Wow

[Kiwi Eagle]

Writing this at halftime, and what a half of footy !! Penrith are absolutely red hot, other than wrapping the ball up a bit more and cutting down their offloads, we aren't really do a lot wrong and find ourselves down 18 ! Pritchard always seems to bloody turn up against us !! Not one error from either side shows a pretty high quality game of football, unfortunately we aren't in it at the moment though, it is far from our worst effort

Our kicking game has been horrible though. 1 of the turning points in that half was the grubber that had 1 too many weet bix on it, a better bounce or a little less weight and Farrar dots down nicely

We are looking pretty good with ball in hand

Will be an interesting 2nd half, hopefully Penrith drop down a bit and we can keep our attack going

 

[Garts]

We need to stop falling off tackles, some of the efforts have been pathetic.  Agree that we are not that bad and Penrith are red hot but a couple of those tries should have been shut down with more effort. 

 

[Berkeley_Eagle]

that try they scored was sensational

 

[lismore_fan]

Thanks guys - keep up the commentary!

 

[Kiwi Eagle]

Must start with a congratz to the Panthers, absolutely awesome display tonight, no reason at all they can't win a comp, they have the size, skill and speed to do it

For us, well, I don't know if we were as bad as the scoreline suggested, i think it was far from our worst effort of the year. Wasn't great either, but some of our play was very good with the ball in hand, defensively were a bit soft allowing them some offloads which they pounced upon with some awesome tries

Was happy to see that even though we were a mile back, there was still a visible effort out there, I know some say there is a poor attitude in the side at present, but if that was the case i don't know if they would have kept going the full 80

Not many real standouts tonight, Matai and Stewart tried hard all night, as did Foran with a heavy workload.

Hodkinson showed he is nowhere near $280k at this point in his career, i am yet to see any real attacking prowess at all in his game

I have learnt a lesson personally, every time I feel good before a match we end up getting flogged, and I was quite comfortable about this one

We really don't have many places we can go in terms of changing up the side, we just have to rely on this set of blokes to keep turning up each week and putting the effort in, we are still in the 8, and every side in the comp bar Penrith and Saints have had this type of run during the season

Going to the Roosters v Warriors on Sunday with a group of mates, I will cop a caning from them after tonights effort so really hope the Chooks can put the cleaners through the Warriors !!

 

[Ryan]

Don't sugar coat Kiwi mate...

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

Must start with a congratz to the Panthers, absolutely awesome display tonight, no reason at all they can't win a comp,

They have the ability, like a few other teams this year, but the reason they might falter is lack of finals experience, which is exactly the reason we are still one of the favourites despite our injury problems and form slump.

 

[Rex]

To draw the second half when Penrith was so red hot throughout the game wasn't a bad effort. Especially with the extended injuries to top players Manly has suffered.

Penrith's enthusiasm is clear in the numbers making themselves available for cross-field kicking. The question is whether they'll still have that enthusiasm at the business end of the season.

 

[Chip and Chase]

I thought our effort to stay with them was pretty good. Penrith played just about the perfect half of football in the first 40, 100% completions and some razzle dazzle that I'd challenge any side to defend against. 24-6 at half time is a big deficit to make up. My quick thoughts on the game

* Our completions were good, 100% as well in the first half
* Rodney was missing for the most of the second half and he has been our most consistent at getting over the ad line to get us on the front foot. That hurt us.
* We are still showing susceptibility to short balls and inside balls around the ruck, King, Perry, Rose and Kite are the serial offenders here.
* Our kicking game still isn't up to scratch. There were a couple last night that just took one or two rolls too many, which could have been good but ended up unlucky. However in general our kicking game is preventing us from building pressure through field position.
* Our attack is still looking stilted, especially on right. TH throws too many inside balls to flat footed forwards. Foran tries hard and at least challenges the line and straightens the attack, but Watmough isn't hitting holes or running lines to give him any options. Farrar seems our only creativity.
* The major problem of late is that our front row is getting out enthused and lacks intensity. There is no spark from King, Kite and Perry and consequently we can't dominate and bend the line to give us some momentum. The Gnu tries hard and Big Georgie is OK in spurts but can't handle a high workload. Rodney is the only one consistently poking his head through. The youngish Panthers pack played all over our guys last night.
* I thought we actually played better last night than we did against Souths, who were nowhere near the quality of opposition that Penrith presented last night. I think Penrith would have beaten anyone last night, it was one of those nights where it all clicks.

I thought Ballin, Gift and Foran were good last night, and I'm still liking Farrars efforts at the back and the kick he gives our attack. Hopefully Glens injury isn't too bad, we can ill afford to lose him while Jamie is out. The bye will probably freshen us up a little with any luck, and hopefully the forwards can get a few angry pills into them. 

With Raiders, Sharks and Knights coming up over the next month we can get back some winning form if we can lift the enthusiasm.

 

[Ryan]

Great write up mate