Thoughts on tonights game

I'll start off by saying both teams were exceptionally good in defence.

The Eels slide defence was fantastic. At times it seemed certain the Panthers would go over in the corner.

Stand outs from tonight.

Matagi,French and Ma'u.

Moeroa was great out wide, busting tackles and hitting heavy in defence. Takairangi put Hoffman away with a deft step and pass, but the Panthers slide defence managed to just cut down Hoffman. Taka didn't come out in the second half and Hoffman moved to right centre with Fairimo outside of him.

Dargan started out with a slice of a kick coming off the side of his boot and going about 10 metres. To his credit he didn't let that error effect his game and he played very well for a 19yo with no first grade experience. Anyone still banging on about Fogarty, need to look at Dargan. He is lightyears ahead of Fogarty.

Gutherson threatened, but he is not an organiser. I expect him to link very well with Norman controlling the show.

Mannah was reliable as ever until a pretty bad head gash saw him go to the sideline. I believe he returned for a brief stint in the second half.

Matagi had real impact with a few runs that split the defence. I was extremely impressed with Kaysa. He was deft from hooker with some slick passing and taking the right option 9 times out of 10. The times he took the wrong option was more due to the halves overcalling each other. I belive BA will still go with De Gois but Kaysa is a handy backup.

Of the rest Ma'u was his reliable self, running had stepping hard and put in a few good don't argues. Brown played well without having a big impact. Alvaro ran hard. The tank had impact off the bench but dropped a ball in the second half.

The rain stopped about 10-15 mins into the game, but their were few errors considering it was the boys first real hitout. The refs were very whistle happy in the ruck for both teams. Expect them to focus on a quick play the ball for the first 3 rounds till they forget about it.

Scott went off with an ankle sprain.

It was 6-6 when all our first graders went off. The Panthers were pretty much full strength v Wenty when they put on two trys in broken play.

This Panthers team could very well be in the top 4 this year. We wen't toe to toe with them without our key man Norman. Plenty to be excited about for the year to come.

I'll hang around for the next hour or so to answer questions. and apologies for spelling/grammar.

"Who is next cab off the rank as a youngster for a contract ? Would it be MA ? could that have influenced any decision making perhaps 🤔I know they play diff positions 🤔🤔"

"Your cooked Tank, your starting to respond to your own statements. I've been supporting this mob for 77 years ,how fried do you reckon my brain is. Get out while you can."

Replies

FAT GUY February 18, 2017 at 9:36pm

Great report Ham thanx champ, spellings fine brother...
Hamish February 18, 2017 at 9:36pm

I forgot to rap French. He was our main threat. He popped up all over the park and looked very dangerous.
Put in a nice kick to Semi which led to a drop out. Also finished off a fantastic try leaving a panthers player grabbing at air.
El patrón MDV February 18, 2017 at 9:40pm

when our FG side was out there including Dargan, did our attack gel, were there many line breaks?

Thanks Hamish for the report.
- Hamish > El patrón MDV February 18, 2017 at 9:44pm
  
  Not nearly as much as they would have with Norman in the team. He is the key.
  Having said that there were some good backline movments on either side of the field with some very good defence by Panthers holding it out.
  Panthers had the better of the line breaks, but they had their full strength spine.
- Optimistic eel > El patrón MDV February 18, 2017 at 9:48pm
  
  With dargan making 5th tackles plays yes. In my opinion gutho did very little most of his 5th tackle options was playing like a centre trying to.oass it through the hands.
  Most impressive thing was parras defence and their speed in getting up in defence made penrith make a few errrors. kept panthers out for multiple sets a few times early on.
Kramerica February 18, 2017 at 9:43pm

Were there heaps of Penrith gangers out in force? Bet there was :)
Ya can take the slapper out of Penrith but ya can't take the Penrith out of the slapper :)
- Hamish > Kramerica February 18, 2017 at 9:49pm
  
  It was a real Riff sort of night Kram. Pretty sure I saw what appeared to be a grandfather slap his teenage grandaughter on the arse. Classic Riff.
- Thooper Dooper Maltese Sparrow > Kramerica February 18, 2017 at 9:50pm
  
  Haha!
  Too true.
  
  Thanks for the run down Hamish. Easy to read and covers everything.
  Nice.
- Poupou Escobar > Kramerica February 19, 2017 at 4:25am
  
  Cheers Fong, I hope so. Unfortunately you haven't been able learn anything from anyone since you dropped out of school for kids with 'learning difficulties'.
Snakey - Sack Dylan Brown February 18, 2017 at 9:46pm

Thanks Hamish, Dargan light years ahead of Fogarty' i hope that puts to bed a few of the QLD Fog dreamers.