Controversial call helps Panthers to best season start ever
A controversial try in the dying stages killed off any chance of a miraculous Titans win and saw the Panthers notch their best start in the club history.
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Even without their strike weapons, Penrith proved they are the real deal after they managed to scrap a tough 22-14 win over the Titans in a wet weather affair on the Gold Coast on Sunday.
Down-and-out on troops, including Viliame Kikau and Dylan Edwards, the Panthers survived a second half surge by the Titans to make it six straight wins and a spot on top of the premiership ladder.
A day after the club snared the signature of boom backrower David Fifita, the Titans seemed to have a renewed sense of vigour after threatening to down the red-hot Penrith side.
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Trailing two points at halftime, the Gold Coast looked as if they were about to topple the ladder leaders.
But a controversial try to winger Malakai Watene-Zelezniak in the 61st minute helped Penrith to their best start to a competition in club history.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary was left buoyed by the tough win given he was in charge of the most inexperienced side he’s ever coached.
“We came here with a pretty different-looking side,” Cleary side.
“Today was always going to be a test of our systems and our culture.
“People went into certain spots and got the job done so that was a bit of a test and I think we passed that today.
“It wasn’t our best, but you take a hooker out, a fullback, a strike backrower, one of the centres in one week, it’s not going to work as cleanly as other weeks.”
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Watene-Zelezniak’s 61st minute try was thought to be forward by players, fans and commentators alike, however the on-field referee awarded the four-pointer.
Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook admitted there had been calls go against his side but said it was a learning curve for the club moving forward.
“There wasn’t much in the second half,” Holbrook said.
“We played with nothing going our way (but) we need to be better.
“I thought we competed hard for the whole game but it was just our end of sets needed to be better.
“It tells us we were better than last week but we also need to be better next week.
“We’re learning how to play.”
The Titans seemed all but out of the match in the first half, with a horrid 39 per cent possession, 76 per cent completion rate and 50 more tackles than the opposition.
But incredibly, they managed to trail just 16-14 at halftime.
A storm warning and shower during the break seemed to refresh the home side who came roaring out of the sheds, with a 100 per cent completion rate and zero errors in the third quarter of the game.
PINK PANTHERS
It’s Penrith’s best start in the club’s history after 11 rounds and jumped them to the top of the ladder.
The eight point victory was made even sweeter considering the experience of the Penrith pack.
The visitors fielded the most inexperienced NRL side of the weekend, in terms of games-played, with their starting 17 boasting a total 968 games between them.
Caleb Aekins played his first game in six weeks, replacing injured Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards (hamstring) in the No.1 jersey.
Penrith’s lethal left edge also continued its dominance, now boasting 23 of the Panthers 45 tries of the season.
BIG FUTURE
The big boys can’t come soon enough for the Titans who were monstered through the middle by Penrith on Sunday.
With the likes of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Herman Ese’ese and now David Fifita set to join the club next season, Gold Coast’s engine room will undergo a much-needed tune up.
The starting Gold Coast forward pack finished the first half with just 165 running metres between the five of them while Penrith’s James Tamou (110m) almost matched them alone.
Young halfback Jamal Fogarty is also showing signs of a bright future with the 26-year-old starring for the home side, including a miraculous 95 metre runaway try.
‘Five year plan’ finally coming together for Penrith
A perfect storm is brewing at Penrith. The mix of two crops of outrageously talented and successful age groups bursting onto the scene together sprinkled with some much-needed experience has the high flying Panthers on top of the premiership ladder.
This from a side who started last year with representative players Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Waqa Blake and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
They paid for that trio to move on while the likes of Tim Grant, Hame Sele, Frank Winterstein, Wayde Egan and Tyrell Fuimaono exited the club at season’s end.
On Sunday they play a Titans side who have ex-Panthers Bryce Cartwright, Tyrone Peachey and Mitch Rein on their books.
But Penrith’s general manager of football Matt Cameron said changes at the top end are inevitable.
“A club like ours is always going to have that problem,” Cameron said. “It’s the balance between roster management and knowing there is going to continually be a good influx of young players in our junior rep systems. The reality is we can’t keep them all in a capped environment which is designed to produce parity in the competition.”
From the Panthers 21-man squad named on Tuesday to play the Titans only James Tamou made his first grade debut at another club. The likes of Parramatta and Newcastle had 13.
“We don’t necessarily recruit out of our area,” Cameron said. “We don’t scour the earth looking for kids. We have a lot of kids in our backyard. We have invested a lot of time in the western corridor, led by our recruitment manager Jim Jones. The return of that investment has been phenomenal.”
In 2015 Penrith won the under-20s competition captained by Brent Naden in a team which featured Dylan Edwards, Tyrone May, Jarome Luai, Moses Leota and James Fisher-Harris. Edwards, May and Liam Martin played in the under-20s grand final loss the following year. Cleary was already playing in the NRL by then.
That group are now established first-graders. Outstanding outside back Stephen Crichton is now leading the Panthers’ next wave. Crichton was part of the losing Jersey Flegg grand final alongside Mitch Kenny, Spencer Leniu and Brian To’o in 2018. Crichton, Matt Burton and four-try debutant Charlie Staines are still eligible to play in the under-20 competition.
“A lot of clubs put good coaches with older players,” Cameron said. “We sometimes put our best coaches with our youngest players. So they learn to do it the right way on their first day at 14, 15.
“We are confident that players that come through our system we will be more equipped.
“The model says there is a (standout) group coming every two years. We are fortunate to be one of the few clubs where we have an aligned system. You can play in a Panthers jersey from 16 all the way to first grade. A lot of other clubs have feeder club programs.
“Our players can go from Harold Matthews to SG Ball into Flegg, Cup and the NRL – it’s a smooth transition and each step on the way is aligned to the first grade program.
“So when they come into the NRL they are equipped and ready to go.” Crichton and Martin are among the group of players off-contract at the end of next year. Naturally Cameron said they were looking at nailing extensions with the pair.
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The Panthers were again on the path to dominating the junior representative programs this year with their under-16 Harold Matthews and under-18s SG Ball having lost just one game between them when the competition was abandoned after five rounds.
“We are fortunate we have the backing of a great leagues club and a really good footy board that understands footy,” Cameron said. “We have 8500 juniors in the local area which we cherish. We have done a lot of work in that western region. Not only player but coach development. We feel like we’ve got the pieces of the puzzle.”
— Michael Carayannis
Check out Part 1 of the NRL RICH 100