Panthers under 20s will try to stretch their unbeaten run to 17 games against the Warriors
AS CRONULLA chase a club record 16th straight victory in the NRL, Penrith’s Holden Cup team will try and stretch their own amazing unbeaten run to 17.
AS CRONULLA chase a club record 16th straight NRL victory, Penrith’s Holden Cup team will try and stretch their own amazing unbeaten run to 17.
The young Panthers dropped their first game 36-34 against Canberra, but won their next 13 — including a few by more than 50 points — drew with Cronulla, then got the cash again at their next two starts.
The TAB has listed Penrith at the ultra-skinny $1.33 to continue their remarkable streak at Mount Smart Stadium against the New Zealand Warriors.
Similar to the depth with the NRL squad, Penrith’s Holden Cup team will take on the Warriors with up to 20 players ineligible for selection for various reasons.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo, who guided the under-20s powerhouse to premiership glory last year, said the streak would count for nothing if they could not be there on grand final day.
Ciraldo told The Saturday Telegraph Panthers supremo Phil Gould had a simple brief when it came to grooming the Generation Next Panthers.
“When Gus gave me this job, he always spoke about developing players, not results, and to make sure these guys had a pathway to the NRL,’’ Ciraldo said.
“Any coach would rather be there on grand final day and winning, rather than any streak.
“There are no medals for how long a streak is.
“But I have been really proud of the way they’ve performed this year, and it’s not like we haven’t had things to overcome during that time. The past month alone we’ve had up to 15 to 20 players unavailable for selection.
“Our strength has been the blokes who have come in and done a really good job. We haven’t been at our best some weeks, but the effort that has gone in has got us home a lot of the time.’’
Penrith is regarded as rugby league’s biggest heartland, so it makes sense they regularly blitz the junior grades.
But it’s only now, with Gould and his offsider Jim Jones running the recruitment, they have been able to protect their kids from being poached by rivals.
Ciraldo said there were no shortage of young guns destined for the NRL, with Dylan Edwards, who made his NRL debut against the Sharks earlier this month, Junior Kangaroo Tyrone May and Junior Blues Oliver Clark just some of the names to keep an eye out for.
Nathan Cleary also started the year in the Holden Cup before he went on to make the Panthers No. 7 jumper in his own in the top flight.
“The thing with Nathan is how hard he worked over the pre-season, he was only an 18-year-old kid, but how hard he worked in the gym is the reason he’s now been able to push himself and hold his gloves up in first grade,’’ Ciraldo said.
Originally published as Panthers under 20s will try to stretch their unbeaten run to 17 games against the Warriors