I'm probably being overly optimistic but I see our 2015 squad having a lot of similarities to the Panthers of 2003. Here are the similarities I see between the two sides
-Penrith took the spoon out in 2001, 2 seasons before their title win (it will be 2 seasons since our last spoon in 2015) and they had an improved 2002 but still missed out on the finals, like us.
-Penrith also had John Lang, take over the coaching reigns the season before their title, Brad Arthur will have joined the season before our potential 2015 title. While on the point of John Lang and Brad Arthur, I saw in an interview posted on nrl.com that Chris Sandow said "With Brad, he reminds me a lot of John Lang as a coach. Thats what I like about Brad. I love playing under Brad, he reminds me so much of John Lang."
- Penrith finished 2002 with a points differential of -108, which similar to our points differential of -103 this year.
- Penrith had the ability to score tries from their own half, just like us.
-Penrith had a big, fast, strong winger in Luke Rooney, just like we do with Semi.
-Penrith had a small, clever, creative half in Preston Campbell, just like we do with Chris Sandow. They're also both Aboriginal and were dealing with their own personal issues in the past too (The last two points I'm clutching at straws, but hey, they're similarities..)
-Penrith had a great hooker on the cusp of Origin/Tests in Luke Priddis, just like we do with Peatsy.
-Penrith had a seasoned, hard working lock in Scott Sattler, like we do in Watmough.
-Penrith had two solid front rowers who weren't aggressive but got the job done in Joel Clinton and Ben Ross, much like Mannah and Gower.
-We have a plethora of back rowers who could be just as good, if not better than Puletua and Galuvao were that year.
Overall, we're just a class centre, halfback and fullback short from being there in the first Sunday of October. I believe that Hoppa will deliver given he will have an entire pre-season under his belt as well as fullback being his preferred position and if Champion can stay fit, he'll be that centre we need. My biggest fear is Corey Norman. Maybe the pressure of ZDC and Matterson will force him to perform to his potential, but only time will tell.
Thoughts?
Replies
Another potential similarity is that Penrith that year had poor defensive season with their attitude being if you score 30 then we'll score 40.
Parramatta has a similar attitude by relying on some brilliant attack while being poor in defence.
Somehow penrith managed to steal that premiership while they were in the doldrums before and after that particular season.
If what your saying comes through then your quite clever for this pick up.
i would love to see Watmough chase down a flying winger in cover defence and tackle him over the sideline to win us the Grand Final. (full unicorn)
Ye me to watmough chase down the wolfman and win us the grand fianl over manly
love to c snake and ron do a nudie run if we win the GF
Yeh, that's why I said earlier if I had one wish - it would be for Ryan Matterson to have a break-through season because I think given we don't have a game-breaker we need both our halves producing consistent, regular quality. If Matterson gets a chance and has one of those dream-run seasons, that lifts the ceiling dramatically on what we're capable of this year. Again, not saying that's going to happen, or will happen, but that's the way 2014 goes in my unicorn dreams.
Ability to score tries from our own half. A majority of them left this year and went to play NFL.
I laughed... and then cried.