And then there were four.
Following the results in the NRL on the weekend, only four teams remain in the hunt for the 2018 premiership – the Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Cronulla Sharks.
For the Sharks and the Bunnies, it was as close as can be, with both teams only making it through by the skin of their teeth. The Bunnies beat the Dragons by one point on Saturday night thanks to three field goals by Adam Reynolds, while the Sharks beat the Penrith Panthers by the same margin on Friday night thanks to a Chad Townsend field goal in the 73rd minute.
This is the third year in a row that the Panthers have exited the finals in Week 2. So, if you’re a Panthers fan, will you remember 2018 as a success or a failure?
When you consider the Panthers over the last three years, one thing is clear. They are consistent.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
In the last three years, they have progressed to Week 2 of the finals and have finished on the ladder as high as fifth and as low as seventh. Interestingly, the number of wins they have posted each season has also remained consistent, finishing on 32 points in two of those seasons and on 30 in the other.
The other thing that has been consistent for almost the entirety of the Panthers last three seasons is their coach, Anthony Griffin.
When Griffin was removed only five weeks out from the finals, one of the reasons given was that management and the board at Penrith did not think he was capable of taking the team to a premiership.
And if you look at the last three years, perhaps that’s the case, considering Penrith have been extremely consistent both in terms of where they finish on the ladder and where they get knocked out in the finals.
That might be enough for some fans to label this year as a failure, given that the Panthers have seemingly been unable to move further forward in the finals.
It’s important to remember, though, that this year, the Panthers have faced plenty of challenges as a club – let’s look at injuries. At various points throughout the season, players out included Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Viliame Kikau. Others like Dylan Edwards, Josh Mansour and Peter Wallace missed most of 2018.
These are some of the Panthers’ biggest strike weapons and key-position players.
Additionally, Penrith were interrupted by State of Origin this year, with their halves, Nathan Cleary and James Maloney, suiting up for the Blues.
(AAP Image/Michael Chambers)
When you take all this into account, it’s fair to say that it’s been a solid season for the Panthers.
But the big question, of course, is what would have happened had Griffin stayed coach and what impact did the coaching circus have on Penrith and their season?
I’ve said to many people throughout this year that Penrith are a club that I don’t like. But that has everything to do with the way they’re is administered and nothing to do with the players.
In fact, there are plenty of players at the Panthers that I am a big fan of, including Kikau, Campbell-Gillard, Cleary, Edwards, Mansour and Isaah Yeo.
I’m not sure Griffin was the right coach for the Panthers, but the more appropriate time to have made the decision to let him go would have been last year instead of making a decision to renew his contract.
It left a sour taste in my mouth to see a coach removed just five weeks out from the finals when the team was performing well.
Not only was the coach removed after fans had been assured otherwise earlier in the year, but then the Panthers made a play at Ivan Cleary and disrupted the season of the Wests Tigers (at a point where the Tigers still had a chance – albeit a slim one – of making the finals).
The next question becomes whether Cameron Ciraldo has done enough to earn himself a go at coaching the team full time.
Ciraldo was Griffin’s assistant and has been the caretaker coach for the Panthers since Griffin was removed.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
Whilst Ciraldo has done an admirable job, I know that teams tend to lift for caretaker coaches and I wonder whether he has done himself to earn himself a crack at the full-time gig – particularly since the Panthers signalled that Cleary was the man they were interested in.
Were the Panthers to offer Ciraldo a gig, I am of the view that it should be for one year and no longer.
There’s never an off-season when it comes to rugby league. And the Panthers are one club that have a couple of pretty significant decisions to make.
I just hope that whomever they appoint can progress the team past the semi-finals – otherwise I wonder how long that coach will last.
Doug Graves
Guest
The bottom line is that the Dogs have gotten away lightly over this whole schmozzle. A 250k fine is simply not good enough especially considering the Bulldogs have previous form in the area of bringing the game into disrepute. Stripping them of 4 points and a tacking on million dollar fine ought to send a powerfull message to all clubs that this sort of behaviour will no longer be tolerated nor dismissed as simply "boys will be boys". Stop being a witless apologist for unacceptable behaviour and NRL inaction.
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
Even Manly did that *whew*
The Barry
Roar Guru
They’re not at anything again...it’s the Telegraph milking the same old story for all it’s worth. The NRL has acted. 250K fine. Has any fine for off field misbehaviour come close? The Bulldogs would have been better off violently assaulting their partners than getting their todgers out in a private function...
Anna Falaktik
Guest
They did a damn sight better than Parramatta.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Fail IMO Mary. They've been building the last three years, but haven't improved their season results. I also look at how they finished after leading the comp and being faves just prior to Origin as well: they definitely fell away. They weren't playing at their best at the end of the year, which reinforces the fail mark. I don't think their injuries were that significant that they are a valid reason for ending the way they did. If that team played at their best, they should have gone at least one week deeper into finals.
Larry1950
Guest
Injuries? every club has injury disruptions & the club with supposedly Sydney's best junior nursery has to stop whinging. They had a few players in origin, so what, isn't that the aim. Storm, Broncos & roosters have had massive rep disruptions for years & this season had less impact with the stand alone origin game. My lot at the Broncos lost Gillett (best one on one right side defender in the comp), Bird, Kahu, McCullough, S'ua & a host of rookies plus Boyd played on one leg & I reckon their season was a fail. Maybe Gus doing all his swapping & sacking is the major factor but who at Penrith is ballsy enough to call him out? Cowboys last season showed what a depleted but committed squad can do if they're mentally tough so no excuses.
Wayne Turner
Guest
Success until Gould thought it was a smart decision to sack their coach a month before the semi's. That then meant they had no chance to win the comp this season. A dumb move.
Joe
Roar Rookie
I'd say its been a success. Sure the off field stuff has been a distraction but despite that they make the 2nd week of the finals and lose by 1 point. Sure they have the current NSW Origin halves but they lost their number 1 fullback and hooker and had to make adjustments. I think the major success though is in the number of players who have vastly improved their games and talent unearthed. Luai or May I think should play more 6 next year and partner Cleary and give Maloney a break. I thought in the backs DWZ and Waqa had their best seasons. In the forwards the likes of Kikau, Fisher-Harris, Heatherington and Leota all had their best seasons. These guys outshone the more experienced and likely higher paid forwards like Merrin and Tamou. I think if they build on that they will have one of the best packs in the comp next year.
Doug Graves
Guest
Any year a team makes week 2 of the finals they can't really be considered a failure. If Penrith fans are having a sook over it, again, ignore them they don't know how lucky they are. Anyway, forget about the Panthers, looks like the Dogs are at it again: https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/bulldogs-stars-reportedly-accused-of-unsavoury-act-nrls-crazy-rule-change-consequence/news-story/c91284557ab154c00f0dc6a3a8d90524 Just what will it take for the NRL to act? Surely it's time for the NRL to dock the Bulldogs points from next seasons comp for bringing the game into disrepute?
Albo
Roar Rookie
Plus , you can't give every opposition team a 2 or 3 try start each match by having a terrible defender on the left edge of your defence. Maloney must fix his defence or be moved on. Give me Edwards, Luai, Cleary & Egan as the spine next season and I will be happy.
14-12
Guest
Penrith's issue is simple - play for 80 minutes. If they were switched on for entire games, they'd never lose.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
Mary you make several references to Penrith going after Cleary - I may be wrong but I am not sure we actually have any evidence of that. The positives for Penrith are a year of development for the likes of Cleary, Kikau etc. who both still have a way to go to beocme complete players in their positions. Watene - Zelezniak showed he is a better fullback than winger, but needs to continue to develop ball skills. And their fringe players are getting better and better. Hetherington, Ellis, Martin and even Burns have tonnes of promise and would have played more first grade at most other clubs. Egan has gained experience. He is an excellent defender,has a quick pass release and has to come in for Katoa, who is too indecisive. So to be building and still be so compeitive, is pretty impressive. Random Penrith stat; In the first 8 rounds when the refs were going penalty crazy, James Maloney got pealised just twice. Then the league wide penalty frenzy wore off a little and in the next 14 games Maloney played, he got penalised 19 times...
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Scared ? Someone forgot to tell Valentine Holmes to ‘fear up’ when he went for the high risk dribble kick off,with the 3 best defenders in the club watching from the bench and a tsunami tide of momentum looming large..you smell fear there ? 3 games 3 wins all things considered,if I can quote spiritual leader Wade Graham ‘not good enough,bro..’
Robert Szemeti
Roar Rookie
Love the effort in their comebacks, i was at the manly game, and watched as kikau blake and cleary tore the tired manly defence apart in the space of 7 mins Its happened all season, but the trick was never to do this at the last 15mins of each game, but to stick out the first half, and not give up a massive lead, and save all the energy for a full 2nd half of points There have been games this year where the riff have not given up starts and gone away to win the game, just the memorable games are the last quarter comebacks Way too many threads and news topics on penriths potential, and what could be better, howabout celebrate another year of finals and an extremely close finals this year where the top 8 finished between 32-34 points, even with the instability of referees descions and rule changes mid season. Had penrith won a game more or 2 the ladder would have them resting a week through the finals, and 1 point loss to a very smart, experienced and tough sharks team, who already beat them twice this year, to me speaks volumes, as i witnessed a very scared, and injury riddled sharks side when penrith locked up at 20 all Penriths last few plays were atrocious, but they seemed to be going for a try not a field goal, all except for Cleary efforts
The Barry
Roar Guru
I don’t think they would have done any better or worse if they had kept Griffin on until the end of the season. Things didn’t change markedly onexway or the other. I think overall the season is a fail. They had injuries. Most teams do. But with hindsight they had a pretty easy draw as well. They played most of the teams in the bottom half of the ladder twice and most of the teams in the top half of the ladder once. They should have done better than fifth with the draw they had. They have a talented roster and can match it with any team on their day. The slow starts and big leads they give up are an issue. The other concern is the regular turnover of players. We get the “building for the future” line and then all of a sudden there’s a mass clear out of players and the rebuild starts again with the next generation. I guess they’re in an unrivalled position to be able to do that but at some stage the focus needs to be on winning a comp this year and not in 3-5 years time. Great team to watch though. Kikau and JFH are two of my favourite players. Then the talent of guys like Mansour, Blake, DWZ, Edwards, Cleary, Maloney, Yeo, RCG make up what should be a highly competitive roster.
Matt
Guest
Short answer, bith success and failure. Success for making the 8 amidst the turmoil and failure for being so poorly run. Gould is the biggest handicap this team has.