Much better start to this game. The last 20 minutes were very sloppy. It was Kind of like the Manly game but flipped in reverse, but instead Penrith were the ones with the scoreboard pressure.
Finally Luron gets a crack, and kills it. He shouldn’t be dropped from the 17 any time soon. Even though we won, i still kind of feel flat. I really want to see Penrith back this performance up before i start getting carried away.
Loss by all 5 Queensland teams (incl storm) playing in Queensland. That’s a shame.
A couple of turning points for us, the ridiculous amount of guess agains on our line and we defended them, then they throw the ball away and get a penalty and take the 2…MASSIVE WIN.
Then Cobbo struggling, we kick deep on the 3rd and he sees nothing but a Panther wall and gets smashed, we were boosted by those 2 things and re-found our mojo. But agree with dufeyz, cannot get carried away until we do this back to back to back…bit like our GF’s 
I felt the my TAB account beckoning me on the morning of the game… it was telling me to get on Penrith… “They have a point to prove”… I checked my balance and thought “hell why not” and laid down $100 @ $2.45… I was expecting we may squeak this out and win by a couple of points. What happened I did not expect (nor did my TAB account ).
I think the big takeaway is that our defence has improved 1000%, Penrith only letting in a try that was awkward and very hard to defend, coming off the posts. I fell we should have challenged the penalty for stripping where we conceded the 2 points, there was enough evidence to overturn the call on the field in my opinion.
Across the field it was extremely hard to fault anybody, they all played their part and Cleary was able to get back to his scheming best. my only sore point was Blaize Talagi ball control, but it look t be improving week on week, so I am not overly concerned. Also on the new player front, though Isaiah Papali’i and Luron Patea had excellent games, as did most the forwards, Liam Henry and Moses Leota & Lindsay Smith really stiffened up our attack, and swarmed in defence.
I have to say the stand out was the pairing of Luke Garner and Tom Jenkins, 4 line breaks between them, 2 tries to Jenkins and 2 try assists to Garner, who also racked up 7 tackle breaks. They were poking holes all over the place… also Jenkins defence was top notch, you could make a solid argument it was sue to not having to shadow McLeans poor defence all game.
Luke Sommerton was much improved, this play the ball was much quicker and seemed to be across the game plan this week.
Edwards, Yeo, Cleary, Martin… all what you expect from veterans of a 4 time premiership team, they made their voices heard and co-ordinated the team in a solid defensive and attacking machine.
It makes for a interesting week for selections next week. Brian To’o and Mitch Kenny return to the fold. Kenny is a no brainer, but the backline may need a shuffle. I would suggest the following;
2. To'o
3. Tago
4. Alamoti
5. Jenkins
Casey McLean has had too many opportunities, and hasn’t delivered, as I had mentioned in the Jenkins Thread, that Jenkinswould have to set the world on fire to get back into the squad, and that he has. Now its on Casey to do the same. I’d be sticking with Jenkins for now, he looks to be playing some of his best football right now.
So now we jump two places to 15th, a win next week plus the bye can position us just outside if not in the top 8. The important part is this, I saw a lot of ‘smiles on dials’ out on the field this week, they are enjoying their footy, wisdom would suggest that wins should follow.
One thing I noted was there was less panic by Jenkins this game. Not trying to do anything too fancy and just keep hold of the ball. This definitely helped with his overall performance.
If McLean had also been able to do the same, this would have helped with his performance, as he definitely has the talent. Just trying to do too much, too soon.
There were a few moments that told me we were on.
Tago rushing up and actually belting the man with the ball was one… 
Although wish he wouldn’t.
Only caught a glimpse of the presser, but did Ivan say the squad was under trained?
Sounds like it’s starting to catch up. Hopefully the train continues to build moment and we crack the 8 or top 4…
If we continue to build from here we can still win the comp… 
Blaize needs to work on ball security.
Trent Toleau needs to be our 14 for the season if continues like yesterday.
How good is Edwards in defence when he’s fit? The way he shut down the two on one line break was awesome. Kept them near the sideline, slowed them all down, never committed and remained in a position to bump both players. Purely to let backup arrive. Many a fullback would have committed to one player and let a try in. Top shelf!!
Just on Edwards- that defense and vision he showed with the 2 on 1 was something you only see once a decade or so. Had the sideline as his friend for sure, but slowed them down so another defender (Tago I think) arrived on the scene to complete the tackle.
Unfortunately with that play we will loose him to the Blues during SOO
He did, withe players on rep duties, the pre season was real short, some players first real hit out was Round 1 in Vegas.
On the presser I did like Ivans short response to a reporter asking “are the Panthers back?” to which he replied “Back? Back to what?” following it up with “it’s a new team”. He is spot on, we can’t pretend we have squad we had last year, nor do I think we have ever felt that in the previous 5 years. New year, new team.
I am pretty sure that this is the first game this season where Edwards is 100% fit. You could see it in his speed and his defending yesterday. And being such an important cog in the team, this would have had an impact on earlier results.
In a nutshell, ball security, attention to detail and defensive communication underpinned that victory. These are attributes that we have taken for granted over the past 5 years. Improvements for Talagi, Papali’i and Jenkins also were vital backup for the big names.
I thought that Garner would lack speed to be effective. But not only was he solid in attack, if your defensive line is functioning as it has for so long, there are very few breaks that need speed to shut down. Speed is an area in which McLean will prove valuable when his defense improves with experience.
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