Prowling Panthers have the right mix for 2014 NRL season

They still have no one capable of guiding them around the park ! And none coming through the juniors ! Plenty of big powerful runners like Matt Robinson & Jamal Idris will again get depressed and bored waiting for some glueless half to spot them running into a gap screaming for the ball. Plenty of brawn but little brains as has been the case every season for the Panthers since Alexander retired ! Just another new set of fringe first graders who will play off the top of their heads, though they should have a stronger defence than recent years ! But creativity will be zero ! The only possible half creative players will be the youngsters Tyronne Peachey and Kevin Naiqama pending they have the right attitudes ! But maybe no better than a couple of local jumiors they already have in the wings in Keiren Moss (fullback) and young Cartwright ( backrower) . Peter Wallace won't know what to do, now he doesn't have to do all the Bronco's tacking ! Moylan has great hands but poor defence and will struggle to hold down his spot, Docker is a weapon but will be injured more than he plays, and John will likely be third in line for the 5/8 spot , unless Soward is sent to fullback!

I don't think Penrith will go well this year and I fail to see why so many people think they will make the 8 this year. A teams game revolves around its halves. Wallace is too basic and lacks any flair. Soward is scared of any physical contact and plays accordingly. I have Penrith finishing in the bottom 4 this year, they could even finish last.

Idris was in great form last year and would have been picked at Origin if not for injury. He has loads of talent and hope the Panthers get the best out of him.

What, unlike Sandow and Corey Norman??

Pot stirer I agree with yuu. I live on the Coast and am gobsmacked. What a mistake getting rid of a marketing giant and a game breaker like Jamal. You can bet you life Cleary will find ways to utilise his talents. At the Gold Coast he got the ball in traffic 99% of the time. Being big and fast only equates as hard to tackle when one has momentum. Cartwright did not give Jamal a chance. With the right coaching and the right environment he could be a super star. For his sake, he has found a better option. I thought the Titans had a reasonable chance of making the eight, but they have no centres. No good having close to the best back three in the league if there is noone to service them. The halves arer easonable and in time they may well be very good, the centres are non existent. Does Cartwright fiddle with a successful back three to try to plug that hole again. Does he swap Ashley Harrison again. This has been unsuccessful in the past and will continue to fail. Great pack, ordinary backline equals to Cartwright being shown the door.......and he may well be buttering up his old club for an assistant coaching job with a real coach. The first instalment being delivering Jamal on a platter.

if your angry now i think you will be furious by the end of the season. I have a feeling we will see the best out of him this year

Just keep Jamal Idris away from the pies and doing any running of any kind. Great to get rid of fat and injury prone Jamal!! Thanks from a Titans fan

I guess we'll see Dave but I remain unconvinced. Daniel Anderson took the Warriors to a minor premiership and a GF but no one calls him a genius for harnessing their erratic style. Particularly not after Parra threw him out (after taking them to a GF also). Gus was also the brains behind the Roosters in 2002 when he built the team, employed Ricky and touted him as the best young coach he has ever seen and they won the GF. The years following the team performance fell apart, Ricky was no longer great, Gus moved out and the place was a mess. I am no fan of Gus but maybe he will get them a premiership before it all collapses and he walks away blaming everyone else. It was Cleary and Gus who let Lewis and Jennings go. Cleary coached both of them in 2012 and stripped Lewis of the captaincy and gave it to the highly credentialed Kevin Kingston and played Jennings in reserve grade. He didn't walk in to a team that let that happen - he did it himself. They paid part of Jennings' salary last year in order to shift him to the Roosters. We'll see. He can't say he doesn't have the cattle this year so in my opinion his reputation is on the line.

I agree. Penrith are a team owned by the community so it is a club. Those privately owned are franchises with rosters.

Retmock, you are obvioulsy a died in the wool fan. Good call mate. Lets get back to reality as well and call them Penrith. I, too hate the americanising our great game with words like that. Another think that Irks me is that we have turned our back on what made the clubs great...identity. If a new fan follows the game he would not have a clue on where the teams come from. Lets start calling them Manly and Seag Eagles if you must.....Eastern Suburbs (now when is the last time you heard that), Cronulla, Melbourne. We'll end up like the pajama cricket game and have no clue who our local team is (Heat, thunder, strikers). It's also happening with netball. Come on Australia, lets take back the terminology in our sport.

Just remember, Soward has the potential, he is a premiership winning half.

Can we please get the hell away from calling a CLUB a franchise and a TEAM a roster?? A franchise and a roster lacks heart and soul and disassociates the members from the players. In the end it is the combination of the members and team players that make the club. It really shits me to tears!! Rant over.

Halves are the problem...I wouldn't guarantee Soward or Wallace a start over John. I think they were both signed before John hit form in the second half of the season. To be honest I prefer a John / Walsh combo than Wallace / Soward.

Great roster

I think one of the best things they did was in regards to membership, giving families cheap tickets, plus the option of purchasing a food add on that guarentees a decent cheap meal for kids. That's the way to build your memberships up.

It's good to see the sense of humour from the reigning wooden spoon holders and favourites for a hat trick. They are not in a similar position to Parramatta at all. The biggest difference is the stench from the head at Parramatta. I see Wallace and Soward as serviceable inside backs, both played State of Origin and did okay at that level. I hope that Sandow comes back better than he was at South Sydney, but he is a speed bump in defence. Another big difference if what the coach wants from the players. Cleary is a coach that will have a plan to use these guys to optimise the teams performance. Watch Idris improve under him. Good luck to Parramatta for 2014, and I sincerely hope you move the spoon off, but that will take some doing.

" The Panthers have recruited really well. Similarly to last year they have bought in bulk without a big name star. " Eagle imo Idris is a big name star and a fantastic signing. He would have been picked in Origin last year if not for injury, he was outstanding. They have recruited particularly well. To have a guy like Brent Kite likely coming off the bench shows the depth in the squad. Tim - your quite right regarding the Panthers challenging for top 5/6 honours. They showed some really good signs last year and gave the top 8 a good nudge. When you add in there Unders 20 Premiership and reserve Grade ( Windsor ) making the GF there future looks very promising. I like the fact they have brought the reserve Grade team back in house also. Panthers fans should be excited !

Don, Cleary had the formiula to get the erratic Warriors to the Grand Final. They had the cattle, and have always had the cattle, but no composure or structure in their game. Enter Cleary, he buys two experienced Queenslanders, one back (Tate) one Forward (Price) and they lead the talented team around the park...the result, a Grand Final appearance. They have not been anywhere near that again. Exit Cleary for Gus Gould 5 year plan. He walks into a team that lets their best forward (Lewis) and back (Jennings) go. They are favourites to win the wooden spoon. Cleary takes them to 10th, ahead of the highly fancied and credentialed Broncos. They finmished on 26 points, the eighth team were on 28. That was coaching genius. He had little or no influence on his team and no marquee player. Cartwright and Elliott (who by the way I rate highly) had been at thier respective clubs for some years and had their own lists and a host of top shelf marquee players to help. Take Miles, Bird, Harrison, Taylor, Idris for the Gold coast, and Bowen, Thurston, Scott Tamu, Tate, Witerstien and Sims for the Cowboys. It's a whole lot easier to coach a team with that number of Origin and Australian players than a team with no names. Like him or loath him, Gould is a great Football brain. He has the finances in order. He shuffled the decks to keep many of the top under 20's coming through the club, and now he has cherry picked the coach. Gus makes few footy mistakes and I don't think Cleary is one. Cleary is surely agoing to be a giant of the game.

I thought Issac John was outstanding last year in the halves. I am not sure with the signings of Soward and Wallace if Issac will feature somewhere in the team.