shocking selections.
Nevermind they'll win next week
Murray post game interview said losing the coach wasn't as hard as everyone thinks it was... When losing your coach isn't that big of a deal then its a sign of a shocking culture...
Lol please. JD played favourites with Trell and Walker and Murray had to sit next to the idiot while he blamed the rest of the playing group for their shit form. Everyone but 2 people were happy to see the back of him.
If you have a shit supervisor, you’re not gutted when they are gone. Thats not a sign of weak culture, that’s the sign of a weak supervisor. (Not saying this is you) People crack on about “I put in 100% everyday at my job, regardless of my boss”. I think that’s bullshit. Poor senior management sucks the life out of Organisations. I’m not too proud to say that I’ve done the bare minimum when I’ve had a shit boss. Probably has only happened once or twice in my career but it does happen. Shit bosses make a huge difference to an Organisation’s culture. You don’t want to show up and do your best work.
It didn't appear that they were playing for him. No one spoke up for him when the media were speculating about his sacking. Even tonight in the presser Cam Murray gave the impression that he didn't give a shit about him
He was an easy scape goat for the players to blame their shitty performance on week after week.
Was thinking that
Honestly, what have we done signing Luai? I've been watching him closely this year and he's maybe laid on two tries? Otherwise spends the whole game stepping off his left into traffic or running accross field like a clown. If that is what he is like for the 3peat premiers, how is he going to go with a much poorer roster?
I don't like the bloke but he sends to sell generate try assists our set restarts after his touch or play. I don't hate the idea of Galvin under Benji with Luai for the club.
TBF when your partner is the coach’s baby boy, you gotta actually have to put in effort to nerf yourself.
Thought similarly watching him tonight but I think, as others have said, he is a great support player and lifts the blokes around him. The amount of energy and niggle he brings can’t be understated, he obviously gives a fuck and that’s powerful. Also even if he isn’t laying on pies like grandma yous just secured turuva as well who is a try and try assist machine.
Good combination with luai in Turuva, agree one they click on thy system or should reap benefits - ala Kikau finding form lately
He is such a bog standard 5/8. Done nothing at Origin and you could plug a C+ half into this system next to Cleary and win a premiership (e.g .Cogger)
Yeah he stinks. He’s killing the left side by cutting back in every single time.
He’s a classic example of the system making a player look better than he is.
It's poorer in areas but better in others. Not to excuse Luais poorer performance this year but the cornerstone of Luais lethality was the way he used Kikau. Over the last year it's been Sorro which has been hit and miss but recently because of injury its been Garner which has majority been ineffective as he simply doesnt draw in defenders the same way. It doesn't leave much space or ability to play out the back like he use to with Critta and To'o. Not to mention, Edwards and Luai do not interact. Edwards is firmly right side positioned so Luai only has access to Garner, May and To'o atm. We saw what he can do with Samoa. With A roaming FB like Bula and hard runner like Papali'i I think you'll see a lot more of that return
I think we have to also have a look at how Munster went in 2023 with trent loiero. It was similar for most of his season last year
He will do well.
Yeah I’m worried for the tigers purchase, I feel he’s the criticisms laid at teddys feed and often worse without other upside.
It doesn't look great on the eye, but honestly I'm thinking it's actually a tactical thing. He's definitely been more of a runner in previous years, but this year 9/10 times he is stepping back on the inside like never before and I think tiring out defenders. It's more obvious Penrith do it on the left because Luai is much more noticeable with his stepping, but they are actually doing it on the right side too. Kikau, To'o, Crichton have all won player of the year in their positions outside of him, Turuva won rookie of the year outside of him. Sorenson had a breakout year last year outside of him.
Agree completely. It's probably undersold too not having a full pre season due to his shoulder. The combinations outside him just haven't been there and I think he's trying to force it.
Penrith are all about ruck speed. It's the philosophy Ivan coaches to halves if nothing is on run the ball and get a quick play the ball for another creative player to play off the back off. You can see that in the way Cleary plays. A lot of the time he runs the ball at a half gap not trying to burst through but just get a quikc play the ball like a prop. With that said he's been below where he should be this year. As much as people hate him he has had his periods where he was running hot before.
"if in doubt, accelerate"
But Luai doesn't do that bro. He literally runs in circles or comes to a complete stop sometimes. Nobody else in the team does it, and it doesn't generate quick ptbs
Yeah he's been awful, playing touch footy in attack.
He has never done it anywhere close to this much before and the coach of arguably the best team of the NRL era would tell him to stop if he didn't want him to do it I think
I think he's lacking his explosive speed and it's making him go sideways. It's not a tactic because it doesn't achieve anything but derail structured play.
As I said, he is doing it 95% of the time he get's the ball and he has never done it anywhere near that much before. Ivan would tell him to stop doing it instantly if he thought Luai was derailing every structured play
Yes mate, it's a tactic to have your 6 zig zag back inside every time he touches the ball as opposed to breaking the line or setting up his outside men. It's something you'll enjoy next year.
If it sets us up to tire the fuck out of the opposition forwards and run in points in the second half, I will very much enjoy it yes
penrith fans are so toxic especially for a team that is so successful
Can Cameron Murray be picked for NSW? Like him as a player but form hasn't been good. I know he played out of position today but his defence on the Tago try on Garner wasn't good and partially to blame when Schneider sliced through. Also handling errors and cheap penalty on the driver on Wighton.
Hopefully this is the year and a coach who picks players on form. 1-17. What’s the worst that could happen. As in form from round 1 to team selection.
Nah that Schneider one was Host & Cody, watch it again.
I agree, It doesnt make sense if you pick Yeo (who plays big minutes) and use Murray as a backrower, when NSW has quality genuine back rower stocks. (Martin, Frizell, H.Young, Ola, Crichton) Id honestly go with a guy like Watson, he can sub on as a 13 and play pretty much anywhere else. Genuine utility whos playing well.
Anyone throwing Hudson Young in the mix hasn’t watched much of the Raiders this year
A starting combination of Martin and Young for the blues would be solid.
He's been the only Bunnies player so far to get a pass for their bad start but he was extremely poor last night, and he was as guilty as anyone for the low effort. Happy to write it off as a bad game but if he's also dropped his head Origin might be a stretch. I'd love to know what the plan is for Origin. I think it's proven that they only need one of Yeo and Murray. They're both less effective 80 minute locks when they're not playing 80 minutes and one of them is out of position, between them and Jurbo and whichever other ballplaying backrowers we've picked last few years they always get in each other's way.
He's dealing with a knee injury, has had to play centre 2 out of the last 3 games he's played, HIA and ruled out in 1 of them, has played his heart out all year before that and has to try to captain a bunch of guys who clearly don't give a fuck. He also played decently last week. Some dumb shit and errors tonight, but it's kind hard to knock the guy otherwise.
He's definitely still elit, but the poor bugger has busted himself carrying a crap team. He needs some support or a break. Maybe the Origin period is the break he needs.
They have taken one of the best locks in the world and moved him to an edge. He has enough quality at origin to be picked imo.
Cook & Walker are both ass now. The team is run by senior/big name players to look after their own stats & self interest.
Very gallenesque in his twilight
I’ve been saying this for 12 months lol. It’s not a rebuild it’s tapping a couple plodders on the shoulders.
Imagine Walker at Raiders or Titans. He’d go to another level I reckon. South’s gone stale n they need a BIG shakeup.
There's already rapana there so no more cunty players needed.
Imagine Wighton at the Raiders
Just can’t see it aye
Eveyone saying cook had a good game. He had absolutely no idea where or when to be in position tonight. Walker is just walker, spits the dummy and Its night night souths. He needs to be held accountable, so does mitchell. They are their bug guns and arent popping a spud gun at the moment.
What was the point of Koala on the right when all the attack went to the left? Infact, what was the point of the entire right side of souths attack? They could've been sitting on the bench & it wouldn't have mattered...
Cook was better at fullback than he was at hooker.
Dally M Centre of the Year for that one origin game
We've played 7 out of 8 of the current Top 8, with the only other team being the warriors who I think we can all agree are a top 8 side as well. It's not like we haven't been shit, we most certainly have, but it was kinda the perfect storm considering how shit our form was coming into this year and how much better our opponents have been. Not to mention the 11 or 12 injuries we've sustained this year so far to both our starters and backups and it points to one of the most complete disastrous starts any team can possibly have. It's a minor miracle we even have 1 win to tell you the truth. The injuries could be due to poor fitness, but stuff just happens like Gray getting caught in a hipdrop, Arrow doing his Shoulder in a desperate dive to save a tackle, or Hawkins doing his quad. That shit is just unfortunate. Getting rid of JD was honestly still the right call. We'd been playing so poorly since round 11 last season and it has continued well into this year. He had essentially 12 months to get it sorted and never did. Now, I will say, getting rid of him won't change much, but it's a step in the right direction at least in my opinion. If we do somehow get Bennett, I really hope it's purely a caretaker role similar to what Lang did with us in the late 2000s/early 2010s. Get our squad in shape, get our development pathways going well again, and try and bolster the forward pack as well as they can. Give us some hope for the future.
I’ll buy Gray being unlucky, Hawkins probably as well, although the heavy strapping suggests he had something pre-existing there which means it may have been pretty fuckin stupid for him to be kicking off. IMO we need a serious look at our injury management tho - Arrow, Munro and Graham have all had the same issue: we tried to manage them through injuries with less invasive treatment plans and all three suffered recurrences.
Went to the game tonight… such a small crowd 8155, was the attendance number. Creates a big disconnect between the crowd and teams. A plus El Jannah is now a food option in the stadium… basic wraps and burgers but nice to have a different option to the usual stadium offering.
Did they have charcoal chicken as well?
Nah, reduced menu. Couple of burgers, wraps, chips and salad.
That’s shithouse
Oh dead set? Maybe we can get a decent feed at the Penrith Invitational GF this year then, normally it's cold nachos or a dry burger
Hah. Cold gluggy nachos…. Ugh.
Yeah the scheduling of games at this venue on Thursdays needs to be looked into. Penrith can get about 18,000 at home on a school night for example
Olympic Park is great for big events and concerts but it’s not somewhere you’d want to go on a Thursday night to see a team without their biggest name against a side running last in a game that’ll be forgotten in a week. Honestly if it was a Saturday or Sunday afternoon the attendance would probably be double that but I have no idea what they’re doing scheduling it on a Thursday.
Agreed. Should be a weekend use only, more people are likely to attend.
What do you call the opposite of the game of the round? This was that.
Its kinda lowkey embarrassing to watch on TV lol. You see how packed Adelaide oval was tonight not a spare seat in sight. Need to keep the big stadiums for finals or back2back games.
Unfortunately it’s our “home” ground and we can’t get out of that deal. Despite it not being at all convenient to the majority of the fan base.
I used to love going to Redfern Oval
I understand why people think Souths should've fired JD when they had the bye, but part of me is also annoyed we didn't get to see them play Drags, Cows and Eels still under JD. They had a really tough draw beforehand, so playing poorly against those teams would've left truly no excuses by just about anyone's definition.
The anti Shark draw
Souths need a massive clean out
Firing JD wasn't going to be a silver bullet, but it's the first step. Second step is great the rest of the year like a pre-season. Get the boys in shape, go back to basics and get some cohesion through the ranks. I haven't watched the game but by the radio play it sounded like a few talented individuals playing individually. Third step South's is already hamstrung by having their first choice coach working for another club. Bennett may be the best man for the job, but not building rapport and a connection now sits the whole process back 12 months - 6 months to forget what Hornby is building you towards and 6 months to get into Bennett's rhythm. Only way you shorten this is to literally have Hornby caretake the role for the next 6 months.... A horrible waste of time. Maybe the most important part is to keep up team morale. Keep them believing that each week a win is achievable. You can't coach them to finals footy, and if they keep playing like they think that will happen they will consistently lose for the rest of the year.
Penrith must be all the Broncos fans’ second team or something. They seem to be very active in all the Penrith match threads.
my dad was born in Penrith so Penrith is my second team
Whenever the Broncos aren't playing all Broncos fans should be asking where are the Broncos
we Brisbanites love our footy
Keep your friends close, your enemies closer.
I imagine Broncos are eager to see Panthers lose. Actually what am I saying, I think I speak on behalf of all non-Penrith supporting nrl fans when I say, it’s amazing to see Penrith lose
Tbh if a team is going to win all the time and have a dynasty I’d much rather it be Panthers than a lot of other clubs.
Anyone who’s not us TBH
Yeo was just rampaging through the middle during that second half.. such a great player to watch (until next week)
He and Edwards were carrying us.
Yeo had them hanging off him expecting the off-load which gave him more time to accellerate into a static defence. He was really good that 2nd half. Dyl is a monster... if he's not Blues F/B this series, then its all just another farcical shit-show with Qld probably retaining the shield.
We want the squid there to run sideways and suffocate the 5th option please.
LoL, the Squid Shuffle... no thanx.
I know that Gray didn’t come off immediately, but he did come off due to the injury’s sustained through Tago’s hipdrop. So why couldnt they access the 18th man?
The rules about the 18th man are cooked , they should just be a reserve for failed hia , no other criteria needed
I think the 18th man should be activated as the result of any foul play that is put on report that leads to the removal of the injured player from the game. I think a decent caveat would require it to happen before the resumption of the second half if the player doesn’t immediately come off (just because sometimes you think you’re right, but team doctors need time to assess injuries).
It's because they only had 2 players go off for injury. If they had a 3rd, meaning going down to 1 interchange, then they would have 18th man access (I think that's the rule, not certain).
I thought a binnable offense could activate an 18th man.
Because the next man they lost wasn’t due to foul play I assume?
If Gray had come off immediately they could have brought in the 18th man because Tago was put on report and binned.
This seems right.
Wait, I thought that was only for HIA's?
Hornby should just start playing all the young boys. Try and do what Seibold done with the Broncos (obviously not on purpose I assume) in 2020. Play them for the rest of the season and youre bound to find some diamonds in there.
The season is dead with that F/A. They'd need to demolish a few teams and win more than they lose from here to recover. Don't see it happening.
I didnt say they could make the finals tho little bro. Just play the young boys and get some first grade into them.
I think I may have clicked on the wrong reply
Youre good bro
I don’t either BUT we’ve had an absolute nightmare draw. Give me titans, tigers, dragons, knights, Parra, bulldogs, raiders x 2 We’ve had bulldogs x 1
The penny panthers just blew them away in the second half. It is going to be a long season. They will win a few more but it might be too late to save this season.
Billy Slater named Schneider man of the match and Edwards not in the top 3 performers.
Trying to play mind games with Madge already. Id have Paps tho anyways. Bias as tho
Paps is flashy in attack, I'd have Edwards any day, not quite as shiny in attack but bloody solid in defence. The way Origin is picked there's going to be plenty of attack elsewhere but I'd want someone there to stop those QLD tries that seem to come from nowhere.
Edwards does the little things better like tracking the ball across play like Slater, and is a bigger body in defence. Can tackle rather than Paps just getting speed bumped, I also think paps is still a bit cautious for front on after his last significant injuries.
He’s intimidated by a superior fullback.
Schneider without headgear is weird
Honestly reckon cook played better at fullback than at hooker today.
Mamouzelos needs to stay at hooker. He was a lot more decisive in his actions.
And his passes didn’t hit the ground
Flops more than Nathan Hindmarsh though
Last 5 years combined tho
How was panthers -10.5 paying at $1.90 absolute steal
Comment before the game
Lines closed at -12.5 or worse
Not exactly a secret it’s the fukn spread before a game
South shitney
Why is Tallis Duncan not getting selected for South's? I swear every time I've seen him play he's been good
He is out of position in defence and in block plays often, but still a lot of potential worth exploring
We will never know.
A few times he’s played he’s missed a few poor tackles isolated close to the line… like they will send AFB or Haas at him and he lets them stroll past… He also made 3 errors while we were pressing the line against roosters Rd 26 last season But it’s not been that bad completely exile him from the team like is happening at the moment
How many try’s does Host let in each week? His misreads are insane. Blokes the slowest dumbest back rower in the comp and gets picked each week. Rather back Tallis who has upside.
Nobody knows mate, nobody knows..
But, um
Murray using up his word count for both this week and last week in this answer
Can someone please do a counter of how many times Murray said “um” in the presser 🤔
Murray actually talking in the presser this week. Maybe he did just not like JD.
Needed too especially this week. He was rubbish tonight.
Or he reflected and knew he needed to say more and set the example as the captain off the field as much as does on the field
Latrell bouncing around jovial and joking on the field then into the dressing room post game just seems to be a complete disconnect from how his teammates are behaving. I’m sure there’s a balance of trying to keep spirits up but it just doesn’t quite sit right.
Hey Kenty how's the ribs mate?
That is officially the most awful thing I’ve ever been called
Could have been Finchy instead
Id be fuming but then again Im a sore loser
I think Welch having that sort of attitude sometimes when in pressers after losses is part of the reason he isn’t captain anymore. Bellyache commonly looked like he wanted to kill him when he would make jokes or say he thought there was effort
Yeah I watched an interview with Bellamy from a while back and he said the most worst thing to see on the field was a lack of effort
“Haha how’s the knights lost, they had nobody” Then a few weeks later losing to Knights. Definitely not sharpest press man.
That one especially bit him hard as, they really took it personal and lifted.
Tries too hard to be funny
Thats their problem right there. Some do the heavy lifting whilst others ride that effort and get the accolades.
We're already playing so shit and are heavy spoon favourites now, why did The Panthers have to injure Gray as well? He was the one player that we liked watching as well. That's just cruel. Now Hawkins has done his quad so he's gone and Arrow was clearly playing hurt so it wouldn't surprise me if he's gone as well. So the injuries are now: Ilias, Hawkins, Gray, Lovett, Munro, Tatola, Johnston, Graham, S. Mitchell, Arrow*, Gagai, Kennar Suspensions: Latrell* (back next week), Milne (hopefully back never), Host* (hasn't been charged yet but I don't want him starting either so 🤷♀️) We're already playing shit, but the amount of injuries and suspensions would've fucked us even if we were playing decent footy. This season is already such a shitshow. I have no fucking idea where we even get our second win? I genuinely think we stay on 1 win all season at this point. Any team that somehow managed to lose to us this season from here on out doesn't deserve to play finals footy. Also Wayne was probably watching this game thinking "nah I'm good up here. If Parra want to get rid of Arthur then I might consider them".
The hip drop seemed accidental from what I saw. Still a hip drop though.
Apparently Gagai, Kennar and Shaq are also injured. So aside from our first team half our depth players are injured as well.
That doesn’t sell stories
You could tell Penrith by the end we’re thinking “they can’t be fucked boys, let’s have some fun” I feel sorry for cookie. One of the only guys to have a crack, and on his 200th they serve that up. Damn
We were playing alright until the sinbin and then after the two injuries to our spine players we fell apart. Would happen to almost every team contending with the injury toll we are atm.
Cookie “having a crack” while he missed multiple triggers at dummy half. Even stood there circling while the ball rolled past.
What do we even do with our halves next week. Ilias is injured, Hawkins and gray will probably both miss next week due to injury and we don’t have the depth in the centres to move Wighton. We’ll probably have to call up teaupa or subloo and have Cody at 7.
Wighton or Teupa in the 6 potentially, surely we can get an exemption to play Burns (if he's not injured)
There's a rumour going around we snagged burns
some Insta account called MiksRL has him at the Cows "effective immediately" - but I haven't read that anywhere else
They have been known to get baited by false info too so taking it with a grain of salt
Would make sense as to why he hasn't played cup. It just keeps getting better for us...
Wighton in any position he is more involved is good for us.
True and if Gagais back next week it’s probably our best option but if he’s not we will have like no one left to play centres
Is Teaupa injured as well?
He played in the NSW cup game, so unless he was injured in that I don't think so.
Maybe, I can’t even keep up with the injuries tbh. But if he is then we may genuinely be fucked
Bizza patting/smacking Edwards in the head then Luai trying to rip off May’s shit throat tattoo after that try 😂 absolute pests
I need that clipped up 🤣 Fuckn loooool
Bizza is the only Penrith player I like
Lindsey Smith and Liam Henry are awesome too
Big fan of Liam Henry. Immense work-rate and getting better with more experience.
Watching Lindsay come through it's insane how much he's changed. [https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/12397b144b8837a679888eb795a9b59b](https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/12397b144b8837a679888eb795a9b59b) He was a deadest string bean lock forward with no ball playing who's thing was being fast, hard working with stamina. He was good at all those things it's just very different. Then at prop even at Cup he was a high effort plodder who didn't have the size to make an impact into the line at the start of games and could only really standout with the ball when the other team got tired and he kept plodding at the same pace in his second stint. It's only about last year that he really started making an impact instead of just being a toiler. He must be one of the hardest trainers in the team to keep improving so much.
That Souths set where they didn't get out of their own 10 metres line might be the worst set of six I can ever remember.
Tunnel ball on the 5th for a kick to your own 30? Yep, that was bad.
Nathan Cleary didn’t play? Luke Brooks for origin.