Anthony Griffin holds no grudges against Tyrone Peachey

I wouldn't argue Yeo or Akuiloa are better than Taylor, but for the Panthers none of them were very valuable and Taylor cost more; with Cartwright and Merrin in the back row they already had a deficiency in the physicality stakes against decent sides and Taylor did nothing to resolve that problem. I think you're basing a lot of your assessment of Wallace on the Sharks game over the weekend which he spent most of with one arm hyper extended -- he was noticeably poor compared to other efforts where he has been providing capable service at a minimum. As for Cartwright at 5/8, he's covering until Martin gets back and as a forward there's an awful lot of noisy hype relative to his actual output -- a few good offloads make the highlight reel but defensively he's a turnstile and his runs where he doesn't offload (or where he offloads at bad times) add little of value. The back five is a mess too with Hiku and Whare (both centres of good quality) out with season ending injuries and their utility backup in Peachey went and did something dumb to get himself suspended while Mansour and Moylan are on Origin duty -- the only backs who would be playing in the same position without injuries and origin are Watene-Zelezniak who may well have been overhyped to begin with and Cleary who is obviously a work in progress, though his earlier efforts where the rest of the team wasn't putting in an embarrassingly bad performance weren't actually too bad.

Agree with Joe..in what world is Yeo or Akuiloa better backrowers than Elijah Taylor ? Peter Wallace is a very average player who tackles well but offers zero danger as an attacking dummy half and disjointed cumbersome,service to his runners..Seggie broke his arm in roiund 1,should've been out for 2 months but came back in 1.. played 4 games,had the off field incident and dumped from the club in a trade that looks as awful as it was superfluous. Now,the coach has their best forward playing 5/8 with a 3 game rookie on one side of him and Will Smith on the other,an 18 year old on one wing and a zero fullfilled-potential loafer on the other..the team has/d a better roster than last year but has gone backwards under Hook..

Segeyaro & Soward were not doing the job that their key positions demand. They had to go. The Panthers problem this year is much like the previous two years, injuries to key players and the perennial lack of an on-field general, and yesterday they were virtually missing their entire first choice backline ! Kiwi Internationals Hiku, Whare & Te Mare Martin gone for the year, Moylan & Mansour on rep duty. Even handy utility Peachey was suspended. With only bottom of the barrel options left like Will Smith & Waqa Blake in the centres, and with Cartwright confusing his own team at five eighth with the ball and too slow defensively to handle the likes of Tedesco & Barba in recent games , it is no surprise their last two weeks have been cake walks for the opposition teams. The Tigers & Cronulla both targeting those weak edges of the Panthers defence. In saying that, there is plenty of talent there once they get them all on the field with some games under their belt. The next couple of years look very positive, and for me Cleary remains the key along with Te Mare Martin , Moylan and a new number 9 such as Zach Docker-Clay or Tyrone May giving them a good looking spine going forward for some years. They have always had a good pack to go with that , and now just need some consistent injury free outside backs.

Griffin is the worst possible coach that Penrith could have picked. He's going pretty much the same trajectory as Brisbane did when he took over there.

I don't think it's too hard to explain even from the outside; after their atrocious early season, this year was basically gone for Penrith so they started cutting the players they didn't see as part of their future and have reshuffled more than a government cabinet with poor re-election prospects. Soward hasn't been up to NRL standard physically since his back surgery last year and was also self admittedly deviating from the game plan the coach laid out. Segeyaro kept getting injured and never really looked like returning to the 2014 heights which justified his contract and along with some poor off field decision making meant Penrith already decided not to sign him to another deal. They'd probably be playing Te Maire Martin at 5/8th but he got injured earlier in the year, and Wallace is covering hooker because with the loss of Segeyaro he's probably the top hooker at the club -- Wallace is actually playing fairly well.

Mid way though the season they let go live wire rake Segeyaro and experienced half Soward. Play another experience half Wallace in the hooker position so now have a 18 year old rookie half and a 2nd rower playing five eighth. What was obvious on Sunday was that there was no one leading the team. At times the attack looked like U20's where they're deciding what to do play by play and Cleary trying to dummy and run through gaps that weren't there. Probably worked in the U20's but not at NRL level. Unless there are other issues going on behind the scenes this looks like a ridiculous coaching decision, probably the worst of the season so far.