Penrith have changed the game in more ways than one. From individual positions, to connection with area, to commitment to club and self. I could go on about it for hours
For some reason I’ve always kinda liked Penrith despite how dominant they’ve been. As a tigers fan it’s been nice to get 2 wins against them in this dynasty era.But hopefully the tigers one day can be the best western Sydney cat
My ideal situation for Rugby League would be both clubs being powerhouses. The youth of Penrith v the youth of Campbelltown. That rivalry between the big cats has the potential to be enormous
Panthers fan here, and I'd be really pleased to see the Tigers climb the ladder in the next few years. The doggies did it this year, so maybe '25 or '26 for the Tigez.
Another remarkable achievement of the Panthers over the past 5 years is that they have conquered the Blacktown area which used to be firm Eels territory. As someone that lives in the area, I have not seen anyone wearing Eels merch in a long time. The Panthers are now very popular particularly with young people, and I believe this also may be influenced by the fact that several Panthers players went to school in Patrician Brothers College which is in Blacktown.
Great video again. Can’t wait for your takes on the (no) try situation. I mean, in the modern era, there is little discussion to be had I reckon. Of course, it is hard to compare this team and era with earlier teams. The Dragons mastered an 11peat. But the game and context was completely different back than. No limited tackles and outside 10, penalty and field goals were relatively more valuable in terms of points and therefore a more frequent option. The scrum was still highly contested. And besides that, of course no equalisation measures such as the Salary Cap were in place. Panthers remind me of Guardiola’s Barcelona or the modern KC Chiefs in the NFL. Brilliant individual talent but it is their game plan, tactics, organisation and style of football that make them superior. The confidence they play with is enormous because of that.
Guardiola’s barca are a really good comparison. In fact, so are his Man City I feel. They’re not teams who have the goal of winning - they’re teams who have the expectation of winning. To do anything less is to let themselves and each other down.
Back when you were only about 1 year old, when the Pan-ferz won the 2003 premiership, I remember the talk being essentially about their "system". That the still mostly youthful team had come through the grades together, sweeping all before them, to the point that winning was just what happened for the most part. It obviously didn't last back then. I'm in awe of how it's all working now. It was definitely not a pretty grand final, but holy moly it was effective. It's a shame about the extra tonal shift that's out there regarding a few of the decisions which are being called controversial. Not sure Turuva grounded the ball for his try, and I'm hazy on the rule regarding Sorenson's catch over the sideline (with his foot being raised). I look forward to your take on the no-try ruling.
There was a story brought up after the gf win that I thought reflected their mindset on their brilliant run these 4 years. 2 days after the 2020 gf lost, James Fisher-Harris was already back in the gym, already having his mindset on winning the next gf the following year. After the other players on the roster saw this, the gradually joined up with him and eventually the whole team was training. There is usually a one week break a year for nrl players and that is usually after the gf is finished, but this team disregarded that and went back to training straight away. The commitment and mindset the panthers put themselves to is one of the many reason why they have been so successful and didn’t end up like the broncos this year. Like you said, we will one day reflect on the days that such a dominant side not only be the most successful side in the modern era, but be an example of what a team, a structure and a development system should be.
Don't mistake dying with the ball on 5th inside the storm 10 as a bad last play. Its almost better than the drop out these days. Penrith are happy to do that all day. Gave the storm the ball right where they wanted them to have it.
That’s a very fair comment, especially in the context of the new drop out rule. I got the sense though that a lot of those fifth tackle options in attack were just throwing the ball around hoping for something to click. Could well have been as you say though
@@TheLeaguie Yeah it's a fair point, I would say Penrith have always had a bit of that in their game it's not all set plays. And credit to storm as they defended well for large parts of the game! I've watched most of Penrith games during this era, and they have always had that sort of park footy approach, which can get messy and chaotic, sometimes it doesn't come off, but then again sometimes it leads to magic, Luai switching the ball back to the other side of the ruck for Cleary to put Martin in looked pretty off the cuff right on half time. Luai in particular is great at that unstructured football, he just starts crabbing and changing directions, committing players to come forward to try and tackle him, this with the offloads and constantly turning players under, just works the opposition middles so hard over 80 minutes. Even when it ends in a ugly last play, they have still won field position a lot of the time and the opposition is about to hate getting out of their 10. It's got to be so demoralising. I love watching this team, to me it's like Dutch total football! they are so good at it!
Started watching nrl at about 13 in 2021... still yet to see a premiership team that isn't Penrith. I respect the greatness they've achieved but I'm really getting sick of them winning Grand Finals.
