Desperate sidesprepare for battle

PANTHERS V SEA EAGLES

WHAT AMACHINE! MASKED PANTHER

HOLDEN CUPNSW CUPKEVIN KINGSTON

STEVE HART

SAM’S FUTURE

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Elijah Taylor’s incredible77 tackles against the Cowboys on Monday

Will McKendry play 80 minutes?

Exclusive weekly column:Tackling the game’s big issues

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WW16181

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STARTS

ENDS

1 2 3 45 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 2526 27 28 29 30

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat

MATCH PREVIEW PANTHERS

1 Matt Moylan

2 Josh Mansour

3 Waqa Blake

4 Jamal Idris

5 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak

6 Apisai Koroisau

7 Peter Wallace (c)

8 Sam McKendry

9 James Segeyaro

10 Jeremy Latimore

11 Sika Manu

12 Issah Yeo

13 Elijah Taylor

14 Tyrone Peachey

15 Nigel Plum

16 Reagan Campbell-Gillard

17 Bryce Cartwright

SEA EAGLES1 Brett Stewart (c)

2 Cheyse Blair

3 Brayden Wiliame

4 Peta Hiku

5 Tom Trbojevic

6 Kieran Foran

7 Daly Cherry-Evans

8 Luke Burgess

9 Matt Ballin

10 Willie Mason

11 Jamie Buhrer

12 Tom Symonds

13 Dunamis Lui

14 Jesse Sene-Lefao

15 Ligi Sao

16 Justin Horo

17 Jake Trbojevic

Ivan Cleary and Geoff Toovey have plenty in common at the moment.

Both are desperate for victories, both have key playmakers missing from their side (including their first choice

goal kickers) and both know the impor-tance of this weekend’s clash at Pepper Stadium.

Cleary knows that a fourth straight defeat would shatter his young Penrith side’s confidence – he’s one to ensure his side learns from losses but right now he really, really needs a win.

Toovey, meanwhile, is just trying to keep his battered Manly outfit together as the club works through a bad injury toll and off-field dramas including the defection of Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran to the Titans and Eels respectively.

Manly are still missing Jamie Lyon (groin) and Steve Matai (elbow) and both are heavy losses to a Sea Eagles side that

rely on both of those men for points on a weekly basis.

Jamie Buhrer has been named to play despite suffering from concussion and will have to prove his fitness later in the week.

The Panthers will welcome back Sika Manu into the second row, and with Dean Whare suffering a hamstring injury, Jamal Idris’ career switch to the second row has been cut short after just one match – he’ll be back in the backline on Saturday even-ing.

Cleary named Apisai Koroisau at five-eighth when the teams were released on Tuesday but there’s speculation that the situation will change before kick-off.

Personally, I can’t see why Isaac John – a solid back-up in the halves and a proven first grader – was forced to play NSW Cup last weekend while the Panthers tried their fourth halves combination in as many matches.

Whether or not John squeezes his way back into the top side for Saturday night’s game will most likely not be known until the hours before kick-off.

The Panthers lacked urgency last week in the second half and allowed a better side to get on top of them, while at times star gazing at the multi-talented Johna-than Thurston and allowing themselves to be affected by video referee decisions not going their way.

Without Jamie Soward, the Panthers lack any clear direction on the field – it’s actually quite amazing how much the side misses him.

Those slick back-line plays just aren’t the

same without Soward and while he does struggle in defence, his organisation skills are vital to Penrith’s ability to hold sides at bay.

The Cowboys tested Penrith’s left-side defence constantly last weekend – iden-tifying that Idris wasn’t there and that youngster Waqa Blake would most likely be finding his feet. It was a smart game plan and Manly will also test Penrith’s edges – they’ll try to tempt Josh Mansour to rush in (as he’s been doing a fair bit since returning against the Roosters) and take advantage of the inexperience of Blake and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.

Penrith have every chance to win this game on Saturday night and in truth are probably the better side on paper.

But yes, there is reason to be concerned. It’s not panic stations yet – far from it – but the Panthers really do need a win to get things back on track.

Right now, I’m not totally sure they have the confidence to pull it off. But tip Manly? Nah, I just can’t do it.

TIP: PANTHERS BY 2

TROY DODDS @troydodds

Who is more desperate?

FACT CHECK Penrith’s biggest ever

win was a 72-12 thrashing of Manly back in 2004

Penrith’s biggest ever loss was a 70-7 defeat to Manly at Penrith Stadium in 1973

Penrith have lost their last four matches without Jamie Soward, who is out for another few weeks

PANTHERS V SEA EAGLES

SATURDAY, APRIL 11 • 7.30PM

PEPPER STADIUM

REFEREES: JARED MAXWELL

AND CHRIS JAMES

TV: FOX SPORTS LIVE 7.30PM

RADIO: 2GB LIVE 7.30PM

Brought to you by…

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PANTHER RUMBLINGS with the Masked Panther

SEND YOUR PANTHERS GOSSIP ATNEWS@WESTERNWEEKENDER.COM.AU

» There are huge question marks over the short term future of Brent Kite at the Panthers. Everybody is keeping pretty tight lipped about it but there’s a lot of speculation suggesting Kite was dropped from last weekend’s clash with North Queensland and wasn’t injured. The Panthers would have too much respect for Kite, a 300-plus game veteran, to make him play NSW Cup, particularly at this stage of his career. It’ll be interesting to see what happens from here in terms of Kite’s short-term playing future. He hasn’t been named in the side to play Manly this Saturday.

» Lachlan Coote returned to Penrith Stadium for the first time since leaving the club on Monday night, and certainly had a good game – even scoring a try on his birthday. Coote is still a popular figure around Penrith – he spent a fair bit of time after the game mingling with both Cowboys and Panthers fans.

» Spotted: Panthers coach Ivan Cleary enjoying a family birthday celebration at Outback Steakhouse last Thursday night.

» There’s a few people in rugby league circles who want to tell you that Drag-ons forward Trent Merrin is considering backing out on his deal with the Panthers for next season. Merrin has until June 30 to turn his back on the Penrith deal and stay with St George-Illawarra. Despite the speculation, there doesn’t appear to be much in it. The rumours aren’t a surprise given the Dragons are suddenly playing well and the Panthers are in the midst of a form slump, but only someone with very short-term thinking would let that affect their decision making.

» The Panthers v Cowboys game may have attracted less than 9,000 people to the ground on Monday night, but it was a huge winner on television. 280,000 people watched the match on Fox Sports. In fact, the NRL dominated pay television viewing on Monday with the Tigers v Eels match attracting 304,000 viewers and the Storm v Warriors clash topping that with 306,000.

» What about this for a stat – Elijah Taylor made an incredible 77 tackles against the Cowboys on Monday night. Considering he missed a further three tackles, that means he attempted a tackle in every single minute of the clash on Monday!

» The Panthers will have to overcome some significant statistical hurdles if they’re to beat Manly on Saturday night. Not once in the Ivan Cleary era have the Panthers recorded a victory after playing in a Monday night game the week prior. Plus, the Panthers have an awful winning percentage against Manly – just 35.4 per cent of all time matches. Melbourne is the only club that troubles Penrith more. That said, the Sea Eagles are in big trouble with only one win this season.

» The fact that the NRL lets TV broad-casters determine its schedule means some clubs are significantly disadvan-taged when it comes to turnarounds. Penrith will be forced into a five-day turnaround this weekend, yet on Sunday the Dragons and Bulldogs will play after a eight and nine day turnaround respec-tively.

» Dean Whare is expected to miss two weeks of footy due to a hamstring injury.

IS KITE HURT OR WAS HE DROPPED?

Lachlan Coote mixing with fans on Monday night. Photo: Melinda Jane

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The one shining light from Penrith’s 20 point loss to the North Queens-land Cowboys on Monday night was Elijah Taylor’s record breaking tackle count.

The Panthers lock and New Zealand international set, what many believe to be, a new record for most tackles in an 80 minute game with 77 tackles.

Proving he is Penrith’s biggest asset in defence, Taylor attempted 80 tackles on the night and made all but three of them.

Records suggest that former Parramatta skipper Nathan Hindmarsh and Raiders lock Shaun Fensom previously held the tackling record with 75 tackles in a single game.

On Tuesday afternoon, Extra Time revealed to Taylor what he had unbeliev-ably achieved the night before.

“I didn’t know I made that many. I’m pretty surprised that it was that high but I’m more concerned about the two points we didn’t get than getting a lot of tackles,” he admitted.

“Not many people watch defence these days. It seems whenever I get a high tackle

count we lose games, so it’s not really a stat to be proud of.”

While the 25-year-old is clearly under-stating his achievement, he knows he’s going to have to do it all over again this Saturday night against the Manly Sea Eagles.

Penrith are currently staring down the barrel of four straight losses and will need every bit of defence from Taylor and his teammates to stop that from happening.

“Tackling is my job for my teammates, it’s my job for my club and for my coaches, and if I’m not willing to do that then there’s a lot of depth in our squad,” Taylor said.

“Adam Docker is coming back from suspension, Nigel Plum can play 13, so if I’m not willing to do that job then some-one will take my position.”

Despite losing the last three straight games, Taylor insists that the Panthers are still full of confidence but believes there are areas that need attention immediately.

“Every game you go into you plan to win, you train to win, you prepare to win, so three down on the trot is disappointing but there’s a lot of lessons to be learnt,” he said.

One of the factors in Penrith’s early season slide from a fan’s point of view is the loss of Jamie Soward. Since Soward

was sidelined following back surgery after Round 2, the Panthers haven’t won a single game.

Taylor said the loss of the star playmaker has had an affect on the team.

“Jamie’s instrumental in our team. He’s a leader, he influences and he knows how to control the game,” he said.

“Jamie knows when to speed it up, he knows when to slow it down. He knows when to apply pressure.”

NATHAN TAYLOR natetaylor87

FEATURE STORY

Taylor is a tackling machine

Taylor makes a tackle on Monday

The Panthers may have lost to the Cowboys on Monday night, but Elijah Taylor was a star for his side, making 77 tackles

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KEV’S KORNER

It’s been an interesting few weeks in the world of rugby league. We’ve had misbehaving players and misbehaving fans, but the majority of talk has been about referees. From controversial

video ref calls to discrepancies in rule interpretations on the field; it seems the list of things to discuss at the moment is endless.

But do we ever think what it might be like to be a referee on the receiving end of all the criticism? I mean, who would want to be a ref these days? And who will be the next generation of refs?

At the end of the day, there can’t be a game of footy without a referee, and we won’t have a new batch coming through unless we start looking after them.

Every rugby league fan wants a clear cut reason as to why their team lost. The easi-est thing to do is blame the ref!

As we saw in the Souths v Bulldogs game last weekend, even when they do get the call right for one team, the other team isn’t happy.

In any game, a ref may have to rule on 100 or more decisions on the field. Some will be the right call, and some will be wrong. It seems we only want to focus on the latter, and that’s a real shame. We never hear about, or praise a ref if they’ve had a really good game.

But they are human. They make mistakes. Let’s not forget – even the most seasoned of players will get it wrong some-times.

Now I don’t know what referees make, salary-wise, but it’s definitely not enough.

It doesn’t matter if they ref an under 10’s match or a State of Origin, it’s a tough job and they need a pretty thick skin to make it through.

We need to start focusing more on the positives in our game and try to get more young people involved to grow the sport.

And to do that, we can’t be scaring off the next generation of referees by throwing bottles at them as they come off the field, or hurling abuse at them on the sideline.

I tip my hat to all referees. You’re doing a great job and you’re an important part of our great game. Keep up the good work.

TIME TO GIVE THE REFS SOME PRAISE

Referees face constant, often unfair criticism during matches

WITH KEVIN KINGSTON

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Panthers prop Sam McKendry admits he’s never played 80 minutes of football in his life but is open to the prospect of possibly having to play close to that if the NRL introduces

changes to the interchange system next year.

Recently, the NRL announced that it was conducting a review of the interchange rules aimed at making the game safer and more exciting.

The review, to be done in consultation with State Leagues, the CRL, RLPA and UK Super League, will consider both the number of interchanges and the composi-tion of the bench.

Since 2012, interchanges in professional rugby league currently sit at 10 replace-ments per game but under a new inter-change structure that could be reduced to between six and eight replacements per game – allowing the little men to wreak havoc against the NRL’s tiring big men.

“I think it would be pretty good, it would be interesting,” McKendry told Extra Time.

“I’ve never played 80 minutes in my

life, probably the last time I played 80 was when I was a little kid.

“I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Meanwhile, 25-year-old McKendry has revealed he’s taken on more of a leader-ship role this season.

Following the departure of old friend Tim Grant to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the off-season, McKendry is now the only remaining member of Penrith’s famous Big Five which included himself, Grant, Lachlan Coote, Michael Jennings and Luke Lewis.

With Brent Kite and Nigel Plum also set to leave the club at season’s end through retirement, McKendry knows there’s no better time than now to lead Penrith into the new era.

“I sure do see myself as a leader. There’s good young kids coming through like Reggy (Reagan Campbell-Gillard) and it’s always good to show them the ropes,” he said.

“With Trent Merrin coming next year we’ve got plenty of go-forward leading into the future.”

While McKendry is generally a quiet character off the field, he’s far from it when a game is underway.

“I try and talk a little bit but my actions speak louder than words,” he said.

“I’m a nice guy off the field but when I cross that white line I know when to flick the switch.”

NATHAN TAYLOR natetaylor87

FEATURE STORY

Sam may play more minutes

Sam McKendry

With the NRL planning big changes to the interchange system, Sam McKendry says he’s open to playing 80 minutes per game in the future

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PANTHERS IN PICTURES

Panthersgo downIt was a wet and wild night at Pepper Stadium on Monday, with the Cowboys proving too good for the Panthers.Photographer Melinda Jane captured some of the big moments from the Easter Monday battle...

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The Penrith Panthers went down 30-10 to the North Queensland Cowboys in wet conditions at Pepper Stadium on Monday night. Photos: Melinda Jane

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HART TO HART

It’s about time NRL coaches took some responsibility for the disgraceful way their players and fans treat match officials.

There is no doubt that what happened on “BAD FRIDAY” at ANZ Stadium between the Bulldogs and Rabbitohs was a direct flow-on effect from Bulldogs coach Des Hasler’s lack of respect for officials.

For some time it has bothered me when attending Des Hasler’s press conferences the obvious contempt he has for NRL authority.

When the NRL attempted to minimise the criticism of its officials this year by banning coaches from criticising their performances what did Des do?

Like the smart arse kid at school he called them “Voldermort” – a reference to the fictional character in the Harry Potter books, “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”.

Perhaps by itself it is quite funny but it’s also complete contempt for the NRL rules and its authority.

What message do his players get when they see that from their coach? NRL rules are a joke and so are referees?

Of course it’s not just Hasler that does it, the super coach Wayne Bennett has been doing it for years as well.

It was no major surprise when Wayne’s number one student Darius Boyd began treating the media also with contempt. Monkey see, monkey do. So when James Graham, a very decent guy with plenty of respect and manners off the field, suddenly goes off his head screaming at a referee for a decision he doesn’t like where

does he get the idea that this is OK?Why would James Graham, David Klem-

mer and even Michael Liccha all think that getting up in the grill of a referee and swearing at him was OK?

Is it any surprise that fans also think that abusing officials is totally acceptable?

Yes, James Graham has copped plenty

for his poor behaviour last Friday night but his coach Des Hasler also needs to put his hand up and start doing a better job of respecting authority in the game as well.

In fact all coaches should take a well overdue lesson from this one and be better role models for their players and fans.

The game would be better for it.

DES HASLER MUST TAKE THE BLAME Canterbury captain James Graham

WITH STEVE HART

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Years supporting the Panthers: Since birth.Favourite current Panther and favourite ex-Panther: Elijah Taylor and Royce Simmons.Why do you support the Panthers? For me it’s just a natural thing to support the team in the city I grew up in. I’ve seen first-hand the strug-gles during the 1980’s through to the success of 1991 and 2003 and disappointments in between. You can take the boy out of Penrith but never Penrith out of the boy.What’s your best Panthers memo-ry? While the 2003 Grand Final holds so many great memories, it was the 1991 Grand Final for me.If the Panthers won the 2015 Grand Final, how would you react? I think it would be just like 2003. Tears flowing like a river!

NRL LADDER & FIXTURESCLUB PD W D L B F A +/- PTS

1 Rabbitohs 5 4 0 1 0 124 84 +40 8

2 Broncos 5 4 0 1 0 110 92 +18 8

3 Knights 5 4 0 1 0 86 73 +13 8

4 Roosters 5 3 0 2 0 120 76 +44 6

5 Storm 5 3 0 2 0 117 78 +39 6

6 W. Tigers 5 3 0 2 0 93 73 +20 6

7 Bulldogs 5 3 0 2 0 108 90 +18 6

8 Dragons 5 3 0 2 0 55 58 -3 6

9 Panthers 5 2 0 3 0 100 94 +6 4

10 Eels 5 2 0 3 0 105 111 -6 4

11 Warriors 5 2 0 3 0 91 100 -9 4

12 Raiders 5 2 0 3 0 85 110 -25 4

13 Cowboys 5 2 0 3 0 88 115 -27 4

14 Sharks 5 1 0 4 0 82 106 -24 2

15 Titans 5 1 0 4 0 76 127 -51 2

16 Sea Eagles 5 1 0 4 0 68 121 -53 2

ROUND 6

Broncos v RoostersFriday, April 10, 7.30pm

Suncorp Stadium

Sharks v KnightsFriday, April 10, 7.30pm

Remondis Stadium

Eels v TitansSaturday, April 11, 3pm

Pirtek Stadium

Warriors v TigersSaturday, April 11, 5.30pm

Mt Smart Stadium

Panthers v Sea EaglesSaturday, April 11, 7.30pm

Pepper Stadium

Raiders v StormSunday, April 12, 2pm

GIO Stadium

Dragons v BulldogsSunday, April 12, 4pm

ANZ Stadium

Rabbitohs v CowboysMonday, April 13, 7pm

ANZ Stadium

Extra Time Issue Number 006

PRINTED BY Spotpress Pty Ltd / PRODUCED BY The Western Weekender

EDITOR Troy Dodds / 4722 2998 / troy.dodds@westernweekender.com.au

SALES MANAGER Simon Gould / 4722 2998

simon.gould@westernweekender.com.au

COVER SHOT Panthers fullback Matt Moylan playing against the Cowboys on Monday

MATT PRITCHARDBrisbane

FAN OF THE WEEK

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FIRSTGRADE COMP Penrith Emus vs Norths

Penrith U20s vs Norths at Nepean Rugby Park • First game 12pm 11 April

Shute Shield1st Grade RugbySat, 11 April 3pm • Gates Open 11am

Training on Tues & ThursAny interested players

please contact Head CoachTeki Tuipolotu0404 133 993

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(away) North Sydney Oval

HOLDEN CUP NSW CUP

The Penrith Panthers have bounced back from a disappointing loss the week prior in Newcastle to defeat the third-placed North Queensland Cowboys 32-22 at Pepper Stadium on Monday night.

The Panthers were down by as much as 10 points in the first half but managed to steam home in the second to steal the much-needed win.

The Cowboys were the first to put points on the board when fullback Yamba Bowie offloaded the ball to his winger Gideon Mosby, who raced 25m to score.

Just three minutes later, the Panthers hit back through Maliko Filino, who broke through the Cowboys defence – palming off a number of players along the way – to score.

With Penrith down by two after miss-ing the conversion, the North Queens-landers were the next to post points when Brandon Smith went over from dummy half to extend the visitors’ lead 12-4.

The eight point deficit didn’t bother the Panthers, though, who made sure they were in next 14 minutes before the break. Panthers winger Braidon Burns scored a great try in the corner after receiving a brilliant cut out pass from

halfback Soni Luke to edge the home side closer.

But a Penrith mistake saw the Cow-boys strike once again six minutes be-fore the break to extend their lead 18-8.

With the clock winding down to the half-time siren, Panthers lock Tyrone May put on a brilliant individual display – sidestepping a number of players – to find a hole and score. The Dylan Edwards conversion was successful and Penrith were down 18-14 at half-time.

Down by just four points, Cameron Ciraldo’s men were full of confidence heading out for the second half and it showed on the scoreboard.

The Panthers scored the next three tries (Corey Harawira-Naera, Kaide Ellis and Braidon Burns) to open up a 14 point lead, 32-18, on the competition heavyweights.

A consolation try to the Cowboys not long before full-time made the score a little bit more respectable but the night well and truly belonged to the Mountain Men.

This Saturday evening the seventh-placed Panthers will return to Pepper Stadium to take on the Manly Sea Eagles in Round 6 of the Holden Cup. Manly are also coming off a win.

PANTHERS SHOW PLENTY OF SPIRIT TO POST COMEBACK VICTORY OVER THE COWBOYS

A 66th minute penalty goal to Will Smith ultimately proved to be the difference as Penrith recorded their first win since Round 2 in a high quality game despite the wet conditions.

The Penrith forward pack paved the way early on and allowed their halves to execute an aggressive kick chase game that would see the Tigers often start their sets from deep inside their own half.

Coach Garth Brennan was pleased with the result given the win was achieved against quality opposition along with the fact that Waqa Blake and Sam Anderson were late withdrawals, although Penrith did receive some good news with the inclusion of Isaac John.

After a tense opening 20 minute period, it was Penrith who finished the stronger in the first half to lead 10-nil at half-time thanks to two tries from centre Nu’u Akeripa.

In direct contrast to last week’s plethora of first half errors against the Knights, it took 34 minutes for the Panthers to make their only error of the first half.

However errors crept back into Penrith’s game early in the second half which al-lowed the Tigers to level the scores with 20 minutes remaining through tries to Chance Peni and Shannon McDonnell.

Penrith regained the lead five minutes later after a long run from Robert Jen-nings saw the centre rounded up short of the try-line. An ensuing penalty in the play the ball gifted Smith the simplest of penalty goals.

Wests Tigers had chances to steal the game but a combination of poor execu-tion and desperate Panthers defence allowed the defending premiers to hang on for a crucial two-point victory.

With that win behind them, Penrith go into this Saturday’s home game against Manly looking for back-to-back wins. The Sea Eagles will be no pushovers despite their lowly position on the ladder having taken ladder-leaders Mounties down to the wire before losing 26-24.

Manly, led by experienced fullback David Williams, have a decent forward pack that Penrith will need to overcome in order to win this one with the likes of Siosasa Vave, Jayden Hodges, Tyson Andrews and Blake Leary.

In team news, Penrith welcomes back Sam Anderson to start in the front row with Andy Saunders reverting back to the bench.

Joining him on the bench is Chris Smith, who switches places with James Fisher-Harris to start in the back-row

PANTHERS BACK TO THEIR WINNING WAYS BUT SEA EAGLES POSE A BIG DANGER THIS WEEKEND

BY NATHAN TAYLOR @natetaylor87

BY STEW MOSES @TheRiffMarn

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