Penrith skipper Petero Civoniceva has taken aim at team-mates who aren’t delivering, as the Panthers slipped to their third straight loss in Auckland on Sunday.
Civoniceva didn’t hold back after the 26-18 defeat to the Warriors, saying some of his NRL team-mates needed to lift.
Even so, the Australia and Queensland veteran still believes they can salvage something from their season.
“I am confident, we’ve got too much talent in this team,” Civoniceva said.
“But the decision has got to be made by us individually on what we want to get out of the season, at the moment we’re just throwing it away which is disappointing because we’re getting in there, having good arm wrestles, but there’s no reward for it.
“Some tough decisions will have to be made in terms of team selection and putting guys in there who are going to be accountable for their performances.”
Civoniceva said the Panthers don’t want to use their week of turmoil, which saw Matthew Elliott dumped as coach for next season and Tim Sheens’ turning down the role, as an excuse.
“We could make it a distraction if we wanted but that would be just making it an excuse,” he said.
“We need to address where we are on the table rather than on anything else that’s happened.”
Civoniceva said he didn’t have an opinion on the club’s hunt for a new coach and Sheens turning down the lucrative offer to come to Penrith.
“It doesn’t affect me, it’s a decision that’s made by the hierarchy of the club and as a player I’m paid to play football,” he said.
“That’s their decision at the end of the day and he didn’t end up coming.”
Gareth
Guest
I watched 20 minutes of the game and saw Michael Jennings concede four penalties, all unforgivably stupid, and get away with one of the most blatant shepherds I've seen in my years as a spectator. Even in those halcyon days of junior footy where an undermanned team might get a temporarily loan of a player from the opposition to make up the numbers, I've never seen such clinical subterfuge and undermining of a team's chances. Same goes in the other Panthers game I've watched this year, against my team, the Raiders. He was our best player by a mile. Yet I turn on my internets last night to discover he's playing rep footy this friday night. I'm no doctor, but whatever Fred Fittler is drinking, smoking, injecting or otherwise putting into his body prior to commentating, selecting teams or showing up dribbling and shirtless to random hotel rooms - he needs to stop. And people need to stop paying him to do it.