NRL 2021: Panthers v Rabbitohs Round 11, Damien Cook loses grip on NSW spot
The Panthers are travelling so well that they could conceivably have half the NSW starting side for the opening Origin, including a player who was playing NSW Cup only two months ago.
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Damien Cook’s previously lock-tight grip on the NSW No 9 jumper must be feeling increasingly shaky going into this Saturday’s showdown with Parramatta — and the man most likely to be playing dummy half for Queensland, Reed Mahoney.
Playing behind a pack that was well and truly humiliated in Dubbo, Cook certainly didn’t cover himself in glory in the 56-12 annihilation Souths copped off Penrith.
The man regarded as the NRL’s most explosive dummy half finished the 80 minutes without a single running metre, while his service from dummy half left just about everyone scratching their head.
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The big story going into the top four showdown was whether it would be Jarome Luai or Cody Walker who stood up to stake their claim to be Nathan Cleary’s halves partner for NSW this year.
But a growing debate emerging on Sunday night was whether Api Koroisau had done enough to be now challenging Cook for the Blues starting dummy half spot.
While Koroisau was hardly a standout in Penrith’s nine-tries-to-two humiliation — in which young sensation Matt Burton scored a hat-trick in front of his home crowd while Nathan Cleary produced another masterclass along with racing in two tries — Cook really had an afternoon to forget.
And you’d think he is going to need a much improved effort when he comes up against Mahoney and the Eels this weekend.
Meanwhile, Luai has surely all but secured the NSW No 6 jumper while Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin have all done their chances no harm.
In particular, Yeo would have to be firming as the starting lock with Cam Murray and Victor Radley most likely out of the equation.
With Radley facing a suspension for his brain snaps on Saturday night, Wayne Bennett confirmed Murray (ankle) was only an outside chance to play against the Eels — and Bennett said if he doesn’t take the field he won’t be playing for NSW.
IS BURTON A BOLTER?
It would be a meteoric rise few would have imagined possible at the start of this season when Burton’s management and the Bulldogs were pushing to get the youngster a release from the final year of his contract.
But even with Latrell Mitchell still the raging hot favourite to win that left centre spot for NSW, the way Burton is developing on that left edge with Luai you can only wonder how long it will be before this 21-year-old’s career goes to that next level.
Because no matter what the situation, Burton just makes it look easy with a mix of speed and skill, power, height, anticipation and a calmness that defies his age.
With an injury cloud hanging over Ryan Papenhuyzen (still recovering from that awful concussion suffered when he was ironed out by St George Illawarra’s Tyrell Fuimaono), the Blues have the likes of Walker, Jack Wighton and Clint Gutherson all more than capable of doing a great job for NSW off the bench.
It might be too soon to throw Burton’s name into that equation, but the role he’s playing with Cleary and Luai surely creates a left edge alternative for Fittler.
LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
The ease with which the Panthers rolled through the Rabbitohs once again showed how hard it is going to be to stop this juggernaut in 2021.
Back in round nine the Bunnies were humiliated 50-0 by Melbourne. But this performance was every bit, if not more, concerning given Souths had Mitchell and Campbell Graham back from injury with their only casualty Murray.
But from the opening whistle it was a one-sided magic show as Cleary pulled the strings and Burton just tore them to pieces on the same ground where his footballing dreams were born.
By halftime the Panthers had raced in five-tries-to-one and the way they dominated the Bunnies you wouldn’t have known both teams came into this game ranked as genuine contenders.
It was just an astonishing mix of skill and speed, execution and energy. Almost everything they attempted came off like it was a training run, whereas Souths just couldn’t do a thing right.
Greg Alexander said it perfectly on Fox League: “They are playing a different game to what most of the competition is”.
BUNNIES EMBARRASSING
The ease with which the Panthers rolled through the Rabbitohs once again showed how hard it is going to be to stop this juggernaut in 2021.
But what does it mean for Souths?
Back in round nine the Bunnies were humiliated 50-0 by Melbourne. And this performance was probably more concerning given Souths had Mitchell and Campbell Graham back from injury with their only casualty their star lock Murray.
“The bottom line is we played the top two teams in the last three weeks and they have beaten us by 50 points, both of them, so we have got some issues,” Bennett conceded.
They gave up cheap penalties, their defence was really patchy, they didn’t take their opportunities when they were presented and they gave Penrith a rails run to hand them a complete and utter humiliation.
There was a period in the first half where Souths were attacking the Panthers’ line midway and Adam Reynolds and Walker just went missing, and their attack looked like it belonged to the Bulldogs.
Bennett was asked post match why he never injected Benji Marshall into the match.
He responded: “I wasn’t going to embarrass him.”
Originally published as NRL 2021: Panthers v Rabbitohs Round 11, Damien Cook loses grip on NSW spot
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