R2 Panthers v Roosters - Game Day Thread

Game Day
1
SYD
PEN
Penrith Panthers
Sydney Roosters
TELSTRA PREMIERSHIP Round 2
CommBank Stadium
March 14 8:00pm
Penrith Panthers
Round 2
Sydney Roosters

CommBank Stadium
March 14 8:00pm

Game Day Information
:rugby_football: Match Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters
:stadium: Venue CommBank Stadium
:clock10: Time Friday March 14, 8:00pm
:tickets: Tickets Tickets via Ticketek
:car: Travel Check the Getting to Commbank Stadium thread
:rugby_football: Other Matches NSWCUP Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters 15/03 2:00pm1
JFLEGG Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters 15/03 12:00pm1
:sun_behind_rain_cloud: Weather :cloud: Cloudy 25ĀŗC (:cloud_with_rain: Chance of Rain: <1% / :wind_face: Wind: E 11km/h)
:tv: Broadcast :tv: Channel 9 (Channel 90 HD / 91 SD) [LIVE]
:tv: Fox League (Channel 502) [LIVE]
:desktop_computer: NRL Live Pass [LIVE]
:kayo: Kayo Sports [LIVE]
:radio: ABC Sydney 702AM [LIVE]
:radio: 2GB Sydney 873AM [LIVE]
:radio: MMM Sydney 104.9FM [LIVE]

(1) NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup to be played at Parker Street Reserve, Penrith NSW

:rugby_football: Telstra Premiership | Full Time
/50px Penrith Panthers 32 Tries Paul Alamoti, Brian Toā€™o, Liam Henry, Dylan Edwards, Casey McLean.
Goals Nathan Cleary (6/7)
/50px Sydney Roosters 38 Tries Connor Watson (2), Daniel Tupou (2), Mark Nawaqanitawase, Sandon Smith, Dominic Young.
Goals Sandon Smith (5/7)

:rugby_football: Jersey Flegg Cup | Full Time
/50px Penrith Panthers 40 Tries Siale Faeamani (2), Harry Armstrong, Poutoa Hotere-Papalii, Nick Murphy, Jenson Tuaoi, Jirah Liddiard.
Goals Zakauri Clarke (5/6), Jirah Liddiard (1/1)
/50px Sydney Roosters 16 Tries Kade Maguire, Itula Seve.
Goals Josh Durkin (2/3)

Postgame Media

MATCH REPORT

PRESS CONFERENCE

HIGHLIGHTS

FULL MATCH REPLAY

+ Coming Soon

PANTHER PRIDE MOTM VOTING

2

Team

Telstra Premiership Knock on Effect NSW Cup Jersey Flegg Cup
:rugby_football: Panthers v Roosters :rugby_football: Panthers v Roosters :rugby_football: Panthers v Roosters
:clock3: Friday 14/3 8:00pm :clock3: Saturday 15/3 2:00pm :clock3: Saturday 15/3 12:00am
:stadium: Commbank Stadium :stadium: Parker Street Reserve :stadium: Parker Street Reserve
TEAM
1. Dylan Edwards 1. John Fonua 1. Jaxen Edgar
2. Casey Mclean 2. Jesse Mclean 2. Nick Murphy
3. Izack Tago 3. Tom Jenkins 3. Poutuoa Hotere-Papalii
4. Paul Alamoti 4. David Fale 4. Siale Faeamani
5. Brian Toā€™o 5. Asu Kepaoa 5. Jirah Liddiard
6. Jack Cole 6. Blaize Talagi 6. Tylor Bunting
7. Nathan Cleary Ā© 7. Brad Schneider 7. Zack Lamont
8. Moses Leota 8. Preston Riki 8. Josh Ruxton
9. Mitch Kenny 9. Luke Sommerton 9. Bayden Moran
10. Lindsay Smith 10. Luron Patea 10. Ahmani Leilua
11. Scott Sorensen 11. Mavrik Geyer 11. Zakauri Clarke
12. Liam Martin 12. Harrison Hassett 12. Harry Armstrong
13. Isaah Yeo Ā© 13. Niko Apelu 13. Delahia Wigmore
INTERCHANGE
14. Daine Laurie 14. Billy Scott 14. Jenson Tuaoi
20. Liam Henry :small_red_triangle: 15. Billy Phillips 15. Jakeb Vailalo
16. Matt Eisenhuth 16. Riley Wake 16. Isaiah Scanlon
17. Luke Garner 17. Zac Lipowicz 17. Jack Ewer
RESERVES
18. Brad Schneider 19. Sam Lane 18. Mitchell Heather
19. Luron Patea :small_red_triangle_down: 20. Falefa Letoi 19. Judah Galuvao
15. Isaiah Papaliā€™i :small_red_triangle_down: :injured: 20. Billy Thompson
21. Luke Sommerton :small_red_triangle_down: 21. Cameron Robertson
22. Tom Jenkins :small_red_triangle_down:
COACH
HC Ivan Cleary HC Ben Harden HC Jono Rolfe
AC Peter Wallace
AC Ben Garnier

:small_red_triangle::small_red_triangle_down: Promoted/Relegated | :small_orange_diamond: Positional Change

Match Officials

Telstra Premiership K.O.E NSW Cup Jersey Flegg Cup
Referee Todd Smith TBA TBA
Sideline Official Belinda Sharpe TBA TBA
Phil Henderson TBA TBA
Video Referee Grant Atkins - -

Referee Success Rate

Referee Active Since 2024 Overall Pen. For Pen. Against Ratio
Todd Smith 2022 (0/0) -% (5/9) 55.56% 54 57 0.95
3

The worst thing that Panthers can do is come into the game thinking it is already won. They canā€™t play down to the chooks level. They need to be be totally ruthless and make a statement.

3 Likes
4

Absolutely correct Hills Panther. Like games against the tigers years past (that Bathurst game comes to mind), the only thing that can beat us is whatā€™s in our head. Ignore the other teams form and play to our potential.

1 Like
5

Against the Broncs they were brutal in defense for the first 15minutes or soā€¦Radly going off broke their backs, they will be primed early, we need to give it to em.

2 Likes
6

The other game that comes to mind is the magic round game against warriors last year. Should have been a walk in the park, but if you go into the game with that mentality, you can be punished.

1 Like
7

:mega: Teams and Match Officials have been updated.

TESLSTRA PREMIERSHIP TEAM

OPPOSITION TEAM

KNOCK ON EFFECT NSW CUP TEAM

JERSEY FLEGG TEAM

8

Updated NRL Team List

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has updated his squad for the Round 2 clash against Sydney Roosters at CommBank Stadium on Friday night.

Liam Henry will play his first game of the season after recovering from a shoulder injury, replacing Isaiah Papaliā€™i, who has been ruled out.

9

Nothing short of 50 on them will do, letā€™s be the catalyst for the Robbo sacking convos to start :wink:

10

Gus Gould just walked past me at the stadium. Here to cheer on the chooks I guess.

11

Unfortunately this is what cruise control looks like. Hopefully Ivan will get them revved up in the second half.

12

A lot of basic errors in that first half. Hopefully we get them out of our game in the second half.

13

That was very ordinary. We wouldnā€™t have made that many errors in a game in over 10 years!!!

14

It looks like the team is still in Vegas.

1 Like
15

:mega: Panther Pride Man of the Match voting is now open here.

16

Not going to harp on to much about the whole game itself, rather just a few observations.

The ā€˜Vegas Hangoverā€™ is real.

The guys looked gassed very early into that game. I donā€™t feel that they had fully recovered from that trip. I think the impression people get is that they fly over there, play the game and go home. Though it canā€™t be further than the truth. The amount of appearance, PR and media commitment they have to do would exceed that of a regular season match.

I recalled last year that the four Vegas teams played each other in the second round (flipped of course). I mean that makes sense that all those side have the same level of fatigue, and it give them 3 weeks to recover rather than the 2 they got this year.

Combinations are going take time

We lost a fair bit of talent across the field. In the middle, in the forwards and on the edges. I fee the edges are goodā€¦ Alamoti and McLean look good in their positions, though I wonder swapping Tago and Alamoti would be a good idea. The chemistry from Toā€™o and Alamoti last season lead to a lot opportunities down that side.

The forwards are going to take time. JFH was a big loss, and while Smith and Henry are very talented players, its going to take a little to get the mix right.

On the halves, Iā€™m not sure Cole is the answer, but to be honest Iā€™m not sure Talagi is either. Iā€™m sure the wheat will seperate for the chaff eventually, but I feel the solution might be a little less orthodox, which Iā€™ll touch on in my next point

Dane Laurie

My oh myā€¦ what do we do with Dane Laurie? When he came on last night, there was a liftā€¦ it started the drive towards the comebackā€¦ I feel if time was on our side, we could have run the Roosters down. As much as I love Edwards, I did wish the made the decision to sideline him earlier last night, he was struggling. and I feel if Laurie was on the chase on that Roosters line break, he would have prevented that try.

What do we do with Laurie? He is too good to keep on the bench, so this lead me to what I think might need to happenā€¦

It might be time for Ivan to sit down an have a discussion with Edwards about transitioning to Five-Eighth. I feel like this where Edwards next career step needs to be, much like Darren Lockyer. Then move Laurie into the Fullback position.

Iā€™m not a coach, and Iā€™m sure Ivan will make the right decisions, but I feel Laurie needs to be in the starting 17.

The bench were some of the best performers last night.

I thought the entire bench played well last night, there was a lot of reorganisation going on and a lot fo the Vegas starters were looking supremely gassed in the late stages.

But Liam Henry, Luke Garner, Matt Eisenhuth and Dane Laurie really shined last night, when injected they provided some stability to a very shaky team.

Commbank Stadium

My god that surface is horrible. Might need to pencil in some ankle injury prevention this season. Massive clumps coming from the ground and potholes galore. Iā€™m not sure this is going to improve over the season.

I didnā€™t manage to make the game this week due to family commitments, but from talk on social media, there was some points of frictionā€¦ from rail issues, to the price of concessions at the gameā€¦ itā€™s going to go some way in turning off crowdsā€¦ I think they said the crowd was 12,000 and the crowd seems kind of sparse.

Hopefully this improves as the season moves on, but I not sure they will be getting the Sell Outs the club was getting at Penrith.

1 Like
17

There were some rail issues last night, and I know of a few people who didnā€™t go because of it.

I think the heat may have played a part, both with our crowd numbers, and the way we played the game.

Iā€™ve seen people online bagging out Cole & Eisenhuth, saying they were the reasons we lost. Pretty sure they werenā€™t the only players to drop balls. Thought they were both reasonable, although not sure they they are anything more than stop gap measures at this stage.

Maybe it was the Vegas Hangover? Maybe it was thinking ahead to Melbourne next week? Maybe it was not paying the opposition enough respect? Maybe it was the heat? Maybe it was a combination of some or all of the above? Maybe it was something else all together?

Regardless, I think this will be the worst we play all year.

1 Like
18

Now having calmed back down and back to earth (and gods own country rather than ParramattašŸ˜‚), and having ranted about my game day experience (see the other thread), I can provide my comments on the game;

Missed the start, but belive we scored a soft try - did this play into our teams heads, thinking the Roosters were going to be a walk in the park? As I and others said before the match, beware the wounded roosters - they have had form in this regard over many years, regardless of the team names on paper.

We were missing our ā€œattacking defenceā€. It never appeared in the game. We played like the Tigers. Was it hangover from the grand final like buildup and game in Vegas, having the wrong mindset going into the game, the heat and humidity (which was quite oppressive).

Hard to judge individual performances, although a thought Kenny gave it his all in his usual no-nonsense way. We should have challenged his ā€œlost ballā€ which was a very obvious strip.

Aside from Yeo, and to extent Martin (untill he was gassed) everyone else needed to douse themselves in WD40 rather than Lynx, such was the rust on display.

The roosters were certainly pushing the envelope with regards contact to players in the air, it happened l most every kick reception (I remember one on Edwards where they took his legs out while In the air), and another were our player was held back from competing. Only once did we get a penalty (which the challenged unsuccessful).

Cleary certainly was thinking the maths in the closing stages, his last goal however was a bit silly as he let the clock run down. Itā€™s one thing to ā€œtrust our systemā€, and another to over believe the hype. I think he got that mix a bit wrong last night, and just needs to focus more on game management over the whole 80 minutes.

I am not too harsh on Cole myself, heā€™s what 21? Played a handful of first grade games. His defence is ok, so has a good foundation to build on. Remember Cleary in his first season?

I think the reason the bench looked good had to do with the heat, humidity, and in Laurieā€™s case coming on fresh against tired opposition. I wouldnā€™t be making any big changes, aside from maybe Papaliā€™hi in for Huth. I thought Huth went ok though. I agree the wings and centre combos need work, they appeared to be swapped for this game, itā€™s kind of the weakness of having 4 players who can play both sides of the field.

In all, not too worried, itā€™s only round 2. This game will likely be an exception rather the rule.

1 Like
19

:see_no_evil:

I have one huge concern with this idea and itā€™s something I see almost every game Edwards is not playing FB. It doesnā€™t matter if it was Laurie or Critter or Turuva.

Laurie came on relatively fresh to the game and when Roosters backline scored in the corner, Laurie was at FB casually jogging over to the sideline. He was a good 2 passes behind the ball.

A fit Edwards would have been sprinting to keep up with the ball and been a part of the tackle. Stop the try? We can never say with certainty in this particular instance, but I guarantee Edwards would have been there competing. History has shown time and time again he saves a lot of points.

But gee, last night was rough.

Iā€™m not too phased yet. I think it was last season we reached about round 12 or so and I thought we were way too rusty and not improving enough to win the title.

Itā€™s round 2, thereā€™s plenty of time.

1 Like
20

If memory serves correctly, we originally recruited him as a young 5/8. Unfortunately for him the Cleary/Luai combination was already seriously good, even in the juniors, and his best way in was to make a fist of another position, which ended up being fullback.