The well of confidence runs deep at the foot of the mountains, even if it was tested to the limit in Sunday night’s epic Grand Final.
Penrith’s shy and retiring five eighth was on the bench with a shoulder injury to observe the Nathan Cleary-inspired turnaround that delivered a third straight Premiership to the Panthers, and was quick to label hiis side the greatest of the NRL era on the back of the stunning comeback.
“The resume speaks for itself,’ he said. “No other team has done this. Hate us, love us, nobody can argue with that. We’re just getting started.
“It’s what winners do. Winner win and we’ve got a lot of them in our team. We’re going to continue to strive for that, but that’s a while away. It’s time to party.”
From the bench, he displayed how deep the faith went, revealing the conversation between himself and 18th man Tyrone Peachey.
“We spoke on the bench saying ‘do you believe?’,” said Luai.
“I was speaking to Peach and I don’t think anyone else gave us a chance, down by 16 points with 20 minutes to, Broncos on fire.
“But we’ve got that number 7 in the team. You can’t count him out. He’s the best player in the world, full stop.
“We’re a team that you can never count out. We’ve shown it many times when we’ve been down and we’ve always fought back. Me and Peach had belief on the bench, but I don’t think anyone else did.
“It’s the worst feeling (watching on), but knowing what kind of team you have and what players you play with every week, you never count them out.”
Luai was withdrawn with a shoulder injury, a recurrence of the problem that kept him out for the run-in in the regular season.
“It’s a lot better than if we’d lost,” he said in the sheds of the pain. “There was a tackle towards the end of the first half where it went numb. At half time I got needles, painkillers, and gave all I can give to finish it off.
“It wasn’t that bad last week and I didn’t have to needle it, but this was a bit different.”
He will now look to play for Samoa – assuming his shoulder can be managed – and begin discussions on a new contract – though he was quick to point out that it wasn’t his priority for the next few days.
“It’s success or family,’ he said of his motivations. “That’s the two more reasons. The decision is coming up, but it’s not for now. It’s time to party.”
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
I haven't had the chance to look at that article properly, but I will, and I'll respond. I appreciate you posting it.
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/the-data-that-shows-six-agains-being-used-to-even-up-nrl-games-20210818-p58jru.html and other articles about evening up SOO esp Harrigan and Hayne and If you look at the NRLs Rules & Interpretations policy document, Annesley's own cover letter confirms that the role of NRL referees is not simply to be neutral arbiters of the game: -" Telstra Premiership match officials have a responsibility to contribute to the game as a spectacle for the benefit of all stakeholders." -"Match officials are not only required to adjudicate on the laws of the game, they must also ensure each participating team is provided with equal opportunity to determine the outcome by finding the right balance between enforcement of the rules, and contributing to the game as a spectacle without unwarranted intervention:"
jimmy jones
Roar Rookie
Next time check yr 'brain is in gear' before typing
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
So, you don't have a link.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Smith's comment in the wake of McKinnon's injury, however, is the perfect example of how he is prepared to blatantly lie to try to get the best possible outcome for his team. Masters commenting without being specific enough to be sued, along with others sharing his opinions, is still not actual evidence. Do you have the link to the article?
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
2021 "rules" and a " handover will be ordered when a player does not make a genuine attempt to play the ball correctly with their foot. " Edwards never motioned his foot towards the ball but rolled it back as in training
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Type in 2020 NRL rule interpretations and on front page it drops a very big hint
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
McKinnon has nothing to do with this - other RL people agree with me that evening up has been going on for years - "probably.... writing conjecture" Masters wrote many columns alluding to evening up (esp before renewal of TV rights - I assume as a bargaining chip and he was never sued) and Warren Ryan spoke of it as well and Masters claims a coach agrees with him - I'm assuming Bellamy since Masters is a frequent visitor to Storm training
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Where is this in the interpreations? it means anything goes and its up to the ref which means a game can hang on an interpretation. Wonderful
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Penrith have proved their are a great team. But the strongest I've seen would include Parra 83, Canberra 94, Brisbane 98, Canterbury 2004, Melbourne 2017, and Easts 2019. Whether Penrith are better than those teams is pure speculation.
Albo
Roar Rookie
There is plenty of them in Canberra ! :silly:
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
From the sounds of things, Luai is very well regarded by those who know him, but has a long way to go to get similar sentiment from those who don't. If he couldn't be bothered trying to reform his public image, that's on him, but things seem to be working out fine as they currently stand.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
The Bulldogs almost got a three-peat immediately after the Eels, but the rest of your points stands.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Do you have a link to those instructions? Because if you don't, your only evidence is the words of a columnist who probably stated that he was writing conjecture and not facts, and a player with obvious vested interests who was talking off the cuff at the time. If you want to determine that that player has the werewithal to come to such conclusions, you probably should consider his remarks to the referee immediately following the Alex McKinnon tackle in 2014.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
He won't have any swagger without his homies
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Self-belief is a desirable trait and a little arrogance isn’t the worst thing in the world. Its his natural self that is the cringeworthy part – he is in awe of himself for how big a deal he is and lacks genuine sportsmanship. A first class twit with bo sense of humility. He does his community service hours. Yep the kid loves him.
Robbo
Roar Rookie
Well let's hope to see more of that then and less self absorbed showing off
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
So no decisions at all to Broncos in last 20 minutes - is this a record? As Cameron Smith in a GF, his last game, said to Sutton as Storm were under pressure at game end and hanging on - "Ï know you want a close finish" and as Roy Masters has written often in SMH, the networks want a close game to keep neutrals watching. The refs were even told in pre-season instructions to adjudicate to make sure they keep in mind the needs of all stakeholders - including one would assume the network paying hundreds of millions Of $$
Albo
Roar Rookie
Maybe you should check out the video on this site with Luai and his young mate after the match ? Not too much polarising going on there.
matth
Roar Guru
Exactly. but also amazing execution from Penrith under fatigue in that last 20 minutes. One mistake and it would have been all over, but they did literally everything right from the 57th minute.