- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
I’ll be upfront and say it – I’m biased. The Panthers are my team. I played for their Jersey Flegg side way back in the late 1990s, and I’ve supported them since their Chocky soldiers days.
But I grow tired of all the negative talk surrounding them this season, especially since it seems to be “they had an easy draw” or “they lack a superstar, and you can’t win a grand final without a superstar”. Really?
Let’s get the draw thing out of the way. Thanks NRL, it was a good draw for us this year, but no different to any other team. The NRL and Channel Nine schedule the matches, not Panthers management.
You play who you’re told to play, when you’re told to play them. It would have been nice to have a few more family orientated games this year, but Monday nights seemed to have been our thing.
Foxtel watchers must love us. Anyone see the AFL draw this year? I live in Adelaide, so I could not miss it. Port had an easier draw than most, as did my Swannies, compared to, say, St Kilda.
So what? If people had said, before a ball was played in season 2014, that the Sharks would end with the spoon, you’d laugh, given their past two to three seasons.
What if someone told you Melbourne wouldn’t be in the top 4? Ridiculous. But here were are, eagerly awaiting week 1 of the Finals series, and that’s where they landed. Tough, get over it.
Now for the main issue, the supposed ‘lack’ of superstars. So, you’re telling me Jamie Soward isn’t a superstar, love or hate him? A NSW rep player, one of the best halves in the current game, he has contributed eight tries, a swag of try assists, in the top 10 for most stats this season, and close to topping kick metres. How is he not a star?
That’s a laugh. It’s like saying Johnathan Thurston or Cooper Cronk aren’t stars. Sowie played more consistently than either of them this season, even if, career-wise, he isn’t at their level.
How about Matt Moylan? Arguably the second or third best fullback in the game, depending on how you rate Billy Slater this season.
Certainly, Hayne was better than anyone else, but neither Brett Stewart, Anthony Milford, Benny Barba or anyone else came close to Moylan this year. If Hayne wasn’t a fullback, Moylan would have played Origin for NSW this year.
Bet your house on it, and your family, too. He might be a winger for the Blues next year, no matter how much I wish he was a Queenslander.
Speaking of Queenslanders, how’s James Segeyaro’s form? He makes Cam Smith look a bit average, really. I see a bench spot for the Maroons in his not too distant future.
He’s young, and has a longer playing future than Friend has, but I see Friend being the replacement for Cam, and in turn Segeyaro being his replacement in two to three years time.
He is in the emerging and train-on sides, so it’s not impossible. He has 10 tries, a bunch of assists, a stack of line breaks and more skill than you can poke a stick at.
Then we have Josh Mansour, unlucky to miss out on a NSW wing spot this year but a certainty for 2015, barring injury. The bloke makes metres like he is running from his ex-girlfriend, scores tries with brute strength, tackles like a machine, and hits the ball up like he plays in the second row.
This guy has it all, as far as winger is concerned. The beard helps with the ladies, too, or so I hear. How he isn’t a star is beyond me.
Finally, we have the revelation of 2014, Tyrone Peachey. That famous surname isn’t holding him back like it did young Mitchell. If there was a single standout at Penny in 2014, it’d be a tie between Sowie and Tyrone.
Save for that season-ending injury to ‘the Peach’, Penny probably could’ve beat Manly, challenged for the minor premiership, and taken it all the way to the grand final with him backing up the above players.
Metres, tries, line-breaks, try assists, offloads, this young gun makes it look like Sonny Bill Williams or Greg Inglis against the Colyton U14s. He was single-handedly dismantling teams for Penrith this season. Behind on the scoreboard? Send in Peachey. Bang, Penrith win.
Now all this has left out form players like the consistent Peter Wallace, old Brent Kite, Kiwi front rowers Sam McKendry and Lewis Brown, big hitters Nigel Plum and Adam Docker, and solid performers like David Simmons.
You’ve got Kiwi rep Dean Whare in the centres, and future superstar Dallin Watene-Zelezniack in his debut season.
So tell me, how does Penrith not have genuine star power? After that, surely you can see it?
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.