This weeks team selection will be interesting for sure;
Fullback: probably Iongi
Wing: probably McLean
5/8: probably Laurie
1/2: Cole, Toelau, Luke (if any of them are available) if not possible Kenny?
Lock: Henry (Eiso is out with concussion).
2nd row: Sorro and Garner
Front row as per usual (except if Kenny is half in which case Sommerton comes into hooker.
Aside from Smith and Mav not sure who else is left on the bench.Riki maybe?
And yes I don’t see a place for Peach in first grade.
I shudder at the thought of Peach and Laurie in the halves together
The past four years have been our golden years. Some people I’ve spoken to hint at constant winning being boring. But I’ve suffered through too many horror seasons, going back to 1967, when any win was something rare, to subscribe to being bored. There was no joy sitting on the hill in the rain, in a ‘crowd’ of 3,000, watching our team being ground into the mud by one of the cashed-up ‘glamour’ teams. Now, among most commentators, Penrith’s ‘next-man-up’ modus operandi has become accepted wisdom. 2022, when we won everything possible, including smashing Parra in the NRL GF, was surely the peak. Our strength through the grades has been the envy of every other club.
During these years we’ve endured a constant player drain, but are still hanging on, but is it all now about to become just a memory? How can things change so quickly? This year the Harold Matts and SG Ball didn’t even make the finals, the reserve grade is heading down the table in free fall (including being absolutely thrashed by Newtown last week) and the Flegg are hanging in the top 8 by the skin of their teeth.
Is the pilfering of our talent taking place in all grades? Is the talent in the lower grades moving elsewhere because they can’t see any chance of cracking the top grade at Penrith? During this year’s SOO period, are we about to see how bare the cupboard is? Have our teams become complacent? Any ideas?
I had my concerns at half time, and it turns out they were justified. We didn’t have the points in the bank when everything went our way in the first half, and have been out enthused in the second half.
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