Nine days is a long time between rugby league games. In that period Panthers fans have experienced the highs and lows (not necessarily in that order) of supporting their side.
Having lost to the Bulldogs nine days earlier 18-16 courtesy of an after the siren kick conversion from debutant Kerrod Holland, the Panthers regrouped to take on the might of the Brisbane Broncos, again at the foot of the mountains.
The early season premiership favourites came to Penrith on the back of an impressive defensive record that had seen the club concede just 118 points in ten games and no more than 18 points in any one game over that period.
Already without James Segeyaro, Matt Moylan and Dean Whare among others, the Panthers were dealt a further blow when coach Anthony Griffin received a dreaded call from the club doctor – Trent Merrin was out of the game with a virus.
“About 10am this morning I got a phone call from the doctor saying he had a really bad virus,” Griffin confirmed.
“When you see a phone call from the doctor you know it’s not a good thing.”
But that news was overshadowed by the news most fans had been waiting confirmation for – the news Te Maire Martin, the Holden Cup whiz kid that came from the same school (Keebra Park High) as his boyhood hero, Benji Marshall, was making his NRL debut.
The Broncos came out strong and on the back of some Anthony Milford magic and some poor reads in defence particularly by Bryce Cartwright and Jeremy Latimore, led 22-6 with half-time fast approaching.
But Penrith’s first penalty of the game proved to be the defining moment for both sides. In the next set, Bryce Cartwright stormed onto a Leilani Latu short pass to score, sending a Panthers side to the sheds trailing just 22-12 at the break, a point not missed by Griffin.
“It was a funny game that first half,” Griffin said.
“I know it’s easy for me to say but I didn’t feel we were down and out.”
“We were just very loose defensively.”
“At 22-6 down, obviously that (Cartwright) try gave us that bit of belief and it gave Bryce that bit of confidence.”
Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, while agreeing in principle with Griffin’s assessment, went much further and accused his side of clocking off after believing they had the game in the bag.
“We scored three minutes from halftime, we had a good set, gone down the field, gave a stupid penalty away and then we let a soft try in.”
“It just tells you where they’re at mind-wise, they started to think they had the game won and didn’t have to turn up in the second half.”
“It was an indication of where we’re at mentally, we started to let go,” Bennett said.
“A good team just doesn’t let them do that at halftime.”
While Bryce Cartwright provided the spark that ignited the second half comeback which saw Brisbane kept scoreless in the second half for the first time since Round 21, 2014 versus Manly @ Brookvale.
All the talk after the game centred around Te Maire Martin, who scored the try with a big right-foot step inside Darius Boyd, that levelled the scores before kicking the field goal three minutes from time to seal yet another famous home victory over the Broncos.
On both occasions, it appears Martin was attempting gather his breath in when the ball came to him in what he claimed was the toughest game of his career to date.
“I’m not going to lie it was tougher than I thought,” Martin explained.
“I was waiting (on the wing) and getting my breath back.”
“But the ball ended up coming my way and all I had to do was put on a bit of right foot on and put the ball down.”
Martin’s debut performance reads like this: one try, two line-breaks, five tackle-breaks from 11 runs gaining 90 metres and making 26 tackles, missing two in defence.
And that match-winning field goal.
“(Again with the field goal) to be honest I was falling back (behind the line) because I was tired,” Penrith’s latest hero said.
“I sort of closed my eyes, kicked it and peeked to see if went over and it went over.”
“I wanted to celebrate but I was gasping for air.”
“I’ve finally got my breath back now and I’m over the moon to be honest.”
The win continues Griffin’s astonishing record against his coaching nemesis, Wayne Bennett having only lost the once in nine games played against Bennett-coached teams.
But Griffin didn’t want to talk about that preferring instead to praise his side for showing the mental strength to win it at the death after being pipped at the post against Canterbury last week.
“It’s a lot better than last week when we earned the win but didn’t get the points,” Griffin said.
“I was just really happy for the players, it was heart-breaking for them last week.”
“It was a real show of courage from them that they were able to bounce back and find that effort in the second half tonight.”
Griffin also conceded that the Panthers were better served by Peter Wallace, playing at hooker – in defence as well as attack, which in part allowed for Te Maire Martin to make his debut.
“It gave us a bit more balance,” Griffin said.
“Last week we had to patch that up late but this week we got a chance to give Te Maire a game and as I said Peter did an outstanding job (at hooker).”
As for the hooker himself, who had to make 42 tackles this week defending in the middle, Wallace stated the move worked well for the team despite the increased workload applied to him.
“I’m actually enjoying it the past couple of weeks,” Wallace claimed.
“A little bit different this week defending in the middle but I felt real good out there and I thought it gave the team good balance.”
“I used a bit more gas than last week but I still felt good physically wise and felt really strong in defence.”
Having had their season kick-started by a heart-stopping win, the Panthers now face a period where they play at Pepper Stadium just once over the next seven weeks. It starts with a trip this Sunday to Wollongong to face an equally rejuvenated Dragons side.
But the Panthers are set to be rejuvenated themselves should the likes of Matt Moylan, Sione Katoa, George Jennings and Waqa Blake return from injury, while Trent Merrin will no doubt receive an interesting home-coming to say the least, should he overcome a severe virus.
It remains to be seen whether Te Maire Martin will get that opportunity to play his hero given Griffin was reluctant to praise Martin or reveal if he had done enough to maintain his spot.
But Martin was philosophical when asked whether he deserved to play next week.
“He (Griffin) knows what’s best for the team and if that’s me in it I don’t mind,” Martin said.
“But there’s about five or six players out injured at the moment and when we get them back we’re going to kill it.”
“So I don’t mind going back to Cup because I know I’ve got a lot to work on and if the time comes again (to play NRL) where I do get another shot I’ll be stoked.”
But Penrith may have to do it without prop Jeremy Latimore after he was charged with a grade one dangerous contact – head/neck charge which will see him miss one game regardless of his plea.
Conversely Brisbane, who have the short five-day turnaround before facing North Queensland at Suncorp Stadium, may have to face the Cowboys without Jack Reed due to a nasty eye poke from a teammate.
Penrith Panthers 23 (B Cartwright P Hiku J Latimore T Martin tries J Soward 3 goals T Martin field goal) def. Brisbane Broncos 22 (A Milford 2 D Boyd B Hunt tries C Parker 2 J Kahu goals) at Pepper Stadium. Referee: Gavin Reynolds, Grant Atkins. Crowd: 12,086.
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