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The Panthers head to Brookvale today in a must-win clash for both sides.
The Sea Eagles started the season with plenty of fanfare. New coach, new recruits, new life into a club that has endured plenty of back-room turmoil over the past 12 months.
The issues keep coming for Manly though, they have been embroiled in a match-fixing scandal and their casualty ward is brimming with star power in the likes of Daly Cherry-Evans, Jamie Lyon and Steve Matai.
The Panthers meanwhile have become specialists in self harm. Up until last weekend against the Storm the Panthers had never been involved in games with a margin greater than 12. Close losses to the Bulldogs, Dragons and Sharks had many crowing that they were better than their ladder position suggested. Consecutive losses to the Titans and Storm however have raised questions over their credentials this season.
The Panthers have had the ‘five-year plan’ headline hanging over them since 2011, the fruits of their labour seemed to come to the fore in 2014 when they came within a game of a remarkable grand-final berth. Many fans were hopeful that it would be the start of something great at the foot of the mountains but these hopes were dashed in 2015 with an injury crisis similar to what Manly are experiencing now.
Many of the Penrith faithful understood the strain such a toll had and were confident that the good fortunes would resume in 2016. But Phil Gould shocked the rugby league community when he axed Ivan Cleary before pre-season and replaced him with Anthony Griffin.
The Panthers season sits at a cross-roads. The squad they have has more than enough talent to play finals football, something they demonstrated with their first two months this season. The danger is that once again it will be written off as a rebuilding year as the pressure mounts.
A new coach brings new expectations and ideas around what he wants his squad to look like. It is no surprise that he has made some big selection decisions as his predecessor did, Cleary overseeing the departures of Michael Jennings and favourite son Luke Lewis.
The question is whether they are the right ones at the right time. Elijah Taylor was moved on to the Tigers in what has been a major coup for them this season. Gaining a workhorse with plenty of experience.
Then their is the demotion of Soward and Segeyaro. Soward has been shaky over the opening rounds. Kicking the team to victory in some rounds he has been a turnstile in defence in other games while missing some clutch goals that he needed to take under pressure.
Segeyaro has spent most of the season injured and now finds himself behind Peter Wallace in the hooking role after being told he wouldn’t be offered a contract for next season.
The upside of this is the debut of Nathan Cleary, who is hopefully the beacon of hope for the Panthers in the future.
With Dean Whare, Peta Hiku, Jamie Soward, James Segeyaro and Elijah Taylor absent for a swathe of reasons the Panthers miss plenty of experience and class. While it is great to see a club and coach with an eye on the future their is no need to hurt the Panthers in the short term as well.
The Panthers have shown in the first half of the season that they can mix it with the best. Often the reason for the loss has been lack of experience to close a game out. The team has not been doing poorly enough to be making statements and putting the pressure on youngsters in the middle of the season.
If the Panthers get the win today on the back of some youth and enthusiasm then Anthony Griffin will get the accolades he deserves. If they turn in a performance that lacks direction, poise and experience then Panthers fans may get the feeling that once again they have to endure some short term pain for some long term gain. But is it necessary?
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