Simply the Best
- Thread starter ozsportscardcollector
- Start date
Unreal. I thought Penrith were going to get rolled badly with Cleary off early and Storm up 14-0. And then something truly amazing happened. It's one of the better games I've seen for a while despite the mistakes and penalties. Contact was ferocious. It's amazing that all of us know it to be the best game period and it's still such a niche sport confined to half of Australia( and Auckland) and an East/West strip in the North of England. Vegas will lift the profile like never before.
P.S. Storm supporters riled me booing the best player in the comp when he came off. Very, very ordinary.
Anyway, what a cracking game.
P.S. Storm supporters riled me booing the best player in the comp when he came off. Very, very ordinary.
Anyway, what a cracking game.
Zero spirit tonight. I thought Souths had an outside chance but this is ridiculous.
Having sat through many Panthers games, that was one of the worst 40 minutes ive ever seen. Souths did what they had to do an they certainly deserved the win!
To me, the past 5 years seems to have caught up on the Panthers as they look tired and its only round 4. The personnel changes haven't helped but when you continually lose talented players year on year you realise how good their system has been over the past few years.
To lose players like Burton, Capewell, Kikau, Koroisau, Crichton, Fisher Harris, Luai, Turuva and still win comps is unbelievable but it has caught up to them this year.
No doubt they will still be competitive towards the end of the year, but the field this year is wide open and for them to win 5 in a row is going to be a huge task.
I think they can sill realistically challenge but only if they have a fit squad for most of the year. They look very top heavy now. It is crazy to see the list of players that have gone out the door in the last few years - and especially last year.
Also going to Vegas probably had a negative impact. They already had a shorter time off due to playing in the last game of the year, international games, and then they are in Vegas in late Feb playing for points on the 2nd of March. They played great but it would've taken a big toll on recovery with flying, jet lag, etc. They then play in a lung buster with a fired up Roosters team and then Melbourne away. They played awesome but it took its toll as they were not there in the 1st half last night. I think they would've been behind at half time no matter who they were playing.
In hindsight Talagi should've started never mind not even getting a bench spot. That's a weird one. I'm assuming he was dropped and not injured? Also should've kept Jenkins at FB, Alamoti in the centres, and Laurie on the wing. All hindsight of course.
Also going to Vegas probably had a negative impact. They already had a shorter time off due to playing in the last game of the year, international games, and then they are in Vegas in late Feb playing for points on the 2nd of March. They played great but it would've taken a big toll on recovery with flying, jet lag, etc. They then play in a lung buster with a fired up Roosters team and then Melbourne away. They played awesome but it took its toll as they were not there in the 1st half last night. I think they would've been behind at half time no matter who they were playing.
In hindsight Talagi should've started never mind not even getting a bench spot. That's a weird one. I'm assuming he was dropped and not injured? Also should've kept Jenkins at FB, Alamoti in the centres, and Laurie on the wing. All hindsight of course.
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