The year of 1988 produced a cracking one-hit wonder in the form of Underworld’s Underneath the Radar. I believe Penrith are playing it post-match in the dressing room after each win.
Those wins are being chalked up one after another and the Panthers find themselves level with the Dragons at the pointy end of the ladder after Thursday night’s win over the Tigers.
As the men from the mountains continue to grow in confidence and the Dragons start to wobble with two losses from their last four, the competition lead is well within their reach; something not universally predicted by pundits leading into the year.
As usual, preseason hype was all about clucky Roosters, terrific Storms and gun-toting Cowboys, yet the penny Panthers have made hay even though they have been well below full strength for much of the year.
Injuries to key players Nathan Cleary, Josh Mansour, Dylan Edwards, Waqa Blake and now Peter Wallace have hardly slowed their progress. The Penrith Peugeot has navigated the speedbumps with relative ease throughout the first half of the season.
With Cleary back and an Origin carrot dangling to spur him on, the Panthers will face the Dragons in Week 12 full of confidence and playing potentially as favourites, depending on their performance this weekend.
The Panthers are on fire (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
As one star ascends another plummets, and the Wests Tigers chalked up their fourth loss in five weeks as the promise of their early season results became distant.
For the sixth time this season the joint venture scored 11 points or less, and without the big scores they clocked up against the Eagles and the Eels, their attacking record is abysmal.
Their attitude is unquestionable yet the execution will need much work if they are to amend the slide. In a match marred and dominated by referees who seem to be getting far too much screen time over the last few weeks, things never really opened up.
The danger of becoming a ‘goal-kickers cup’, similar to rugby union, where penalty kicks chew up far too much of the clock and deprive people of attacking and expansive football, is a real concern for the NRL.
At ANZ Stadium on Friday night the Warriors finally convinced everyone that they do in fact possess a backbone. The enigma that they are has kept fans mystified for years.
The 2018 Warriors have elevated the hopes of the shaky isles with a team that is finally showing the resilience and fortitude required to win the biggest prize in world club football.
It was a close-run thing against the Eels and the game was in the balance deep into the second half, yet once again the Warriors played tough. Foolish is the clown prepared to write off this Kiwi team; with power and precision, they are very, very good on their day.
(Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)
As for Parramatta, sadly they do not matter in season 2018. It was a last chance to make something of a desperate bid for respectability and improve on a 2-8 record. There were chances, moments to seize, but the blue and gold failed once again.
I texted a friend during the game with a simple statement that I felt summed up the frustration of Parramatta fans across the country. The text referred to the decision making and the absence of football smarts by the Eels’ playmakers.
For all their talent and skill, playing the game well requires much more in terms of poise and patience. They are attributes that the Eels appear to lack and seem quite a distance from acquiring.
Up north on Friday, the Broncos faced the Roosters in a clash between two teams around whom everyone is struggling to get a grip.
With both clubs sitting mid-table, the Roosters continue to promise the world yet have delivered little to this point and the Broncos have been inconsistent, to say the least.
The interesting thing about this game is that few people outside Bondi and Brisbane care about the result. That may sound a little harsh, but as the game attempts to connect with traditional rivalries, the latte-sipping Roosters and the Brisbane Friday night specialists don’t exactly engage the broader rugby league community.
In fact, most NRL fans wouldn’t mind seeing the two teams belt the bejeezus out of each other, softening them up for an upcoming clash with their own club.
As it unfolded, both teams put on one hell of a show and I should be more respectful towards two of the show ponies of the competition. The Broncos eventually found a way past the visitors on the back of late tries to James Roberts and Jamayne Isaako after the Roosters looked to have built a matchwinning lead.
As the Broncos eye a trip to Sydney next week to face the Eels on Thursday night and the Roosters host the Titans on Saturday, they will be well aware of the importance of a win to maintain momentum.
Both showed plenty on Friday night, and the top eight seems a likely outcome for two clubs still seeking top form but doing enough to remain a threat.
damo
Guest
Well one thing's for sure- Gus n Fatty definitely do not know who Haz is. There's a reason for that & it's pretty obvious too.
Jeffrey Lebowski
Guest
Stuart great article. Refreshing to read a well thought out article that outlined your assessment without a reliance on stats. I see this comp as being a battle between the Bunnies and Panthers because they look like they are just getting started. The Dragons have been sensational but I have walked away from a few of their games where they have won believing the other side was better but they let the game slip away rather than the Dragons taking it from them. The Warriors and Storm will get better as the year goes on. Paul McGregor and James Graham believe their side has plenty of improvement in them but I’m unconvinced. The few times their pack has been challenged the kinks appeared right away. Come seasons end when the other top sides are firing we will find out. I had this season pegged as the best I’d ever see and while it hasn’t been bad at all the majority of sides are badly misfiring. Smiths decision to retire from rep footy indicates to me he sees this season as his best chance to win another premiership but the Bunnies, warriors, Panthers and Dragons will make it difficult for them. Bunnies look the goods at the moment and won’t be too affected by origin. I’ve seen enough from them and the Warriors to believe if they time their run they will be the teams to beat.
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
They are dinosaurs
Joe
Roar Rookie
100% agree. Because it is an automatic penalty you get the ridiculous like what Will Smith did and Milford passing to no one. If it isn't an automatic penalty then you will see players get on with it but then again I can see JaraW point where we might then see more players taking their time clearing the ruck.
Haz
Guest
Who's Gus and Fatty again? Pretty sure I heard those names before.
3 recalcitrant monkeys
Guest
1 more thing Klein should have been marked permanent touch judge after "did Billy Slater drop kick the ball " that just came up in the auto spellchecker didn't even have to try.
3 recalcitrant monkeys
Guest
Yep mountain out of a mole hill but he still struck his head so maybe just deserts in the end .
eagleJack
Roar Guru
The MRC just released that no charge has been laid against Napa. As I thought, the refs got it wrong with a massive overreaction. How the sin bin was called into play is one of life’s mysteries.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Damn, I knew someone would remember a second song. Born Slippy? Interesting name for a song.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
The Broncos don’t get FTA due to their playing ability. It is because they effectively represent the entire of QLD. The Cowboys want Saturday fixtures for their traveling fans, and the Titans will always be a basket case. So we get the Broncos on Thursday and Friday nights. For viewing numbers only, as they represent, on their own, a huge market. It has always been stipulated that one of the Friday games contains a QLD based side, dictated by the broadcasters. Enter the Broncos. The only difference now is that they also run the Thursday night slot, meaning the guaranteed Friday Night Broncos is a somewhat thing of the past
Stu
Guest
Yesterdays tackle wasnt an accident. Its the 3rd time Napa has done it in 2 weeks. He deserved to be put in the bin
bazza
Guest
I was responding to the comment that the roosters were the worse team with ball skills. by aw
Con Scortis
Roar Guru
Just on the Napa tackle, one of the concerns I have with his play is that he always seems to be trying to put the big hit on. It's spectacular when he pulls it off, but it's a low-percentage play and it's one of the reasons he misses a lot of tackles and it's only hurting the Roosters. The really effective forwards in the game may only seek to put a huge defensive hit on maybe one tackle in every twenty. That's because their focus is on stopping the attacking player, which after all is what defence is all about. Look at guys like Taumalolo, Sam Burgess, etc and they may have one huge highlight-reel hit in every twenty tackles. Whereas when I watch Napa he always seems to be charging out of the defensive line like a missile - his focus on on smashing the ball-carrier rather than simply stopping them. The head-tackle last night was an example of this, and as a low-percentage play it didn't come off. Gus and Fatty on Nine were defending him saying it was accidental, but Napa has nobody to blame but himself. If he'd focus more on effective tackling he'd be a much better player and less of a liability in defence.
Big Daddy
Guest
Maybe hadleys right , maybe the coach has lost the respect but someone from the board will deny it. If this keeps going Arthur might be the first to go. After all he's been there some time with not much to show and he's tturned over some good players. Maybe radrada new something and decided enough is enough.
Peter Phelps
Guest
All that is true but they have too much fire power to be written off ergo they are a threat.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I think last night we saw a great game but you’re getting carried away, there were 93 missed tackles and 22 errors, 17 penalties.... roosters completed at 71%, I don’t know what you call a drop-ball-a-thon.... but the numbers above probably just show it was a close game between 2 evenly matched teams in quality not necessarily good ones.
Nat
Roar Guru
As a game, we have and often use the ability to evolve. I don't believe there should be anything that is automatically a penalty or a send off. If a player can be called as "milking" in the ruck, what is throwing the ball into a player like we have seen. If it is not an automatic penalty, they stop doing it immediately. Just like the Slater 'dive'.
Nat
Roar Guru
You may not care abut the teams but there is a very good reason the Broncos get FTA games and most of us witnessed it last night. I cannot remember the last time 2 Sydney clubs put up a fantastic game of football on FTA, at least one where most level headed league fans openly acknowledge the quality of the game, not just a close score. Penrith, Roosters and Dragons are about the only Sydney clubs worth watching that isn't a penalty/drop ball-athon. If you want $1b in TV money, put something that 450k people will want to watch each week.
Jacko
Guest
Hi Stuart...just a SMALL thing....Union kicks for the sideline and goes for 7 points these days....Watch a bit of SR and you will see this for yourself....League and union seem to have swapped their attitudes to the points on offer from penalties
Robert Connell
Roar Rookie
One hit wonder? You might recall a tune named Born Slippy. Got a few plays in the mid 90s