Panthers minor premiers but major tests await

Penrith won the NRL minor premiership with Friday night’s win over North Queensland, but the major tests are yet to come.

Penrith’s Viliame Kikau stretches out to score as Panthers claimed the minor premiership in Townsville Picture: Getty Images

The Penrith Panthers are minor premiers. They will receive the J.J. Giltinan Shield. They may like to pawn it off at Captain Cash down on High Street because a few weeks from now, inside that nice wooden frame will be a worthless piece of tin.

Minor premiership by name, minor if commendable accomplishment by nature. The 32-12 flogging of the North Queensland Cowboys has sealed the deal but no-one at the Panthers, not the coach Ivan Cleary, nor the halfback he loves like a son, Nathan Cleary, nor the captain, James Tamou, have started the season, and then restarted the season, by thumping their chests and proclaiming their intent to be first at the end of the regular season.

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Their 14th consecutive win suggests they’re the most white-hot team in the comp right now but they’ll remain unproven until they beat the battle-hardened Sydney Roosters and/or Melbourne in finals matches of consequence. They may not know who or what has hit them in the playoffs – but for now, bravo.

You can only do what you can do. You can only beat who they put in front of you. It was the 14th-placed Cowboys on Friday night at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium, whose great servant Gavin Cooper was playing his 246th match for the club … and his last on home turf. He had tears in his eyes before kick-off. Because of the sentimentality. He might have been tempted to weep again at full-time. Because of the scoreboard.

It took only three minutes for the Panthers to flex their attacking muscle. Dylan Edwards took a sidestepping leap to the right and then unfurled a perfect grubber kick for Brian To’o to score in the corner. It was 10-0 after as many minutes when Viliame Kikau pushed off defenders like he was swatting flies to send Stephen Crichton into four-point territory. Mansour snatched a try and the match was all over as a contest with 67 minutes still to go. The Panthers continued their trend of bolting from the gates and hanging on. In the first 20 minutes of matches this year, the Panthers are up 124-12.

Their only concern was Viliame Kikau going on report for a high tackle on Valentine Holmes. It was up across the chops, no doubt, but looked innocuous enough as an open-handed reflex action. If he gets a suspension, it will only be a one-week holiday before the finals. He was one of the Penrith’s six try scorers as the Panthers again played a stylish and attacking brand. They’re hard to beat and good to watch. They travelled the length of the field, from a short dropout, for Jarome Luai’s try just before halftime. Scintillating stuff but still, the Roosters are the Roosters. And the Storm are the Storm.

Nothing of major significance has been achieved but the J.J. Giltinan was on its way to Panthers’ HQ for only the third time. The romance of it: Crichton gave Brent Naden a kiss on the cheek. They’re getting a soft run to the finals. A blessing or a curse? You don’t want a pounding in late-season sparring sessions, but you don’t want too many pushovers, either. They finish the regular season next week against the struggling Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs – coming off their upset of South Sydney – before the real stuff begins. Their second half on Friday night was not entirely convincing. Ivan Cleary says the minor premiership is a mighty achievement and that in other competitions, such as the EPL, it’s the be all and end all. He’s right. But we’re not in the EPL.