Cleary appointed Panthers head coach

There was talk about big money being offered from Leeds, so big it was hard to ignore. But it seem Merrin has decided to stay at Penrith and at least play out the reminder of his contract.

I understand the limited time a player has to earn money in the NRL and when a big offer comes along like the one Merrin was given, I would be hard not to at least entertain the idea.

I’m really 50/50 on Merrin staying with us. He was not in good form when the whips were cracking, he is on a lot of coin, and needs to step it up. It was clear that CC was not using him for many minutes - maybe IC sees something. Maybe Trent wants a chance to show he hasn’t lost it??

We already lost an up & coming backrower - we need to be sure where we are going with the ‘older’ players who are on good money, so I’m including Tamou in that, although I give him credit that he did get better thru 2018.

Interesting times ahead, as always :slight_smile:

… if his head’s in the right place and personal issues in the past,
he’s too good to discard.

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Could be right, but it’s definitely an ‘if’. I have been watching earlier tonight some games from last year. By round 12 when we played dragons, he was clearly overtaken in the pecking order by many of the other forwards, who were certainly outplaying him by then. His biggest impact was when he gave RCG a bearhug after Regain scored in the last minute.

To me it was always a little strange to see him leading the celebrations like a crazy man after he had paid little or no part in our come from behind wins - he was often on the bench when we produced the comeback.

Anyway, it’s up to him and the coaching staff if he does end up staying. I’ll be happy for him to turn it around, as he seems to be a really good guy.

… it’s hard to shine when you’ve got Kickau, RCG & JFH rampaging along side you. Merrin even filled in at lock I’m pretty sure. I’d have him as a starting prop where his experience will come to the fore.

I like the Merrin style of game, maybe he didn’t have the impact we wanted from the stats, but I watch the ‘impact’ without the impact. Every run Merrin makes he has a minimum 3 on him going hard and he still goes forward. What were his metres after contact? opposition defences know his ability to offload and I personally think the Edwards injury was a major factor, with no one hanging off his shoulder looking for the offload he was targeted. Anyway, hope he stays, IMO he has something to offer our young squad.

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… totally agree Kevin. :sunglasses:

Sometimes it’s the yards you don’t see, that creates the breaks you do.

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I’m rapt Merrin’s staying. At his best, he’s a very damaging runner with good footwork & offload. I hope IC can get the best out of him - it may be the reason he stayed.

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100% Puss, the Matty Johns comments on 360 earlier this year basically said the likes of Merrin in the middle fighting for yards, brings outside defenders closer and if you get 3 quality hit ups in the middle (our pack are renowned for this) means that the backline move already has the advantage. It’s only the great sliding defences that combat this. Another reason why I don’t rate Woods, hit ups on the 4th n 5th mean that the hard work hasn’t been done by the blokes that should be doing it…

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Early in the season Merrin was playing 40+, even 50+ minutes. From around round 18 he was playing less and less minutes, culminating in him playing the least minutes in our 2 final games - finals. In the elimination final vs sharks, he played 20 minutes for 6metres post contact. You can put your faith in Johns if you like, but he is not at our club & the numbers speak for themselves. Even a rookie coach like CC took the decision to not use Merrin, one of his highest paid players, as he had better options, one of which we don’t have any more, as he has gone to the dogs.

It’s all up to Merrin now. He either comes out all guns ablazing, or he should have taken the cash at Leeds. With RCG & Tamou, & Jack and Moses set for big seasons in our big boys rotation, it will be a challenge for him. I hope he can get back his mojo.

there’s room for Merrin, Big Sam shld call it a day.
don’t get me wrong, McKendry has earn’t his keep.
3 acl’s and a broken neck, he’s got nothing to prove.
I for 1 would wish him all the best for the future, but
wince shld he resume with every hit up.

We see or hear brandy and mg and Freddie, but
what ever happened to our yesterdays heroes?

Sorry, off topic.

It’s up to Merrin mr Walker, sink or swim !!!

I think the finals 6 games can be ‘discounted’ when it comes to opinions, I have mine and it is the reverse of yours mrwalker, unusual I know lol.

Neither of our opinion seems to matter now lol. I truly wish him the best, I was never death-riding him, just could see it was never going to work since he lost his mojo

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Mez gone to Leeds.

Bugger!!

He will smash it over there, good luck to him, one of footy’s nice guys who put in every week.