Panthers co-captain James Tamou can’t bring himself to watch the finals series after his side failed to make the cut in 2019

Panthers co-captain James Tamou can’t bring himself to watch the finals series after his side - that was tipped as genuine premiership contenders - failed to make the cut in 2019.

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 23: James Tamou of the Panthers walks from the field during the round 23 NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Penrith Panthers at 1300SMILES Stadium on August 23, 2019 in Townsville, Australia. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

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The discontent of missing the NRL finals series is too much to bear for Penrith co-captain James Tamou, who revealed he’ll be switching off the TV in September.

Tipped as genuine premiership contenders at the start of the season, the Panthers have only managed 10 wins so far this year under new coach Ivan Cleary.

“It is always hard to sit down and watch finals footy when you are not there and most games I won’t watch because of that fact,” Tamou said.

“It’s disappointing to miss out and to look back at past games and wonder if you could have done more or go through the ‘what ifs’. It’s always hard at this time of the year when you’re not there about.”

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Tamou’s Panthers have cratered this year. Picture by Jonathan Ng/

Penrith’s pre-season preparations were rocked in March after the club was embroiled in a sex tape scandal that culminated with utility back Tyrone May being charged over the leaked videos.

Cleary’s troops lost eight from the opening 10 rounds of the competition and Tamou conceded the scandal did weigh heavily on some of his teammates.

But he put his side’s poor showing mostly on their inability to maintain the consistency that saw them win seven-straight matches midway through the year.

“Looking at the other players I guess it was sort of around and the boys were thinking about it. But at the end of the day I think we needed to come together as a team and do what works for us,” Tamou said.

“We saw at one point of the year we knew what works for us but we needed to be more consistent with it.”

Tamou, who was handed the captaincy armband this year, revealed his new role in the side left him dealing with sleepless nights, especially over the first three months of the season.

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“As a player you come off a loss and you shrug it off, as a captain you take more on board,” he said.

“You’re talking to a lot more people about the loss, to be in that limelight had an effect on me … it’s just worry, tossing and turning [at night].

“All through the year there has been ups and downs but this has probably been the hardest one being the captain of the team and not being there [in the finals] to at least give us a shot [at the title].”

Originally published as Panthers co-captain James Tamou can’t bring himself to watch the finals series after his side failed to make the cut in 2019