Ha… A jawline you can break boulders with… 
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My take on the game;
Firstly while premierships are not won in March, this was an almost faultless performance (save 1 minute of lack of attention). I can’t remember a first round performance so dominating against a likely top 4 team.
Doing it without Cleary was extra special.
Almost 17k on a Thursday night (god I hate that time slot), with 90% Panther fans shows were we are at.
I got an immediate impression this is the last season at Penny Park, with the obvious lack of maintenance showing. The PA was illegible the whole game. What should of had the crowd rocking pre game with the pantherettes performing to Motley Crue’s “kick start my heart” fell flat with the sound so poor. Family Hill scoreboard had a fault for a large proportion of the game.
As for the team;
Edwards - MOTM performance, ran for more than the back three of Manly combined, led the defense, chimed in perfectly in attack. All after his heroic effort in the grand final. With performance like that he will overtake Turbo and Teddy.
Staines - good game, shows more intent with his runs, missed a tackle for Manlys try (though I thought Jerome’s miss was worse). Should hold his spot with efforts like that.
Crighton - good game, needs to refamiliarise himself with centre after playing most of last year on the wing.
Tago - as expected he made a great go at Centre. Early days but by season end could have people saying “Burton who?”. Lethal in defense
To’o - good game, although his run metres constrained from Manly kicking away from him. Very good in defense.
Jerome - good game, looks back to his comfortable self like pre origin last year.
O’Sullivan - great club debut. Did his job of kicking well and nullifying Turbo
Yeo - can this guy get any better? Yeo and Edwards are what makes our team. He may have number 13 on his back but plays as a halfback. Allows numbers 6 and 7 to play wider either side of him and concentrate on their kicking and running. Arguably the best in the game at the moment (only Cleary comes close). Controls the attack, Captains the team, and in the post game presser, had Cleary snr in awe with his knowledge of the game and his teammates. Will be an NRL coach post his playing career. Possibly the smartest player in the team.
Martin - great 80 minute game where he stayed on the edge the whole time. Possibly the best 2nd rower of the first round. His tackles hurt, and his stepping for the try was sweet.
Kikau - best game we have seen for a few years from Kiks, dangerous every time he touched the ball, worked well with Tago. Can he keep it up is the question?
JFH - played his normal high standard game - ‘nuff said
Api - shook of the cobwebs and looked scrap and a few years younger. A bit gassed by the 60 minute mark, but a good performance.
Leota - see JFH, These two are up there with the best props in the game. Hopefully his shoulder is ok.
Sorensen - played most of his time in the middle and did a great job of it.
Kenny - Minor minutes subbing for Api. Great service from dummy half, a tackling machine
Spencer- not huge minutes, didn’t make a big impact nor did he do anything wrong. This is the year he really needs to kick on.
Salmon - had me looking up his name on the team sheet when I saw his energetic running of the ball. Did better than expected as an edge.
When I realised the beach make up I was concerned we lacked size in the middle, but as the game progressed I realised the balance was near perfect. With Yeo and Martin playing 80, and Sorensen playing middle so well, we can afford a lighter bench. May not work with all teams though.
All in all a great start, both from the result, the way we executed it, and the individual team efforts.
On Manly - I loved how we nullified Turbo, by kicking away from him, and making him run for the ball, limited his attack. We also showed up his not as great defense.
Our forwards made Jake out to be a fumbling idiot.
We forced DCE to revert to his frustrated game. I have seen this a lot in him in both NRL and Origin - almost the “anti- Jimmy”. When things don’t go to plan he really looks like crap. Witness the kick off out on the full. That’s the key to beating a team his in, get them on the back foot and wait for DCE to panic and make mistakes.
One very happy panther fan
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Unfortunately for Edwards, he isn’t a media darling, and he often overlooked in favour of “flashier” players. I’ve heard a number of opposition fans saying we need a better fullback, but they don’t realise his tradesman like performances are just as, if not more valuable that the flash of Turbo, Teddy, etc, and he is a perfect fit for the team we have.
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I don’t mind Edwards being low profile. Underestimated by the opposition and less chance of being poached.
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I’m sure the people that count value him very highly.
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Ok, that’s why eels fans underate him
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Thanks for the analyisis, SHF. All good stuff.
The big improver from last year has to be Staines. He displays so much more intent in his runs. As you noted, his only error was in the line-break for Manly’s try. What I found odd was his early dive; wasn’t he confident of running down a second-rower?
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Dally M Points
| Pts | Player | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
3pts | Isaah Yeo | Penrith Panthers |
 |
2pts | Sean O’Sullivan | Penrith Panthers |
 |
1pts | James Fisher-Harris | Penrith Panthers |
Judge: Andrew Johns
SOURCE
Thought it odd that Edwards didn’t get any points
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