New Zealand smash Penrith 36-16 to all but end the Panthers top four hopes
THE Warriors have locked up their first finals berth since 2011 but it’s desperate times for the Panthers who have dropped two games in a row to fall right out of the race for a top four spot.
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FIRST, it was suggested Anthony Griffin had lost the dressingroom.
So who to blame now that same dressingroom has lost its way?
Only three weeks after the sacking of Griffin — and the instillation of caretaker coach Cameron Ciraldo — the Penrith Panthers have now dropped a second straight game, thumped by the Warriors 36-16, to leave bookmakers to further wind out their NRL premiership odds today.
Truly, can anyone see the Mountain Men winning another game?
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Leading the competition midway through the year, and on the verge of the top four when Griffin was sacked, the Panthers are now fading so fast it almost guarantees they will be playing elimination footy in week one of the playoffs.
And, yes, this loss came without inspirational No. 6 James Maloney.
Arguably the greatest winner anywhere in rugby league.
Still, it’s important to remember the Panthers resembled a M*A*S*H unit earlier this season, too.
At times, the casualty list in double figures.
Yet still, under that coach nobody wanted apparently, they were finding a way to win.
But then, Griffin was sacked.
Panthers boss Phil Gould adamant he wasn’t the man to get them to a grand final.
But since?
Well, things have only got worse.
And next week, they play reigning premiers Melbourne away.
Then on to finals footy, and potentially playing for their lives on the back of three straight defeats.
But in this one?
Attacking generally, the Panthers were poor.
And inside the 20m zone, atrocious.
Proof that Maloney cannot return quick enough.
And maybe, the little playmaker will give the ‘Riff boys their spark.
But there was also enough — or too little — shown in Auckland to suggest he won’t.
And certainly it would be unfair to lump any of this on Ciraldo.
But, geez, it seems the Panthers have imploded from within.
And because of that, the Wests Tigers are now a step closer to having their season ended too.
Although that scenario was always a bit like waiting for the bad guy to die in a western. You know it’s coming, but geez there can be a lot of high plains drifting before he gets the bullet.
A better story though is the Warriors themselves, who are also now headed to the NRL playoffs for the first time in an age.
Look like they could cause some problems too.
Especially when you consider how in this one, Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck were both at their scheming best.
Backrower Tohu Harris, he ran amok too.
While as for winger David Fusitu’a … well, he now sits atop the NRL tryscorer list having bagged three tries — including another of his spectacular contort-around-the-cornerpost tries.
Better, the Warriors got home despite Penrith trailing by only 14 points at the break.
A gap which, when their luck was in, had proved small enough for the Comeback Kids.
Yet it seems that in a reality that eventually strikes every punter, the Panthers luck has run out.
All of which means, even despite conceding a couple of late tries, the Warriors are going to play finals footy.
And the Panthers … well, they could potentially be first team out the back door.
NZ WARRIORS 36 (D Fusitua 3 S Kata M Lino A Paasi tries S Johnson 6 goals) bt PENRITH 16 (W Blake J Mansour T Merrin tries N Cleary 2 goals) at Mt Smart Stadium. Referee: Chris Sutton, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 17,195