Penrith ace Dylan Edwards has revealed he is driven by a desire to beat out his rival No.1 after adding Tom Trbojevic to the list of fullbacks he has out-gunned this year.
Edwards bagged four tries in the Panthers’ win over Manly on Saturday night, busting through 13 tackles in one of the most dominant individual performances of this year.
The fullback has also routinely risen to the occasion against South Sydney and Latrell Mitchell, starring against them in finals matches and playing well in the round-two win over the Rabbitohs this year.
He will meet the NRL’s next up-and-coming star No.1 this weekend, in the biggest test of Newcastle fullback Lachlan Miller’s career to date.
(Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Edwards said he did not have a chip on his shoulder against big-name No.1s, as suggested by coach Ivan Cleary on Saturday night, but made a point to win his positional battle.
“You always want to play better than your opposite number,” Edwards said.
“If all the players in your side play better, then you are likely going to get the result. So you do want to have an impact on the game more than your opposite.
“Tommy is a class player, so it is hard to do that sometimes. We had a good result and that is the main thing.”
Edwards won’t allow himself to believe he belongs in the same category as the likes of Trbojevic, Mitchell and James Tedesco, but in reality he is not far off.
The Penrith custodian is the first two-time premiership-winning fullback since Parramatta’s Paul Taylor in the 1980s to have never represented his state or country.
If Tedesco was unavailable for Origin I, Blues coach Brad Fittler could look to use Edwards at the back with Trbojevic and Mitchell remaining in the centres where they have thrived against Queensland in the past.
“I don’t think about that kind of superstar rankings or anything like that,” Edwards said. “It’s easy to stay level-headed out here. If anyone doesn’t, everyone brings them back down.
“I don’t think of myself as a superstar of the game or anything.”
Nor does Edwards find it easy to compare himself to other fullbacks in his style of game, which has become perfectly suited to Penrith’s run of dominance.
“I get through a bit of work, where Latrell has that x-factor and flair. Every fullback is different (according) to what their team needs,” Edwards said.
“I work well with my team which is good and important to me. It’s hard to compare myself to other fullbacks. If you look at it, everyone is different.
“I get through a bit of work, but at the moment I don’t quite have that ball-playing ability like a Latrell or a Teddy (Tedesco).
“Teddy is probably that perfect mix. He has that class about him and gets through a tonne of work as well.”
South Sydney’s Jed Cartwright says he will be forever indebted to Wayne Bennett for helping revive his career, as the second-rower prepares to face his old coach for the first time.
Three days out from the Bunnies’ blockbuster with the Dolphins, Souths players were adamant on Monday they would not get involved in mind games with the wily Bennett.
But there is a healthy respect for what the master coach did for the club and his successor in the Redfern hotseat Jason Demetriou.
The vast majority of South Sydney’s squad played under Bennett in his three years at the Rabbitohs, who reached the grand final under the now-Dolphins mentor in 2021.
Cartwright is one of several players taken to Redfern by Bennett. His career had been stalling at the age of 23, with only one first-grade game to his name at Penrith by mid-2020.
“Wayne, he was massive,” Cartwright said. “He’s been big for a lot of players’ careers. I will be forever thankful for Wayne. He focuses on you as a person and that helps your football, big time.
Cartwright said under Bennett at South Sydney he was able to get his body right for the first time in years.
“I was coming to the end of my contract at Penrith, and both clubs came to an agreement it would be better if I came straight away,” Cartwright said.
“I just had a lot of injuries. I never got a chance to play football.
“I came here and they delved deeper into my body and had me take time off football when I got here. We got to the bottom of my injuries and fixed it.
“Having that support has been the biggest factor in me playing regular first grade.”
Prop Davvy Moale played only one game under Bennett when he debuted for Souths in 2021, but said time in the club’s Queensland COVID-19 hub with the coach had left its mark.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
“I have a massive amount of respect for him as a person and coach,” Moale said. “What he taught me, I will never forget.
“It was an amazing opportunity to debut under him. He definitely helped me through the fundamentals.
“I have a good personal relationship with JD (Demetriou) now, and he has helped me improve my game every week too.”
Souths players have seen first hand how Bennett has been able to get into the minds of opponents, with their former coach now working his magic in the Dolphins’ unexpected run to fourth on the NRL ladder.
But they said they will not enter into any mind games with the wily 73-year-old, or tune-in to comments from him as Thursday’s game approaches.
“Wayne, mind games? Never,” Cartwright quipped.
“Everyone will just focus on themselves and the job at hand and leave all that stuff behind us.”
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