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Panthers
9
Match Complete
Wests Tigers
8
| N. Cleary |  | 84 | ||
| N. Cleary |  | 79 | ||
| D. Edwards |  | 78 | ||
| 50 | | R. Matterson | ||
| 30 | | C. Thompson | ||
| N. Cleary |  | 14 |
| 1 | Tries | 2 | ||
| 1 | Conversions | 0 | ||
| 1 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
| 1 | Field Goals | 0 |
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Talk about a match that no one deserved to win! Through the sheer brilliance of Nathan Cleary, the Panthers have managed to come away with the unlikeliest of wins which included a 79th minute try, a sideline conversion after the fulltime siren and a field goal from 40m out.
The Tigers will be absolutely filthy with themselves as they had an unbelievable amount of chances to win this game.
They missed two field goal attempts – one each to Josh Reynolds and Luke Brooks – and dropped the ball a few plays before they were almost certainly going to be in position for a third shot.
Esan Marsters also failed to land any of his three shots at goal throughout the game, including a penalty from right in front of the posts.
His other two shots at goal were not overly difficult either – most kickers in the NRL would have at least slotted one.
This was probably the scrappiest game of the season so far. The last 20 minutes in particular were an absolute comedy of errors.
The Tigers completed at 78 per cent, with many of their errors coming at the back end of the game, while the Panthers completed just 60! That is atrocious! It’s extremely rare in the NRL for a side to win with a completion rate of less than 80.
Aside from the try to Dylan Edwards in the 79th minute, the Panthers showed nothing in attack. Despite his late-game heroics, Cleary was actually quite poor along with his partner James Maloney.
Both failed to direct their side around the park for the majority of the game as the Panthers came up with some ordinary plays at the end of many sets of six.
The Tigers were scrappy too, but showed plenty more than their opposites did in attack. Josh Reynolds, in particular, showed that he belongs at this level, with his short kicks leading to the Tigers’ only two tries to Corey Thompson and Ryan Matterson. Coach Michael McGuire simply must find room for Reynolds in his side. He’s far too good for reserve grade.
For the Panthers, fullback Dylan Edwards looked nervous fielding kicks – so much so that he was moved to the wing and replaced at fullback by Dallin Watene-Zelezniak midway through the game.
The returning Viliame Kikau looked dangerous at times, but also looked like he hasn’t fully recovered from his knee injury.
Neither coach will be happy with their side’s performance. But one coach will be happy with the result and that’s Ivan Cleary.
After a week spent in the headlines, he will be glad to go into next week under significantly less pressure than the week before.
But make no mistake – both sides have plenty to do to improve for next week. A bit of Cleary brilliance at the death should not get the Panthers off the hook for some extremely hard training this week.
Final score
Penrith Panthers 9
Wests Tigers 8
Friday night will see the battle of the big cats take place, with the Wests Tigers travelling out to Penrith to take on a Panthers side that has not scored a try in the last 115 minutes of football. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog from 8:05pm AEDT.
The Panthers have started the year with a 1-2 win-loss record, while the Tigers are 2-1. Both sides are coming off losses, with the Tigers rather unexpectedly losing to the Bulldogs while the Panthers were defeated in Bathurst by the Storm.
The Panthers are boosted by the huge inclusion of destructive Fijian back-rower Viliame Kikau, who will play his first game for the Panthers this year after starting the season injured.
Many times last year Kikau was the difference between winning and losing for the Panthers. He offers a serious point of attack for Penrith out on the left edge, and is often simply impossible to stop.
The Panthers faithful will be hoping that his inclusion in the side will kick-start their season, and give the Panthers the go-forward they need to score points.
For the Tigers, they will welcome last year’s marquee recruit Josh Reynolds to the side for the first time in 2019, although his inclusion comes as a result of Benji Marshall straining his hamstring in the loss to the Bulldogs last Sunday.
Reynolds’ career has stalled at the Tigers. Despite being on big money, he has found plenty of injuries at inopportune times, and has not been able to nail down a spot in the Tigers’ top 17.
He’s been killing it in the Canterbury Cup though, and will look to make the most of this rare opportunity in first grade to impress coach Michael McGuire, and show him why he deserves to be in his top 17.
The other major talking point leading into this game is Panthers coach Ivan Cleary. While the Panthers won’t be hung up on it, there are certainly those in the Tigers’ camp who are dirty on the way the elder Cleary left the club with several years left on his contract.
No doubt the Tigers will use the Cleary factor as extra motivation for the win – they will want to show their ex-coach why he erred in walking out on the club by putting his new team to the sword.
Prediction
The inclusion of Kikau is huge for the Panthers. His go-forward will give halves Maloney and Nathan Cleary plenty of space in which to weave their magic.
Maloney and Cleary have been quiet to start the season. But make no mistake – both are class players, and are due to bounce back soon.
Playing behind a beaten forward pack does not make their job any easier, and Kikau’s return will get the Panthers on the front foot.
For the Tigers, I get the sense that Josh Reynolds’ inclusion at 6 could disrupt their attack. While this will revolve largely around the experienced Robbie Farah and halfback Luke Brooks, Reynolds is the sort of player who likes high involvement.
There’s a risk this could lead to him getting in the way of Farah and Brooks a bit.
The Panthers were very disappointing against Melbourne, as were the Tigers against Canterbury. But the Panthers’ home crowd, as well as the return of Kikau should see Penrith defeat the Tigers without Benji Marshall in a tight contest.
Panthers by 6
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 8:05pm AEDT.
Where: Panthers Stadium, Penrith
When: 8:05pm
TV: Channel 9, Fox Sports
Streaming: Kayo Sports, NRL Digital Pass
Panthers
1 Dylan Edwards 2 Josh Mansour 3 Dean Whare 4 Waqa Blake 5 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 6 James Maloney 7 Nathan Cleary 8 James Tamou 9 Sione Katoa 10 Reagan Campbell-Gillard 11 Viliame Kikau 12 Isaah Yeo 13 James Fisher-Harris.
Interchange: 14 Wayde Egan 15 Frank Winterstein 16 Moses Leota 17 Hame Sele.
Reserves: 18 Liam Martin 19 Tim Grant 20 Jarome Luai 21 Malakai Watene-Zelezniak.
Tigers
1 Moses Mbye 2 Mahe Fonua 3 Robert Jennings 4 Esan Marsters 5 Corey Thompson 6 Josh Reynolds 7 Luke Brooks 8 Ben Matulino 9 Robbie Farah 10 Alex Twal 11 Ryan Matterson 12 Luke Garner 13 Elijah Taylor.
Interchange: 14 Russell Packer 15 Thomas Mikaele 16 Josh Aloiai 17 Michael Chee-Kam.
Reserves: 18 Paul Momirovski 19 Matt Eisenhuth 20 Robbie Rochow 21 Chris McQueen.
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