Who do you consider to be our greatest grand final second rowers?
- Mark Geyer
- John Cartwright
- Barry Walker
- Joe Galuvao
- Tony Puletua
- Villiame Kikau
- Liam Martin
0 voters
MARK GEYER (1990 & 1991)
A Panthers junior, he made his first grade debut in 1986, and went on to play 92 games over 7 seasons, including the 1990 & 1991 Grand Finals, scoring 17 tries.
In 1993 he moved to Balmain, playing 13 games, scoring 8 tries.
In 1994 he played for Umina in the Central Coast League.
From 1995-1997 he played 32 games with the Western Reds, scoring 12 tries.
He returned to Penrith in 1998, and played 43 games over 3 seasons, scoring 12 tries.
He played in the Prime Ministers XIII in 1988.
He played 3 games for NSW.
He played 3 games for Australia, scoring once.
JOHN CARTWRIGHT (1990)
A Panthers junior, he made his first grade debut in 1985, playing 184 games over 12 seasons, including the 1990 & 1991 Grand Finals (1991 off the bench). He scored 14 tries.
In 1997 he played 6 games for Salford Reds, scoring once.
He represented NSW 8 times, scoring once.
He represented Australia 18 times.
BARRY WALKER (1991)
A Panthers junior, he made his first grade debut in 1988 and went on to play 117 games over 9 seasons, including the 1990 & 1991 Grand Finals (1990 as prop). He scored 9 tries during his career.
JOE GALUVAO (2003)
An Auckland junior, he made his debut with the Warriors in 1998, and played 27 games over 3 seasons, scoring 4 tries.
Recruited by Penrith in 2001, he played 78 games over 5 seasons, scoring 15 tries.
Moving to Souths in 2006, he played 23 games over 2 seasons, scoring 3 tries.
In 2008 he moved to Parramatta, where he played 34 games over 2 seasons, including the 2009 Grand Final. He scored 4 tries for the Eels.
He finished his career with 4 seasons at Manly, where he played 78 games including the 2011 Grand Final. He scored just once for Manly.
He represented Samoa twice, and New Zealand 4 times.
TONY PULETUA (2003)
A St Mary’s junior, he made his first grade debut in 1997 and played 211 games over 12 seasons, including the 2003 Grand Final. He scored 40 tries.
He moved to St Helens in 2009, played 137 games over 5 seasons, scoring 40 tries.
He moved to Salford in 2014, playing 26 games over 2 seasons, scoring 3 tries.
He made a mid-season switch to Hull Kingston Rovers in 2015, playing 13 games, scoring 6 tries.
He represented New Zealand 22 times, scoring 4 tries.
He represented Samoa 9 times, scoring once.
He represented Exiles twice.
VILLIAME KIKAU (2020)
A Rugby Union schoolboy player with Queen Victoria School & Marist Brothers High School in Suva, Fiji, he was recruited into the Cowboys junior system.
He joined Panthers in 2016, making he debut the following year, and has played 71 games so far, including the 2020 Grand Final. He has scored 20 tries.
He has represented Fiji 12 times (including 3 nines matches), scoring 5 tries.
LIAM MARTIN (2020)
A Temora Dragons junior, he made his first grade debut in 2019 and has played 37 games including the 2020 Grand Final. He has scored 7 tries.
This is another position that has several players that are deserving of a spot on the team.
Our forward pack was built around Geyer, Cartwright & Walker in the late 80s & early 90s. Geyer was a fearsome loose cannon, balanced out by Cartwright’s level head. Walker was a consistent performer, who was often overshadowed by the bigger names in the side.
The Hair Bears were an awesome sight to watch in our 2003 premiership season, regularly breaking the line & muscling up in defence.
Kikau reminds me of Puletua in many ways.
Likewise Martin reminds me a lot of Walker, a consistent performer who doesn’t get the recognition of some of his more illustrious team mates.
WOW
I went with Puletua and Kikau - Imagine those 2 on the edges 
Who will be on the Bench…
2 Likes
You could pick any of them & have a great 2nd row.
Puletua, Geyer & Kikau were all tall, mobile & rangy types, with Kikau being the biggest of them. Walker & Gulavao were a little more nuggety. Cartwright was halfway between & he had that right arm off-load.
So, do you want 2 big, rangy edge runners? Or one of those complemented by a partner with a more nuggety body type playing in the middle?
I’ll take Puletua & Kikau over Geyer, and Gulavao over Walker. That leaves Puletua, Kikau, Gulavao & Cartwright.
Puletua & Kikau. It’s impossible to ignore the strike power of that combo, even allowing that Kikau had an off-day in the GF. Mind you, he wasn’t Robinson Crusoe.
Puletua & Kikau. Holy F@#! what a 2nd row!
2 Likes
I guess I went conservative then with Walker and Cartwright, but not one of these players would be amiss in any team.
I guess this is hard based on do you select the two best players, the best combination, or some mix.
Even Martin who is probably least favored would be a walk up start in most panther teams over the last 30 odd years.
And I thought hooker was hard lol
2 Likes
We might need 4 backrowers on the bench lol - hang on I need Izzard in my team
1 Like
I believe there will be a 4 bench spots picked for this team.
Still undecided about 4 or 8 spots. Will wait until I do the post for final decision
You’ve got to go into your GF with at least 20…
1 Like
Then when the bench is sorted we need to pick the least worse referee.
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The least worst…I nominate…
Do we only have the 2 choices, Bill and Dopey from last year? or any GF ref
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Looks like we are headed for a tiebreaker - 6 hours to go!!!
As it stands, even though I didn’t pick either of them, I am not unhappy with Carty n Geyer being the 2nd rowers. What a formidable duo they were.
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