Penrith Panthers thump Cowboys to claim 2020 NRL Minor Premiership
The premiership omen is strong for the Penrith Panthers after the men from the foot of the mountains secured the minor premiership with a big win over the Cowboys.
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The J.J. Giltinan Shield is heading to the foot of the mountains after Penrith secured the minor premiership with a dominant 32-12 victory against North Queensland.
It’s the third time the Panthers have been crowned minor premiers since the Shield was introduced in 1951 – having finished first in 1991 and 2003.
The Panthers went on to win the title in both those seasons.
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For a young side with minimal finals experience, the minor premiership is a shot in the arm to their 2020 title campaign.
“Our confidence is pretty high, obviously once the finals come it’s a different competition but what we have done is forged some belief in ourselves and it’s given us a really good chance leading into the finals,” coach Ivan Cleary said after the match.
“I’m proud of the club, getting the minor premiership, sealing that is no mean feat.”
The Panthers also joined elite company.
Only the back-to-back premiers, the Sydney Roosters, and the Melbourne Storm have won the minor premiership since 2013.
“We really wanted to seal the minor premiership, we value it. It’s a testament to the most consistent team in the competition. If you look at the past winners in the seven years it’s been shared between the Storm and Roosters, who have clearly been the best two teams in the last decade,” Cleary said after the victory which extended Penrith’s winning streak to 14 games.
PANTHERS ON THE ATTACK
It took only four minutes for the Panthers to open their account with winger Brian To`o diving over in the right hand corner. Minutes later behemoth forward Viliame Kikau beat three tackles to send try scoring machine, Stephen Crichton, over for his 15th try of the year.
Crichton’s athletic ability helped keep a short kick-off in play for his side to then travel 90 metres up field with Jarome Luai putting his name to one of the better end-to-end tries of the season.
Centre Brent Naden put the result beyond doubt with a try in the 68th minute on the back of a break from Nathan Cleary.
Coach Ivan Cleary’s men have found their mojo in attack in season 2020 and have averaged almost 26 points a game – their best attacking season in 10 years.
HUMBLE HALFBACK
While Nathan Cleary might be on track to overcoming a six point deduction to claim this year’s Dally M medal, the halfback insisted the Panthers aren’t a one-man team.
Against the Cowboys his 16 other teammates backed the halfback’s claim.
Cleary’s halves partner five-eighth Jerome Luai extended his try assist tally to 17.
Kikau scored a try, set-up another, made six tackle busts and two linebreaks. But the Fijian power house was placed on report for a high tackle and may spend some time on the sidelines.
Again, the back five were on song scoring four tries and churning out almost 700 metres.
“Team work, that was our main focus coming into the year and I think that’s just what we’ve done very well this year. There is definitely no kind of champion or superstar players within the team. It’s a team first mentality,” Cleary said after the game.
BLACK WALL
The Panthers have no trouble finding points and no trouble strangling their opponents attack either, having turned their own try line into a defensive force field in 2020. The Cowboys were tackled 26 times in Penrith’s red zone before finally cracking the try line in the 62nd minute. It was the first try the Panthers have conceded since the 65th minute in round 17. The confident outfit is tracking towards their best ever defensive season since the club’s first title in 1991, conceding only 12.6 per game this year.
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GAVIN COOPER
Cowboys stalwart and forward Gavin Cooper notched up 322 games last night in what was his final home game in North Queensland colours. Fittingly he helped set-up the side’s first try to winger Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow in the second half.
Cooper was a key figure in the club’s maiden premiership in 2015 but isn’t part of the side’s future plans beyond this season.