The Penrith Panthers have played the role of party-spoilers in this year’s Return to Redfern clash. It was an extremely scrappy affair – no doubt due to a combination of early-season rustiness from the players and the atrocious conditions in which the game was played.
Despite the negative result, South Sydney will take plenty out of this game, including the emergence of Dean Hawkins who was absolutely superb in a losing side. Hawkins showed plenty of composure and class at the back end of sets of six, forcing several drop-outs for his side.
The Rabbitohs will also take confidence out of the fact that they looked dangerous when they had their top-line players on the field.
Cody Walker and Damien Cook both played well in limited minutes, and Alex Johnston looks a more-than-capable replacement for Greg Inglis at the back should the big man go down injured at some point this year.
For Penrith, Dylan Edwards has given coach Ivan Cleary plenty to think about with regards to the fullback position.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak made the position his own at the back end of last year, and captained New Zealand at fullback in the end-of-year Test matches. However it may be better for team balance to reinstate Edwards as fullback and shift Watene-Zelezniak to the wing where he has played most of his career.
Jarome Luai will also be giving Ivan Cleary some selection headaches when it comes to the halves. Obviously James Maloney and Nathan Cleary will be the first-choice pair. But if they fail to fire, coach Ivan has a readymade replacement in Luai waiting in the wings. It’s a very good position to be in.
Finally for Penrith, Hame Sele has surely put his hand up for a bench spot. Having been in and out of first-grade for the last two years at St George Illawarra, Sele looks set for a bit of a break-out year with a big showing today. Every time he touched the ball he ran with gusto, and made no errors on a day where errors were aplenty.
Too much shouldn’t be made of the scoreline of this game. Both sides used fringe players for the bulk of the game – the scoreline is not indicative of Penrith dominance, nor does it suggest a South Sydney form slump.
The Panthers will no doubt be very happy to walk away from Redfern with the win. However, it’s safe to assume there will be plenty of ball-handling sessions at both Penrith and South Sydney training this week – neither Wayne Bennett nor Ivan Cleary will be happy with today’s error count.
Rabbitohs 8
Panthers 28
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