FRI 01 MAY 2015 Issue 009 PROUDLY INDEPENDENT
LEWIS BROWN POSTER INSIDE Hang it up, Tweet us and you could win tickets to Panthers v Eels!
BY GEORGE, HE’S BACK George Jennings is back in the top grade
JUSTIN PASCOE Inside: Exclusive column from the CEO of the Penrith Panthers
17 Panthers picked for duty
Printed on 100% recycled paper
REP WEEKEND
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Friday 1 May 2015 « the western weekender • extra time
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2015 FUNDRAISING
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Marcella Zemanek Cure Brain Cancer Foundation
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35
Panthers too good for Sharks The Sharks came to Penrith Stadium hoping to extend their three match winning streak, but the Panthers had other ideas
TROY DODDS troydodds
I
njury-ravaged Penrith got their season back on track last Sunday when they downed the in-form Sharks 26-18 at Pepper Stadium in front of almost 13,000 fans. It was an important win for the Panthers who are now back in the top eight and have won four from their opening eight matches – the same number of wins they secured in the corresponding period last year. The Panthers were down 18-12 at the break but produced a near flawless second half to score 14 unanswered points and shut the Sharks out of the contest. “We’ve definitely had a rough few weeks, down a few troops and lost a little bit of confidence, so it was a bit of a shot in the arm,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said of the win. “We were pretty controlled throughout the game I thought. I thought we gifted them points in the first half, which was obviously disappointing, I thought we had every right to be ahead at half-time. “I thought we controlled the ball well and we kicked better in the second half. If
David Simmons and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak celebrate a try last weekend. Photo: Melinda Jane
UNI-GIRLS
the Sharks were going to do anything they were going to have to do it for themselves and I think that was the difference.” Cleary can now focus on the middle part of the season where at some point, the Panthers will welcome back a range of injured troops including Jamie Soward, James Segeyaro, Peter Wallace, Brent Kite, Elijah Taylor, Dean Whare and Josh Mansour. The Panthers have more than $2 million worth of talent sitting on the sidelines injured, but only Jamal Idris won’t be back this year. “I think we play four games in seven or eight weeks so somewhere in there we’ll start getting some troops back,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of disruption, a lot of players missing – hopefully we can get some continuity back because we won the first two games and I thought that was based around the synergy of our team and the combinations and since then we haven’t had that.” Stand-in captain and man of the match Lewis Brown said it was a fantastic team effort against the Sharks. “We shared the workload today and our game plan was very simple – to complete sets and get into the arm wrestle,” the New Zealand international said.
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FEATURE STORY
Friday 1 May 2015 « the western weekender • extra time
36
PANTHER RUMBLINGS
SEND YOUR PANTHERS GOSSIP AT NEWS@WESTERNWEEKENDER.COM.AU
with the
Masked Panther
» Jeremy Latimore is not a player who
stays down without a good reason so there was obvious concerns for his welfare when he laid strewn over the Pepper Stadium turf last Sunday after being the victim of a dangerous tackle from Chris Heighington and Michael Ennis. Latimore may have been shaken by the incident but he was medically fine and it didn’t take long for him to return. Heighington was charged with a Grade 3 Dangerous Throw by the Match Review Committee on Monday and has been suspended for three matches.
» In a great touch, Penrith’s Holden Cup
LATIMORE SHOWS PURE GUTS TO PLAY ON DESPITE BIG TACKLE
squad had their jerseys presented to them by Sergeant Damien Brown last Sunday. He’s a Special Forces member who has been deployed to both Timor and Iraq. It added to what was a fantastic day at Pepper Stadium on Sunday with the Penrith club, like all NRL clubs who hosted matches over the ANZAC weekend, doing a fantastic job in honouring the Australian men and women who have served our country.
» Lewis Brown may be 28-years-old with
more than 130 first grade games to his name, but last Sunday’s match against Cronulla marked the first time he’s ever received a Man of the Match award. It was also his first time captaining the Panthers – the club’s fourth on-field captain this season!
» Penrith’s win over Cronulla was the
most watched pay television program on Sunday, attracting 175,000 viewers on Fox Sports. Talking of TV ratings, what’s going on with the A-League? Last Saturday night’s match between the Wanderers and Perth Glory couldn’t even beat a re-run of the 1987 romantic flick ‘Dirty Dancing’, which had 48,000 viewers.
» Penrith’s halves crisis is most likely at
an end with Jamie Soward expected to be named on Tuesday to play Brisbane next Friday night at Suncorp Stadium. The only question now is whether coach Ivan Cleary persists with Isaac John as his halves partner until Peter Wallace returns, or goes with the Soward and Will Smith partnership that guided the Panthers to within one win of a grand final last year. Elijah Taylor and Dean Whare are also likely to be back against Brisbane.
Trainer Ron Palmer speaks with Jeremy Latimore on Sunday rith Stadium but something slipped up last weekend – Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield was somehow allowed into the ground.
» The release of the special ANZAC jersey
has helped the Panthers record some incredible merchandise sales over the last couple of months. In fact, I’m told that sales of all merchandise in the opening two months of the season is up so much, that it could be a record.
» Security is normally pretty good at Pen- » The Men of League Foundation and
Panthers will combine for a great night to help former rugby league player Ray Blacklock. Blacklock started his career at Penrith 1976, playing four seasons with the club and captaining the Under 23’s side to its 1978 premiership. He’s fallen on tough times and this upcoming event will be a great opportunity for the rugby league community to show how much they care. The event is on Saturday, May 23 at the Panthers Pavilion. For details call the Men of League Foundation on 8765 2232.
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37 the western weekender • extra time » Friday 1 May 2015
FEATURE STORY
By George, he’s back! An injury to winger Josh Mansour has again given George Jennings an opportunity to shine in first grade
NATHAN TAYLOR natetaylor87
G
un Penrith winger George Jennings has praised fellow winger and Panthers veteran David Simmons for making him a better player. The 21-year-old, who returned to first grade last week, singled out 30-yearold Simmons and recent Australian Test winger Josh Mansour for helping improve his game. “Some of the boys like Sauce and David Simmons give me advice, they help out a lot,” Jennings revealed to Extra Time. “Sometimes I speak to my brother [Michael] but we really don’t talk about footy too much.” Jennings, who has played three first grade games to date, believes the 188-game veteran in Simmons would make a great ‘wing coach’ when his career is finally over. “Dave’s helped me out a lot with little things like discipline and my defence. At training he sees what we’re doing and he tells us how we can get better. It’s helped out a lot, he’s awesome,” Jennings said. Meanwhile, it was a successful return to the top grade for Jennings last weekend.
George Jennings playing in his first NRL match against the Bulldogs
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bonded with the team and I’m just happy to be back,” he said. “From that initial stint in first grade I learnt how to prepare throughout the week and how to mentally get ready for it. “That first game, I didn’t really know what to expect until I ran out on the field, but now I do.” During Jennings’ five week absence in the top grade, his 19-year-old brother Robert Jennings made his top grade debut.
The local junior, who was once again filling in for an injured Josh Mansour, played in Penrith’s opening two games of the season before returning to the NSW Cup upon Mansour’s return. With Mansour expected to be out for up to six weeks with a knee injury, Jennings is hoping to make the wing position his own – even if it’s only for the short term. “My debut still feels like yesterday… it was only two games but it felt like I really
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INSIDE STORY
WITH JUSTIN PASCOE CEO, PENRITH DISTRICT RUGBY LEAGUE
FINDING THE COMPETITIVE EDGE ne of my main responsibilities here at Panthers is driving the organisation to secure a sustainable competitive edge. Why is this such a key focus of our organisation and why do I deem this to be such an integral part of our strategy for the now and moving forward? Having the capability to create a competitive advantage is the ability to stay ahead of present or potential competition, thus superior performance reached through competitive advantage will ensure the Panthers remain leaders in the market or space we exist in. Also it provides the understanding that resources held by our organisation and the business strategy will have a profound impact on generating competitive advantage. As an organisation, we are already planning strategically for 2016 and how to ensure that we maintain our competitive advantages, whether it is in membership, merchandise, corporate partnership, game day or any other commercial category. From an on field perspective, the coaches and recruitment staff are plan-
O Public Show Day Sunday 31st May, 2015 - 8am to 3pm Venue: Museum of Fire, Penrith, NSW CHARITY EVENT
FREE Amusement Rides and Displays Live Entertainment on Stage ADMISSION: Adults $15 (includes up to three children under 16 free with paying Adult) Concession $10 (excludes free child entry) OPEN TO HEAVY COMMERCIAL & SPECIALISED VEHICLES OVER 30 YEARS (PRE-ENTRY REQUIRED) EXHIBITORS ONLY: Saturday arrival and setup, club run and night function. More details available with entry form. FREE overnight JHTWPUN MHJPSP[PLZ IYLHRMHZ[ [LH JVɈLL OVZWP[HSP[` [LU[ CONTACT: THPS'T\ZL\TVɉYL JVT H\ c c ^^^ T\ZL\TVɉYL JVT H\
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Friday 1 May 2015  the western weekender • extra time
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ning out to 2018 , working diligently on determining what the playing list will look like then and does it fit under all the rules of the current salary cap. Externally we are always looking at benchmarking ourselves against other elite organisations that perform best practices in other codes. This is a key part of our strategy to maintain our competitive advantage and it would be negligent not to look not only domestically but internationally at other elite organisations and how they maintain their competitive advantage, whether across administration, commercial, high performance, coaching, medical or technology. Competitive advantage is a key determinant of superior performance and it will ensure survival and prominent placing in the market. Superior performance being the ultimate desired goal of the Panthers, then competitive advantage must become the foundation for everything we do. How do you think the Panthers are going on and off the field at the moment? Email your thoughts to us at news@ westernweekender.com.au.
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the western weekender • extra time » Friday 1 May 2015
KEV’S KORNER
39 WITH KEVIN KINGSTON
W FUTURE IS IN VERY SAFE HANDS
ith eight rounds of the NRL, NSW Cup and NYC seasons done and dusted, and with the Representative Round upon us, it’s a perfect time to mention the successful year our Harold Matthews and SG Ball sides have had, with both making the finals. The Matts boys finished the regular season in seventh position after winning four games and drawing one. They were knocked out in the first week of the finals after facing a strong Souths team, who eventually pipped them at the post in a 22-20 nail-biter. It was a sad end to a good season but no-one can knock the boys for their effort and attitude. A couple of standouts to mention were Shannon Harris, Thomas Lofts, Dylan McBain and Jake Tago. Despite a disappointing start, our SG Ball team soon found their feet and made a massive charge towards the finals, finishing the regular season third with six wins, one draw and one loss. They only lost one game the entire season, which is a real credit to the playing group and first time coach Ben Harden. Penrith won their first finals series match 26-14 and they play the Sharks this weekend for a spot in the Grand Final. Carl Winterstein, Nathan Cleary, Jerome Luai, Liam Martin, Wade Egan, Reed Izzard and Daniel Brown have all had brilliant seasons so far. These results are a good indication of the local talent we have coming up through
Bryce Cartwright is a proud local junior the Penrith District Junior Rugby League system. The Panthers have a raft of local juniors who have become regular fist graders as a result of their development in our Matts and SG Ball squads, including Matt Moylan, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Bryce
Cartwright , George Jennings and younger brother Rob. All have been regular fixtures in our NRL and NSW Cup teams over the past two years and most have been selected in representative sides this weekend. Good luck to everyone!
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PANTHERS POSTER
Friday 1 May 2015 « the western weekender • extra time
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15 $
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the western weekender • extra time » Friday 1 May 2015
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Friday 1 May 2015 « the western weekender • extra time
42
How much does one
cage egg really cost?
You wouldn’t keep your pet like this. But hidden away in sheds across Australia, hens who are just as smart and sensitive as the family pet spend every waking moment in a cage — all for the sake of a cheap egg. She cannot sit comfortably or stretch her wings. Without the ability to exercise, her body is weak. Chances are that she, or one of her cage mates, is living
with an untreated broken bone. But trapped in a cage, in a shed with thousands of cages, no-one is ever likely to notice. Here she will spend 30 long hours to produce just one cage egg. The first time she will see the outside world — the world she was meant to live in — will be on the last day of her life, as she is trucked to the slaughterhouse.
“THAT AIN’T NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY” MAKE CAGE EGGS HISTORY. AnimalsAustralia.org/ladies
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43 the western weekender • extra time » Friday 1 May 2015
FEATURE STORY
Proud Panthers on show Matt Moylan heads a long list of Panthers players who will take on representative duties this weekend
NATHAN TAYLOR natetaylor87
T
here was once a time, not too long ago, when the Panthers were criticised for not having any representative players on their roster. But those times are long left in the past with 17 Penrith players chosen to represent various sides during this weekend’s NRL Representative Round. On Friday night when Australia take on New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium, Penrith’s Lewis Brown will be the only Panther representing the Kiwis against the Kangaroos after Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who was selected to make his long-awaited Test debut, was forced to withdraw from the game due to suspension. The one game ban was another huge blow for the 19-year-old, who was also forced to withdraw from the Four Nations last November with a fractured foot. In the weekend’s other big match, Penrith will have five players represent City Origin who will take on Country Origin in Wagga Wagga on Sunday. This year’s City Country match is seen as a true Origin selection game with a number of NSW positions still up for grabs.
City Slickers: Waqa Blake, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Matt Moylan, Bryce Cartwright and Tyrone Peachey. Photo: Anthony Johnson Matt Moylan, Waqa Blake, Tyrone Peachey and Reagan Campbell-Gillard will all represent City while Bryce Cartwright will act as 18th man. Two Pacific Test matches will take place at Cbus Super Stadium on the Gold Coast this Saturday with Fiji taking on Papua New Guinea and Tonga battling Samoa. Penrith hooker Apisai Koroisau is the lone Panther in the Fiji squad while Panthers lower graders Wellington Albert
‘
and Stanton Albert will represent PNG. In the night’s other Test, Penrith’s Sika Manu will captain the Tongan team with fellow Panthers backrower Ben MurdochMasila joining the bench. Meanwhile, rookie Rob Jennings will play for the Junior Kangaroos; James Fisher-Harris and Sione Katoa the Junior Kiwis; and Sam Anderson and Leilani Latu will play for the VB NSW Cup Representative Team against Queensland Residents.
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NRL LADDER & FIXTURES CLUB
PD
W
D
L
B
F
A
+/-
PTS
Broncos
8
6
0
2
0
170
138
+32
12
2 Dragons
8
6
0
2
0
112
86
+26
12
3 Storm
8
5
0
3
0
158
116
+42
10
4 Cowboys
8
5
0
3
0
172
175
-3
10
5 W. Tigers
8
4
0
4
0
175
149
+26
8
6 Rabbitohs
8
4
0
4
0
168
162
+6
8
7 Titans
8
4
0
4
0
178
177
+1
8
8 Panthers
8
4
0
4
0
154
156
-2
8
9 Knights
8
4
0
4
0
138
149
-11
8
10 Raiders
8
4
0
4
0
155
168
-13
8
11 Bulldogs
8
4
0
4
0
156
175
-19
8
12 Roosters
8
3
0
5
0
166
129
+37
6
13 Warriors
8
3
0
5
0
175
182
-8
6
14 Sharks
8
3
0
5
0
140
148
-8
6
15 Eels
8
3
0
5
0
165
199
-34
6
16 Sea Eagles
8
2
0
6
0
108
181
-73
4
1
Extra Time Issue Number 009 PRINTED BY Spotpress Pty Ltd / PRODUCED BY The Western Weekender EDITOR Troy Dodds / 4722 2998 / troy.dodds@westernweekender.com.au COVER PHOTO Tyrone Peachey in action for Penrith against Cronulla last weekend SALES MANAGER Simon Gould / 4722 2998 simon.gould@westernweekender.com.au
REP ROUND Australia v New Zealand Friday, May 1, 8pm Suncorp Stadium City v Country Sunday, May 3, 4pm McDonalds Park, Wagga
DALLIN OUTED FOR ONE GAME Penrith winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak will miss out on making his Test debut for New Zealand after he was charged with a Grade One Dangerous Throw by the NRL’s Match Review Committee. The incident happened late in Penrith’s 26-18 win over Cronulla last weekend. Watene-Zelezniak opted not to fight the charge even though the suspension length wouldn’t have changed if he lost the case at the judiciary. Watene-Zelezniak will be free to play for Penrith against Brisbane next week.
FAN OF THE WEEK Years supporting the Panthers: 22 years. Favourite current Panther and exPanther? David Simmons and Ryan Girdler. Glenmore Why do you support the Panthers? Park It’s that indescribable home town pride you get when you say you are from Penrith. When I was in Boston in September last year, people would ask about my Panthers cap and I would tell them all about the mighty Panthers! What’s your best Panthers memory? Aside from the 2003 Grand Final, the 32-31 comeback against the Wests Tigers in 2000. What’s your prized piece of PanBrought to you by… thers memorabilia that you’d never sell? My framed Grand Final jersey from 2003 that is fully signed by the team.
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BY NATHAN TAYLOR
@natetaylor87
WEEK OFF WELL DESERVED AFTER PENRITH THRASH HAPLESS CRONULLA 34-4 The Penrith Panthers are now outright second heading into this weekend’s representative round following a 34-4 demolition of the Cronulla Sharks last Sunday. The 15th placed Sharks were no match for the high flying Panthers who put on a spectacular performance in front of their home crowd at Pepper Stadium. Cameron Ciraldo’s men were at their dominant best from start to finish, opening the scoring in the second minute through James Fisher-Harris, who took a great offload from Fuimanu Enise and then proceeded to carry a number of Sharks defenders over the line to score. Penrith led 4-0 after missing the conversion. Not too long after the Panthers scored their second of the morning when big man Oliver Clark charged onto a short pass from Tyrone May to crash over the line. This time Penrith made the conversion to lead 10-0. Not much transpired for both sides over the next 15 minutes, that was until Tyone May scooped up an offload from FisherHarris 40m out to race away and score a remarkable individual try. Penrith once again made the conversion to lead 16-0. The Sharks managed to post their first
points before the end of the half through winger Levi Sopi, but the Panthers weren’t done with scoring themselves with May finding Soni Luke who dummied his way over the line for his first try of the game. Following another successful conversion, Penrith led 22-4 at the break. Due to some careless errors it took Penrith a while to warm back into the match during the early part of the second half, but when they finally did, it was all too easy. Maliko Filino extended Penrith’s lead in the 54th minute when he took a pretty short-side pass to score in the corner. Penrith made the conversion to lead 28-4. Shortly after the Panthers were in again after the brilliant May cut out two defenders with a high pass that landed in Enese’s hands, who got himself his first try. Corey Harawira-Naera was once again perfect with the boot, which saw Penrith win the game with ease 34-4. Penrith will now join the rest of the Holden Cup with a week’s rest before they battle the top of the table Brisbane Broncos next Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
NSW CUP
BY STEW MOSES
@TheRiffMarn
PATCHED UP PANTHERS END UNBEATEN RUN OF MOUNTIES AND EDGE CLOSER TO TOP OF THE TABLE It’s not often you go into a game against the top team in any competition with a centre playing his first senior game at fullback, a hooker playing his first ever game at five-eighth and a prop playing out in the centres for the first time. But that’s exactly what Penrith did, relying on a simple game-plan built around a deep kick-chase game and their defence, the best in the NSW Cup, to end Mounties’ seven game unbeaten run and move within a game of top spot with a gritty 16-10 win. Despite the stormy conditions that required play to be temporarily suspended early in the second half, the game was a gripping affair played with a level of intensity that matched the hype surrounding the clash between the competition’s two best teams so far in 2015. There was mixed news for Penrith when David Simmons and Will Smith withdrew from the side in order to play first grade but regained the services of Tupou Sopoaga and Sam Anderson in a side forced to play several players out of position. As was the case in the previous two games, Penrith got off to a slow start and trailed 10-0 after 25 minutes through tries to Bill Tupou and Mitch Barnett but once again, the Panthers clicked into gear late
in the first half. A 40/20 kick from Sam Scarlett into the wind, allowed the Panthers to open their account after Brendan Attwood scored an individual try from 10 metres out in the 29th minute, before scores were level at half-time courtesy of some Robert Jennings magic. The defining moment of the game came in the 53rd minute when Bill Tupou was crunched in a tackle from Ben MurdochMasila close to his own line, with Tom Eisenhuth on hand to pounce on the loose ball and dive over in the corner to put Penrith in the lead for the first time. Mounties dominated field territory but were denied repeatedly by resolute Penrith defence, before Penrith sealed the win in the 73rd minute through a Katoa penalty goal. Penrith’s NSW Cup team was rewarded for its consistency with the following representative selections; Sam Anderson, Leilani Latu (VB NSW Cup representative team – coached by none other than Garth Brennan), Ben Murdoch-Masila (Tonga – with Brennan’s assistant coach, David Tangata-Toa, the Tongan Assistant Coach), Robert Jennings (Junior Kangaroos), Sione Katoa (Junior Kiwis) and Wellington Albert (PNG). Penrith have the weekend off.
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the western weekender • extra time » Friday 1 May 2015
HOLDEN CUP
45
Friday 1 May 2015 « the western weekender • extra time
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PRD Nationwide 4732 3711
Country Brewer 4731 5444
Leisure Pools 1300splash
Hertz Penrith 4731 6344
Western Weekender 4722 2998
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Redback Auto 4731 1110
Maxi Buses 4729 0666
Federal Lindsay MP 4731 3700
Ross Fowler & CO 0419 738 484
Harvey Norman 4737 5111
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Rhys and Aiden
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ABL Tile & Bathroom Centre 9623 0499
Dickies Towing 4736 4400
Penrith BEC 4721 5011
Power Smart 0415 982 093
NRL Footy Show Channel Nine
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? T S U R T U O Y N A C O WH R 10 YEARS TRUSTED PART OF PENRITH FOR OVE REDBACK AUTOMOTIVES HAS BEEN A
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Ph:
4731 1110
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Cnr Castlereagh Road & Luggard Street PENRITH
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When home isn’t safe, there’s not always somewhere else to stay. We provide care to Australians in crisis and we see the need every day.
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