Crawley Files: The team each top 8 side wants to avoid, Dylan Edwards in mix for Dally M Medal
Even the best teams have their bogey sides, and their bunnies. Find out which team in the top eight has the best and worst record against rivals jostling for finals spots.
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Which team would you least like to face come finals time?
Even the best teams have their bogey sides, and their bunnies.
Here we have the best and worst recent runs of the current top eight teams against top eight rivals, as they jockey for positions with three rounds of the regular season to play.
PANTHERS
Currently: 1st.
Run home: Rabbitohs, Warriors, Cowboys
Bogey: EELS
A tremendous recent record against most teams with the exception of Parramatta and Melbourne. The Eels have beaten the Panthers both times this season and on three occasions since 2020. The Storm have also beaten the Panthers three times since 2020 (although in that period the Panthers have won four against Storm).
Bunny: ROOSTERS
Won six straight against the Roosters and four straight against both the Cowboys and Broncos, five of six against Sharks, seven of eight against Bunnies.
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COWBOYS
Currently: 2nd
Run home: Warriors, Rabbitohs, Panthers
Bogey: SHARKS
Have a shocking record against most top eight competitors given they were going terribly prior to this season. Worst case scenario is the Sharks who have nine straight wins against the Cowboys. They’ve lost six straight against the Rabbitohs (their last win being in 2017), five straight against the Roosters (all by 14 points or more), and four straight against the Panthers. They did beat Melbourne in their last game but lost 12 prior to that.
Bunny: BRONCOS
Won four of past six against their Queensland rivals the Broncos, and three of five against the Eels. Will be absolutely sweating on finishing top two to get a home.
SHARKS
Currently: 3rd
Run home: Sea Eagles, Bulldogs, Knights
Bogey: ROOSTERS
Haven’t beaten Roosters since 2017, losing seven straight, while going down in five of past six against Panthers. Did beat Melbourne last start but it was Origin affected, and prior the Storm won five in a row. Lost four of last six against Souths.
Bunny: COWBOYS
Eight consecutive wins against Cowboys, two from their last four against Broncos (lost six prior to that) and while they did beat Eels last game the Sharks have lost three of five in their recent run against Parramatta.
STORM
Currently: 4th
Run home: Broncos, Roosters, Eels
Bogey: EELS
Hard to believe but the team that goes up and down like a yo yo have an outstanding record against both the Panthers and the Storm. The Eels have won four of their last five against the Storm and that includes last three straight. The Storm have also lost four of their last seven against the Panthers.
Bunny: BRONCOS
Won 11 straight against Brisbane, five straight against the Roosters, seven of eight against Bunnies (who have never beaten the Storm at home) and five of six against the Sharks.
RABBITOHS
Currently: 5th
Run home: Panthers, Cowboys, Roosters
Bogey: PANTHERS and STORM
Lost six of last eight against both Panthers and Storm, while against the Broncos have three wins from last six but that includes two losses this season.
Bunny: EELS
Won six from six against both Eels and Cowboys, but against Parra average a 35-11 winning margin. Also have a great record against the Roosters with four straight wins including two by 40 plus points, and are currently four wins from seven against Sharks.
BRONCOS
Currently: 6th
Run home: Storm, Eels, Dragons
Bogey: STORM
Talk about a bogey team, the Broncos have lost 11 straight against the Storm, while four straight against the Panthers, five of six against the Eels and Roosters, and four of six against the Cowboys.
Bunny: RABBITOHS
Given the Broncos’ run in recent seasons, they don’t have great form against any side, let alone the best teams. At least they hold their own against the Bunnies with three wins from their last six, and two from four against the Sharks.
EELS
Currently: 7th
Run home: Bulldogs, Broncos, Storm
Bogey: RABBITOHS
Lost six in a row against Rabbitohs and six of eight against Roosters.
Bunny: BRONCOS
Won five of last six against Broncos, four of five against Storm and three of five against both the Cowboys and Sharks. While they have won their last two against Panthers they did lose four of five before that.
ROOSTERS
Currently: 8th
Run home: Tigers, Storm, Rabbitohs
Bogey: PANTHERS
Lost six in a row against Panthers, five in a row against Storm and four in a row against the Bunnies.
Bunny: SHARKS
Won seven straight against Sharks, five in a row against Cowboys, six from eight against Eels and five of six against Broncos.
SHOCK PANTHER IN DALLY M CONTENTION
Dylan Edwards will never demand the same attention as superstar South Sydney fullback Latrell Mitchell, who Edwards marks up against in Thursday’s blockbuster.
But the underrated Penrith No.1 is certainly having a memorable year after emerging as the Panthers’ shock Dally M Medal contender.
When the season kicked off most thought Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo would be the two standout Panthers in the running for the prized award.
But going into the third-last round of the regular season, our count has Edwards in third spot.
After the official count went behind closed doors after round 12, The Daily Telegraph team continued to keep its own tally.
We have Edwards on 24 points behind Ben Hunt (29) and Nicho Hynes (27). Then comes James Tedesco (22) and Mitchell Moses and Daly Cherry-Evans (21).
It’s hard to believe the amazing turnaround in Edwards’ career.
In 2019 he was dropped to NSW Cup as he struggled with confidence. There was even suggestions some powerful figures at the club were questioning his future.
But with Ivan Cleary’s support, he’s not only fought back but become one of the most valuable members in the competition’s standout team.
He’s known as the club’s fittest player and it certainly shows in every performance.
Despite hiding a fractured foot injury for the final month of last season, Edwards went from wearing a moon boot in the lead up to the grand final to running a game-high 231m.
While he’ll never receive the outside attention of someone like Latrell, the Panthers wouldn’t swap him for the world.
THE DAY BENNETT TOLD PONGA SOME HOME TRUTHS
This is the story how Wayne Bennett and the Dolphins dodged a bullet trying to sign Kalyn Ponga as their marquee man.
Let’s take you inside their secret meeting back in April.
Four months before Ponga was sprung in a Newcastle pub toilet cubicle with teammate Kurt Mann doing goodness knows what, Bennett was sitting opposite the star fullback in a luxury apartment at Terrigal on the NSW Central Coast.
In the room was Ponga and his father Andre, along with Bennett, Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader and recruitment chief Peter O’Sullivan.
They were chatting football and life.
But the meeting didn’t end up going exactly how either party had planned.
Ponga later conceded the bluntness of Bennett’s delivery had shocked him, even left him feeling a little defiant.
At the time it was portrayed that Bennett blew his assignment, with Ponga’s loyalty to Newcastle widely praised.
The Dolphins had hired out the best suite at the five-star resort at Star of the Sea.
With a magnificent outlook, it was obviously designed to make a good impression.
But Bennett wasn’t there just to blow sweet nothings in Ponga’s ear by telling him how wonderful he was.
The seven-time premiership-winning coach was also there to make his own judgments, while informing Ponga of a few home truths, as Bennett saw it.
In a nutshell, Bennett’s message was that he thought Ponga wasn’t making the most of his extraordinary talent — and the environment at Newcastle wasn’t doing him justice, either.
Bennett wanted to know what sort of footballer Ponga was prepared to challenge himself to become.
Did he want to be “a rock star”, as Bennett put it to Ponga, and continue to act the cool dude – walk around talking shit, then go out and play accordingly?
Or did he want to make the most of his God-given talent?
What Bennett didn’t want was to fork out $1 million-plus-a-season on a bloke who didn’t want to set standards for others to follow.
In the end, Bennett could sense before the meeting had even wrapped up Ponga wasn’t on board.
It’s fair to say ‘Team Ponga’, as they call themselves, were taken aback by Bennett’s approach, especially how the former Knights coach had portrayed the Newcastle environment.
Ponga even said at the time: “I just don’t think his impression of the club is what I think it is here.
“I walked away from that saying there are a lot of people working hard at the Knights, I am challenging myself, the boys are challenging me.”
Ultimately Ponga re-signed at the Knights on a five-year $6 million deal.
The rest, as they say, is history.
After the events of this week, hindsight would suggest Bennett got it spot on with his assessment of where Ponga was at.
At 24, the time for paying for potential is finished — and Ponga’s career is clearly at the crossroads.
By no means is it too late to turn around, but for that to happen he needs to make a choice which direction he wants to go, which will take a serious attitude adjustment.
We all know what an exceptional talent Ponga is because we’ve watched him play Origin for Queensland.
The trouble is those type of performances at club level are just so hit and miss it is hard to justify his phenomenal salary.
And we don’t have to sit here and tell you about the Knights’ proud history, or the working class foundations the club was built on.
Which is why Newcastle fans have every right to feel angry and even cheated at what has gone in recent times, especially in relation to the club’s highest-paid player.
It’s not just because Ponga only played 14 games this season.
He can’t be blamed for the injuries and concussion issues that have limited his time on the field.
But there is just no doubt the way Ponga carries himself at times suggests he is not always giving 100 per cent.
And that was made blatantly obvious by the fact he was out celebrating on the night his teammates were up in Brisbane getting their bums smacked last Saturday.
Earlier this year we saw Jackson Hastings pay his own way to fly to Gold Coast after Wests Tigers knocked back a request from then coach Michael Maguire to have Hastings join the team in Queensland.
Yet Ponga, who is paid in the vicinity of $20,000-a-week, chose to stay behind and go out partying.
No one is saying a young bloke is not entitled to a night on the town.
But not when you’re an NRL superstar and your team is playing that same night, while you are sidelined with a serious concussion injury.
Ponga’s father claimed the reason why Mann was in the toilet with his son was that Ponga had too much to drink after celebrating the purchase of a new home.
If that was the case, Ponga certainly appeared to sober up quickly as he emerged from the toilet cubicle and walked past the security guard.
Still holding his drink and showing no obvious signs of a bloke who may have been throwing up as his dad suggested, it appeared a stunning recovery.
You might even call it a rock star exit, though certainly not the look you want to see from your NRL captain.
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