saw the NSW Covid update earlier. Stuart Ayres was wearing his Panther mask 
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Itâs funny how the swings and roundabouts take effect. Up until this yearâs SOO, for almost a year and a half I was confident in us winning every game. Now I find itâs back to earlier years, chewing the finger nails before each game with no deep confidence. Just hope for the best. I think that our mojo has slipped a little. Having said that, we were only one pass away from beating Souths last week - like if Staines held the ball and scored. Yet the media would have us believe that we were comprehensively beaten. I am oh so looking for a Penrith-Souths grand final; revenge is a dish best served cold. So I hope Bennet likes salad.
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Agree @FaulcoPete
We havenât been the same since Cleary was injured in SOO, but we have shown patches of form since then.
Last week was probably our worst performance of the year, but the media have blown it out of proportion, talking up Souths (credit, they were good, but not that good). I doubt we will play that bad again. The question is will we play good enough to win each week from here?
I think we will get past Parra this week, but the Storm the following week will be a different kettle of fish altogether. If we are at our best, we can beat them, but only if we are at our best. If we get past there, Manly would worry me more than Souths (who I think played their GF last week) or the Roosters.
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While we have JFH, Moses and Yeo in our starting side, I am supremely confident.
Our issue will be the bench, Sorenson has been awesome with Martin until recently when for some reason Martin has been starting instead of Kikau.
I am expecting this game to click us back into gear, and if so, the Storm had better look out because we will be out to get those grubsâŚif the ruck is played fairly !
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For some reason, after so many wins and so few losses since early last season, I was very nervous ahead of last weeks game & during the game. I got extra nervous when I saw that Sutton was the ref!
I think the loss of Moses and Edwards was disruptive, but as most have indicated we have not been at our absolute best for some time now.
At anywhere close to our best we should account for the slimies. Anyway itâs all there laid out in front of us - beat the eels, the storm & then whoever makes the GF. As Yeo said, we always needed to win 3 games to get the prize, we have 3 games to win!
Câmon boys.
I had this in the Souths thread - I think the dream MUST have been we get beat by Souths but PLAY Manly in the GF, not to get to the GF⌠
"Well - If we are talking SUPER computers, I dreamt last night that we got beat by Souths.
However, we had to play Manly to make the GF so the data feed for the output was a little askew"
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I am happy to see that the Panthers are staying out of the NRL finals puff pieces where they have interviewed captains asking the most stupid questions., like âWhats your X Factorâ, âWhat was more most iconic moment this seasonâ and âwhat do you bring to the finalsââŚ
Such a waste of time, Iâm glad they gave that a miss and stuck to getting ready for the upcoming matches.
Some of those videos are beyond cringeworthy.
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Late Changes
Brent Naden is back in the starting side in place of winger Brian Toâo, who has been sidelined with a minor ankle complaint.
Tyrone May is the other player omitted from the 21-man squad as Dylan Edwards, Moses Leota and Scott Sorensen return.
not the setback we needed but it is what it is and who is our kick return man now?
This does change quite a bit in regards to tactics in my mind
Now going to be a lot more work for our forwards this week.
No worries here. Ivan is just saving him up for the Storm next weekend.
Toâo out is not welcome for sure, however having Leota, Edwards and Sorensen back will make a bigger difference.
Hopefully Naden is inspired to atone his sins from last years finals.
At least Cleary hasnât lost his marbles this week with team selection, unlike what Willey did in 89
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That was sure an unforgettable moment in our history.
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Wingers and fullback most likely.
Iâd be tempted to return serve early in our set, turn them around.
And as I said before last years gf, we canât forget to build pressure, grubbed in goal for a repeat set, and then unleash the magic.
We lost our head early last week, pushing the Hail Mary plays.
Keep your heads boys
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Lucky for Kikau I am not the coach or he would have gone back to the bench.
Great effort from Fish and Leota.
We need to settle and not push passes and we will have this.
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A fair effort so far. We have been close to our best, and only a lucky bounce has Parra that close.
The only blight on the game has been Kikau. He has made a number of dumb errors, that almost cost us a few times.
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its playing out about how i had thought but a quick observation
our defence is solid and we have more points in us then them
I just got a sense we were winning the forward battle but we just need to back ourselves
Better to see Luai running (finally)
The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half will give us a great indicator of our mindset and theirs.
We need to keep them at 6
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Too many forced passes in the first half and the flow seem clunky.
Just need to settle down and set the line. Get the forwards more involved in attack and work for field position. Points will flow after.
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I forgot to mention that try of the eels, number 11 was in front of the kicker and within 10 metres of Edwards so it should of been a penalty
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