I seem to be mostly surrounded by Panthers fans at this stage. A stroke of luck, the couple that sit next to me are behind & a couple of seats across, so at least there are some familiar faces.
On to the game, I’m expecting this to be close, with us sealing the victory in the last few minutes.
Panthers 24-14
Stupidest pre match entertainment ever
I think we should come in over the top of them in the second half. Penrith 17-10 is my prediction
Solid performance across the park. The Eels didn’t have any answers, less after Moses went off.
Lots to talk about after that great win.
Firstly the tactics.
Starting Kenny is proving a masterstroke as he tackles like a demon and with his efforts we nullified the yardage from Gillard and Paulo
Indeed after having Kenny start, how we nullified RCG and Paulo set us up to dominate them and once you nullify the forwards it gave no time to the likes of Moses, Brown et al
Throw in the kicking game where we kicked either to Sivo or Blake who turned out to be Cleary’s bunny.
of course all this was designed to make Parra come out of corners in the case of Sivo or set up opportunities when kicking to Blake.
Cleary took his game to another level with his kicks and even his runs. he showed last night the wide gap between him and all other 7’s now in the comp and even his late tackle to save a try on Sivo showed up his value in our defence.
Its hard to value his worth to the team but it is team changing when he is in the squad.
I thought Edwards despite the dropped ball had an enormous game and organised defence and yet was still taking the ball up when our forwards needed a break.
Outside the win our defence will be what pleased Cleary most, we shut them down right across the park yet i still believe we can improve and markedly
we were still clunky in attack especially with Luai who needed the run but played second fiddle to Cleary who ran the show.
Lenui had his best game for us and Sorenson was a little quiet but Leota was at his best as was JFH
We appear to have lost May and now with the 2 week break gives the squad plenty of time to not only enjoy the break but give them plenty of time to reset and after the weekend will allow Cleary to narrow his focus to 2 teams we are likely to play and the following week gives him the time to settle of a game plan and tactics for the prelim final.
The team stood up last night and deserved the win.
a huge congrats to all those who turned up for the game last night despite the bad weather we had during the day, its so great to see such support for the boys.
Gigantic step towards the ultimate goal of appearing in our 3 GF in a row.
Enjoy the ride boys, job only part done but they have shown a week off doesn’t hurt their focus.
brilliant win.
Agreed. I thought we were only at about 70-80% last night, which would be scary for the rest of the competition.
After seeing Blake bombing tries for Penrith on a regular basis when at Penrith, because of poor ball handling, it was great to see him return the favour.
What genius turned off the Panthers song part way through? Am I being paranoid in thinking that the decision was made by a NRL official who was more than happy to try and spoil the party, or who just didn’t give a stuff?
Looks like Charlie Staines might get his grand final wish. He’s tried so much harder than last year, so he deserves a go.
Someone needs to go to Spencer’s house and take all those angry pills out of his medicine cabinet. His impersonation of a loose cannon is going to hurt us. Maybe he needs to do some studying on ‘controlled aggression’.
It was a great relief not to be outnumbered by Parra fans. In fact, I suspect that we dominated.
The first half was so intense. I don’t recall being so nervous during a game (glad I had my heart procedure last week!). Still, if you’re going to kark it, what better way to go.
There has always been an argument that having a week off can damage a team’s performance through being a bit rusty. I think that we put that theory to rest.
I reckon that Kenny’s passing from dummy half is top shelf, giving the receiver a chance to run onto the ball. And, unlike Mahoney, half of his passes weren’t borderline forward.
Finally, because seating was a bit of pot luck, it was good to talk with a different set of Panther fans sitting nearby compared to normal home games.
well after all the dramas with ticketing (the NRL couldn’t organise a p&*sup in a brewery) it all proved worth it! We were issued tickets in the slimies supporters bay, but as expected there were many panthers supporters in our area 
& winning the game and seeing all their ‘supporters leaving early made up for the disappointment with the ticketing.
My main concern was that the slimies would get a quick start - their only real chance I thought - but we met them head-on and thus prevented that & we set the groundwork for what turned out a pretty comprehensive win!!
My other worry was the bunker, and the ‘grounding’ by Gutherson just proved how much of a risk the bunker can be - so on that ruling if that had been at the other end it would have been a try???
The forward battle was intense & our front row just punished the eels & the eels bench was no match as the game progressed. Only Moses’ kicking game & a couple of uncharacteristic errors from us kept them in the game, and we limited their options in attack.
Sitting within the eels ‘faithful’ exposed us to just how pathetic some of them are, and they seem set see their team go out in straight sets. One dope claimed that Billy kneed Moses in the head 
Great night to be a Panther!!!
Penrith lead the Jets 14-12 at half time.
What a great game last night! We stuck to our game plan and executed it brilliantly. I think Kenny was the difference in the first 30 minutes, enabling huge contribution from Fish and Leota.
Edwards is the best fullback in the game at present. If he doesn’t get picked as a back up to Teddy for the World Cup, Mal needs to retire.
Cleary easily MOTM, he controlled field position in the first , and layed on the attack in the second.
It’s always good to beat the Eels
Full time NSW cup- Penrith 28, Jets 18.
Penrith through to GF in two weeks time
Knock On Effect NSW Cup Semi Final | Full Time |
Penrith Panthers | 28 |
Tries Robert Jennings (2), Sunia Turuva (2), Sean O’Sullivan. Goals Kurt Falls (4/7) |
 |
Newtown Jets | 18 |
Tries Oregon Kaufusi Goals Mitchell Moses (2/2) FG Mawene Hiroti (3/3) |
Jersey Flegg Cup Semi Final | Full Time |
Penrith Panthers | 36 |
Tries Isaiah Iongi (2), Niwhai Puru, Cody Lawson, Hohepa Puru, Ativalu Lisati, Keagan Russell-Smith. Goals Niwhai Puru (4/7) |
 |
St George Illawarra | 26 |
Tries Alexander Lobb (2), Benjamin Johnson, Callum Gromek, Toby Couchman. Goals Sam Hooper (3/5) |
Panther Pride Man of the Match voting is now open 
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