Dylan Edwards continues to impress with Aukland Nines performance

PENRITH centre Waqa Blake and front rower Moses Leota were named in the Team of the Tournament at the Auckland Nines.

The Panthers celebrate a Tyrone May try against the Sea Eagles on day two of the Auckland Nines at Eden Park, New Zealand. Picture: Mark Evans

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PENRITH centre Waqa Blake and front rower Moses Leota were named in the Team of the Tournament at the Auckland Nines on Sunday after the Panthers made it all the way to the grand final with a very inexperienced squad.

Before the tournament, Penrith chief executive Brian Fletcher said the event should be scraped as fears of players going down injured could already ruin Penrith’s NRL season before it started.

The Panthers sent one of the youngest squads to the Nines, but it showed just how much depth the club has in going down to the Roosters in the final, 10-8.

The Roosters looked to have the result in the bag when they led 10-0 late in the decider.

But tries to Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, and then Nathan Cleary in the final minute, gave back-up playmaker Darren Nicholls an opportunity to send the game into the golden-try period.

But Nicholls sent his conversion attempt wide, handing the Roosters a maiden nines title.

Despite being named as one of the tournament’s best, Blake said another of his Penrith teammates was better than he was.

“I think Dylan Edwards should have been picked in the side instead of me. I told him that myself. He played awesome this weekend and backed it up every game,” he said.

“The younger players really stepped up and that’s why we got there in the end.

“It was an awesome weekend. We had a very young squad and I think a lot of the other teams didn’t think we’d give it a shake.”

Edwards had a fantastic tournament and is now one of the favoured young guns to replace the injured Josh Mansour on the wing.

Edwards, who was spotted by Penrith at a country rugby league tournament when he was 16, is signed until the end of the 2018 season and played one match for the Panthers last year.

He wants to taste first grade again and has been one of Penrith’s best in the pre-season.

“I didn’t expect to debut last year and it came as a bit of a shock, but it was a dream come true,” he said.

“It’s made me want to train even harder so I get another crack.

“I’ll put my hand up if the opportunity arises, but I’ll just have to wait and see.”

Edwards has been training mainly at fullback and learning off Matt Moylan is taking his game to another level.

He’ll easily handle the switch to wing if coach Anthony Griffin feels he’s the one to replace Test winger Mansour, who is out for the first three months of the season with a knee injury.

“Anthony’s good. He’s not backwards in coming forwards. He tells you how it is and I respect him a lot.”

Edwards admitted that he’s got to improve one areas of his game if he’s to make it as an NRL fullback.

And Moylan’s the right man to copy off.

“That’s [ball playing] probably the area that I need to work on,” Edwards said.

“I’m more of a runner at the moment but I don’t mind ball playing. I played a bit in the halves growing up.”