Extra Time July 23 2021

Charlie Staines.

Photo: NRL Photos.

MASKED PANTHER Tevita Pangai Junior: What actually happened

PAGE 28

KENNY’S TAKE Mitch Kenny reveals details behind Penrith’s move to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland

PAGE 31

CELEBRITY TIPSTERS See who our local celebrities are backing this weekend

PAGES 36-37 JOEL CAINE

SEN personality says NRL should trial new rules in ‘dead rubber’ matches

PAGE 39

BRONCO BUSTERS PENRITH AND BRISBANE DO BATTLE IN SUNCORP STADIUM SHOWDOWN MATCH PREVIEW: PAGE 27

Friday, July 23, 2021 « the western weekender • extra time

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the final word

v

the western weekender • extra time » Friday, July 23, 2021

match preview

Brought to you by

Kurt Capewell in action against the Warriors. Photo: NRL Photos.

TROY DODDS

S

uch is the weirdness of COVID-19’s impact on the NRL, the Penrith Panthers will call Suncorp Stadium home for the first time this Saturday night when they face the venue’s usual permanent tenants, the Brisbane Broncos.

There is a huge test at play here, not so much for the lowly Broncos, but for Ivan Cleary’s one-time Premiership favourites.

Earlier this season plenty of people were prepared to call this year’s competition a one horse race, with the Panthers looking near-certainties to lift the trophy at Stadium Australia on the first Sunday in October.

The Melbourne Storm had lost two games in a row early in the campaign and were adjusting to life without Cameron Smith, so they probably wouldn’t be there at the business end, many said.

Fast forward to Round 19 and Melbourne have bolted. Sure, the Panthers share the

SATURDAY, JULY 24 | 7.35PM | SUNCORP STADIUM | REFEREE: BEN CUMMINS competition lead but Craig Bellamy’s side is carving up opposition teams like it’s a training run, taking over as Premiership favourites and looking more and more likely to go back-to-back as the weeks march on.

Penrith meantime have been winning, but not convincingly. I think we can all accept that a 30-16 scoreline last weekend was far from impressive given the Warriors played the entire second half without any available interchange players, while the victory over Parramatta a fortnight ago was shaky at best.

But as the competition ladder shows, you get two points for a win regardless of how impressive it was – and with Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary missing, it’s somewhat acceptable that Penrith haven’t been as crisp as the Storm during this middle part of the season. That, however, needs to change.

Ahead of a showdown with the Storm

next weekend that is shaping as the Minor Premiership decider, this Penrith team simply must put the cleaners through Brisbane. They must show their superiority, and sound a warning sign to the Storm that they are well and truly still in this fight.

The Broncos are shot – letting the Wests Tigers put 40 points on you is evidence enough of that. They’ve got some decent young players but it’s clear things aren’t clicking at the moment and there’s likely some serious questions coming coach Kevin Walters’ way in the off-season.

Once a side pressures Brisbane, the house begins to collapse. Penrith have the players to provide almost 80 minutes of pressure and there’s no question they should be able to put Walters’ men to the sword on Saturday night.

Jarome Luai returns for Penrith and while it’ll be Nathan Cleary’s comeback that

PANTHERS

KAYO FOX LEAGUE ABC 702 2GB 873

really puts the wheels back on Penrith’s campaign, Luai coming back into the side is a monstrous bonus – his energy in the halves will certainly lift Penrith and create more try-scoring opportunities.

As much as it improved last week, the halves combination of Matt Burton and Tyrone May simply doesn’t deliver the points it needs to.

I’m expecting the likes of Kurt Capewell, Viliame Kikau and Isaah Yeo to have big games. This is the type of match that big, mobile edge forwards can make their own.

As the season enters the business end, sides like the Broncos will start to wilt further as the prospect of playing Finals football disappears. While the Suncorp factor may play a part, I can’t see Penrith being beaten here. But will they put the foot down?

Tip: Panthers by 26.

BRONCOS

1 Dylan Edwards

10 James FIsher-Harris

1 Tesi Niu

2 Charlie Staines

11 Viliame Kikau

2 Corey Oates

10 Payne Haas 11 Alex Glenn (c)

3 Stephen Crichton

12 Kurt Capewell

3 Kotoni Staggs

12 Jordan Riki

4 Matt Burton

13 Isaah Yeo (c)

4 Herbie Farnworth

13 Kobe Hetherington

5 Brian To’o

14 Mitch Kenny

5 Jamayne Isaako

14 Corey Paix

6 Jarome Luai

15 Scott Sorensen

6 Tyson Gamble

15 Rhys Kennedy

7 Tyrone May

16 Spencer Leniu

7 Brodie Croft

16 Keenan Palasia

8 Moses Leota

17 Liam Martin

8 Thomas Flegler

17 TC Tobati

9 Apisai Koroisau

18 Brent Naden 19 Paul Momirovski

9 Jake Turpin

18 Ethan Bullemor 19 Jesse Arthars

27

Friday, July 23, 2021 « the western weekender • extra time

panther rumblings

WITH THE MASKED PANTHER

HOW PANTHERS LANDED TPJ ! By the time the Tevita Pangai Jr to Penrith story broke on Tuesday morning, it had been dead and buried for at least a week. Then, within 24 hours, it was not only revived, but a deal was done. The Panthers were somewhat interested when the prospect of signing the 25-year-old popped up a few weeks ago, but couldn’t make the deal work. However, COVID-19 and the Queensland relocation changed things dramatically. James Fisher-Harris is about to exit the camp for the birth of his child, and will need to quarantine upon his return. That will leave Penrith without their best forward for up to three weeks. Talks dramatically escalated on Wednesday and it was confirmed that Pangai Jr would leave Brisbane, join Penrith for the run towards October and then head to Canterbury for the 2022 season and beyond. It’s a huge coup and a great signing for the club. ! Panthers fans won’t be asked to pledge their membership this season, with the club to instead offset any lost matches for season ticket holders against next year’s pricing. So far that’s two games – against the Eels and Broncos, but there’s an expectation that scheduled games against Souths and Wests Tigers won’t go ahead at BlueBet Stadium either. The credits will be applied at the end of the season once 2022 memberships go on sale. ! There were a few raised eyebrows when Penrith’s ‘home’ game against Brisbane this Saturday night got scheduled at Suncorp Stadium, the home ground of their opponents. A simple switch of the 5.30pm and 7.30pm games would have allowed a double header at Sunshine Coast Stadium, where Penrith are based, instead of Suncorp. Given the NRL’s enormous challenges at present, nobody kicked up a huge stink, but it was a curious call. ! Nathan Cleary will be named to make his comeback from a shoulder injury against Melbourne when team lists for Round 20 are revealed on Tuesday afternoon. However, he’ll still have to go through a number of final tests before being given the green light to play in the all-important clash.

Tevita Pangai Jr is heading to Penrith. Photo: NRL Photos.

! Spotted: The Panthers copped a mention on American sports podcast ‘The Sore Losers’ this week. After initially thinking the Panthers were an AFL team, Lunchbox, Eddie and Ray now know all about the mighty team from Penrith.

! Spotted: Nobody was taking any chances at last week’s clash between Penrith and the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium – even the coin toss was undertaken with masks on!

! Spotted: Viliame Kikau producing a first class post-try celebration, drinking some Kava after bagging an early fourpointer against the Warriors. ! Despite the tough circumstances for business at present, Penrith’s corporate team is still working hard. Last week they confirmed the signing of Turner Freeman Lawyers as a sponsor for the next two seasons, extending their current deal.

series was special for all New South Wales players, but perhaps none more so than Brian To’o. The young Penrith winger will use his match payments to help his parents financially, just like he did when he signed his most recent, more lucrative club contract. The humble winger is quickly becoming one of the most liked players at Penrith and continues to be one of the club’s great feel-good stories.

! Penrith’s relocation to Queensland is not a usual away trip for the players, who are used to having roommates to contend with in small hotel rooms. Not only are the boys enjoying resort style living, but there’s no roommates in sight – players have a room each, mainly to cater for partners who will soon join the camp. They travelled up earlier this week and will enter quarantine before joining the players. !

Winning this year’s State of Origin

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the western weekender • extra time » Friday, July 23, 2021

feature

ISAAH YEO’S CALL TO ARMS NATHAN TAYLOR

I

nstead of rolling up to BlueBet Stadium tomorrow night to watch one of the most lopsided matches of the season, local Panthers supporters will be parked on their two-seater couch catching Penrith v Brisbane live on TV. With Greater Sydney in lockdown and the state border shut off, there will be roughly 500 Panthers supporters at Suncorp Stadium tomorrow evening for what should be a Panthers home game.

To make matters worse, there will be thousands of Broncos fans in the stands essentially giving them two home games against Penrith this season.

Speaking via Zoom from the Sunshine Coast this week, co-captain Isaah Yeo said crowd support makes a huge difference and he’s calling on all south-east Queenslandbased Panthers supporters to buy a ticket.

“Fan support helps. We have a good record at home (BlueBet Stadium) over the

last 18 months and I can’t remember the last time we lost there,” he said.

“I think every team prefers to play at home – that’s where you are most comfortable – but at the moment this is our new home and it’s something we have to adapt to.

“It’s disappointing not to be playing at Penrith with all the fans, but I’m sure they’re happy the game is still going and they can sit at home and watch it.”

Last Sunday afternoon, during Penrith’s sloppy 30-16 win over New Zealand, it was the Warriors fans outnumbering their opponents. Yeo is hopeful more Panthers supporters will join the chorus this weekend.

“The Warriors had the majority the other day and I’d expect a pretty big crowd on Saturday night, and I’d probably assume there won’t be many Panthers fans again,” the Blues lock said.

“The situation we’re in is obviously disappointing not just for Penrith but Sydneybased fans as a whole. It’s disappointing they don’t get to see their teams play in the flesh, you’ve got to feel for them, but we’re

Isaah Yeo in action against Melbourne earlier this year. Photo: NRL Photos.

fortunate the game is still going and the fans can watch from the comfort of their home back in Sydney.”

Following this weekend’s game against 15th-placed Brisbane, the equal competition leaders have an incredibly tough run home, which includes games against Melbourne, the Roosters, South Sydney

and Parramatta. Yeo said the next seven weeks, while definitely intimidating, will set Penrith up for an exciting Finals Series come September.

“I think it helps because you want to be versing those teams and you want to be battle hardened for the semi finals,” the 27-year-old said.

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the western weekender • extra time » Friday, July 23, 2021

feature

PANTHERS GET DOWN TO BUSINESS NATHAN TAYLOR

W

hether it be a game of chess or a swim in the pool, Panthers players are settling into their new Sunshine Coast home nicely one week in.

While there were some teething issues early, they are quickly getting used to their tropical surroundings and making the most of their opportunity.

Speaking with Extra Time via Zoom on Tuesday, newly re-signed hooker Mitch Kenny was full of praise for the NRL and how they were able to keep the game alive despite so much uncertainty around the country.

“The NRL has done a fantastic job getting us all up here and we’re very fortunate to be on the Sunny Coast with beautiful weather and great facilities,” he said.

“It’s a privilege to keep doing what we’re doing and being able to play.

Massive hats off to the NRL to be able to pull this off.”

While on social media it might appear the Panthers are running amok around the Twin Waters resort like they’re on Year 8 camp, Kenny confirmed the

players know when it’s time to put the pool toys away and get down to business.

“Maybe there were a little bit of teething [issues] the first day around training and stuff like that, but we’re trying to make sure we’re not treating it like a holiday and we’re not taking for granted the opportunity we have,” he said.

Unlike other away trips, on this occasion each Panther has their own room at the fabulous Maroochydore resort.

But that’s all expected to change in the coming weeks when the players’ partners and families arrive in town.

On Monday night, the families of NRL players were finally given clearance by the Queensland Government to head north. The families will spend the next two weeks in hotel quarantine on the Gold Coast before reuniting with their loved ones at the various hubs around south-east Queensland.

Kenny, whose girlfriend Isabella will join him in paradise shortly, said it was a nervous wait for information on when families could fly up.

“I’ve got my girlfriend coming up to join me, which will be really good and I’m looking forward to that,” the 23-year-old said.

“It’s been a pretty anxious wait to see what’s happening there with families and people with partners who are pregnant. It’s nice to know that we’ll be able to get our families up here, but unfortunately I have to leave the dog at home.”

Kenny is one of the most popular members of the Panthers’ playing group, with the hardworking Windsor Wolves junior inking a new one-year contract to remain at Penrith just last week.

“I’m happy, I just feel like this is the best place for me,” Kenny said.

“Panthers is my home and these are the guys that gave me the opportunity to play first grade and live out my childhood dream.

“They’ve been nothing short of awesome working with me and my development over the last few years.

I want to repay the faith and do good things for this club.”

Those thoughts were echoed last week by Panthers General Manager of Rugby League, Matt Cameron.

“He’s always made the most of his opportunities in first grade and we’re delighted he agrees Panthers is the best place to continue to develop his game,” Cameron said.

Mitch Kenny has re-signed. Photo: NRL Photos.

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the western weekender • extra time » Friday, July 23, 2021

33

Friday, July 23, 2021 « the western weekender • extra time

My Penrith Panthers three-quarter season report card

lang on league

with Peter Lang

W

ith three wins, two losses and a ‘bye’ the Panthers navigated their way through a player draining State of Origin series reasonably well. The two losses came when all Origin players were out, except for Liam Martin against the Sharks, so the coaching staff would be reasonably happy.

ences showed he was learning a little on the run and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. They’ll handle this period better next year.

GRADE: B OVERALL GRADE: B+ What caught my eye last week: It would have to be the courage and resilience shown by the Warriors against the Panthers last Sunday. If they could play with such spirit and heart every week, they would easily be a Top 8 team.

Attack: With so many players out, at times, the Panthers’ attack did look clunky but it’s only to be expected. Still the team managed to score 105 points in five games.

Not as impressive as the first two quarters but given the circumstances still an average of 21 points per game.

GRADE: B+

What game I’m looking forward to: After their last-start win against the Broncos and an excellent ‘fly-on-the-wall’ documentary series about the Tigers on Fox League, it’s now time for Madge’s Men to take down a top team like the Sea Eagles. If they can do that, they’ll show that they’ve finally turned the corner and may just be Finals bound in 2021.

Defence: Apart from the 26 points the Tigers scored against a decimated Panthers outfit, over five games the side conceded 85 points at an average of 17 a game. Well up on the single digits of the first 12 rounds but again understandable.

GRADE: BPanthers coach Ivan Cleary. Photo: NRL Photos.

Player performances: All Origin players who backed up played extremely well with Liam Martin, Brian To’o and Isaah Yeo being the three standouts. Having so many stars out gave the Panthers an opportunity to blood some new players with Izack Tago impressing the most.

GRADE: B+

Who needs to lift: Stephen Crichton, Tyrone May and Spencer Leniu have all played well at times but didn’t really lead the way when the Origin players were out.

May showed some improvement against the Warriors and Leniu has been hampered a little by a lack of game time but Crichton,

who has been solid, simply needs to ramp it up over the final eight weeks.

Coaching: The coaching staff definitely did their best during this difficult Origin period but the fact that coach Ivan Cleary talked about it so much in press confer-

My Tips for the week: Eels, Roosters, Storm, Rabbitohs, Sea-Eagles, Panthers, Dragons, Sharks.

The final word: Despite being a Panthers supporter, I have to say I agree with coach Ivan Cleary that the Melbourne Storm are now the benchmark in the competition.

They are simply brilliant.

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CLUB

PD

W

D

L

B

F

1

Storm

17

15

0

2

1

632

198 +434 32

2

Panthers

17

15

0

2

1

499

173

+326 32

3

Rabbitohs

17

14

0

3

1

503

346

+157 30

4

Eels

17

13

0

4

1

474

255

+219 28

5

Roosters

17

11

0

6

1

447

349

+98

24

6

Sea Eagles

17

10

0

7

1

485

354

+131

22

7

Dragons

17

8

0

9

1

358

382

-24

18

8

Sharks

17

7

0

10

1

334

394

-60

16

9

Raiders

17

7

0

10

1

347

421

-74

16

10 Knights

17

7

0

10

1

283

420

-137

16

11

Titans

17

6

0

11

1

394

468

-74

14

12 W. Tigers

17

6

0

11

1

372

502

-130

14

13 Cowboys

17

6

0

11

1

324

527

-203 14

14 Warriors 15 Broncos 16 Bulldogs

17 17 17

5 4 2

0 0 0

12 13 15

1 1 1

333 282 212

A

426 542 522

+/-

-93

PTS

12

4732 6007

ROUND 19 V

Thursday, July 22 7.50pm Cbus Super Stadium

V

Friday, July 23 6.00pm Sunshine Coast Stadium

V

Friday, July 23 7.55pm QLD Country Bank Stadium

V

Saturday, July 24 3.00pm Sunshine Coast Stadium

V

Saturday, July 24 5.30pm Suncorp Stadium

V

Saturday, July 24 7.35pm Suncorp Stadium

V

Sunday, July 25 1.50pm Cbus Super Stadium

6

Face In Th e Crowd

IS THIS YOU? ?

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the western weekender • extra time » Friday, July 23, 2021

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warren smith D

id you see Tom Trbojevic carving up the Maroons in the first two games of the just completed State of Origin series?

Of course you did, and what a sight it was.

The Sea Eagles superstar was nominally playing at right centre for the Blues, but with a green light from NSW coach Brad Fittler, Trbojevic took hit-ups through the middle of the field, linked up with Latrell Mitchell on the left hand side and generally terrorised the Queensland defence with his blend of speed, power and pure athletic ability.

Giving Turbo Tom free reign to play wherever he wanted in attack wasn’t exactly revolutionary, but in the age of structured football it was a breath of fresh air to watch a supreme talent switch lanes and attack the opposition from angles they never expected.

It’s not something that every centre in the game could do, but if there’s another player who could follow the Trbojevic blueprint it’s the Panthers’ Stephen Crichton.

And if you’re going to do what the Manly fullback did for the Blues it would help if you were built like him.

Whaddya know, 20-year-old Crichton has the same frame that Trbojevic did when he was the same age, both of them standing at 194 centimetres and weighing

Could Stephen Crichton be the next Tom Trbojevic? Photo: Megan Dunn.

just under 100 kilograms. Trbojevic has added another three or four kilograms over the past few off-seasons, and you can see Crichton following suit as his body matures in the seasons ahead.

With Nathan Cleary – when he returns from injury – and Jarome Luai creating so many scoring opportunities, Crichton is under-utilised if he’s tied to just the one side of the field, with his six tries from 17 games this season suggesting as much.

Yes, he’s played five of those games filling in at fullback, but the 17 tries he scored in 22 games in 2020 is more like the type of output he should be able to produce if the Panthers continue to be a rock solid Top 8 team in the near future.

Does Crichton have the same sort of motor that allows Trbojevic to play a roaming role at Origin level?

That’s the one part of athletes from any sport that you can’t put on the scale and measure, but you just know it when you see it.

Turbo Tom wants to be in the contest at every opportunity at club level, and brought that enthusiasm and desire to his play for New South Wales, despite having to adapt to a different position.

If Ivan Cleary can inspire that sort of motivation in his own rising superstar, there’s no reason why the Panthers couldn’t have at their disposal their own Turbo-charged try-scoring machine.

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Friday, July 23, 2021 « the western weekender • extra time

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joel caine W

e’ve gotten to Round 18 of a marathon-like NRL season, and we’re slowly seeing an increasing amount of games with absolutely no Finals ramifications.

There’s probably four sides – the Warriors, Tigers, Broncos and Bulldogs – that we can rule out of playing Finals with seven weeks remaining, and there’ll soon be a few more join them.

With that in mind, I think the NRL should try and get something out of these games, because at the moment they certainly won’t.

Looking at bottom-placed Canterbury’s fixture alone, they play the Tigers twice and the Warriors once in the last seven rounds, they’re prime examples of ‘dead rubbers’.

On top of that, there’s no doubt week-by-week we’ll see more clubs drop out of the Finals race all together and more of these games will be added by the week.

The way I see it, the NRL should be trialling rule changes in these match-ups.

We all know the competition has been slammed on multiple occasions for bringing in rule changes

without trial and error, and I think this gives them a perfect testing ground to see what does and doesn’t work.

Some potential rules we could implement are; a coach’s challenge instead of a captain’s challenge, a change to the kick off rule where the team that’s been scored against has a tap off from 40 metres, we could even scrap the 18th man and have six men on the bench.

I’d even be happy to see the competition try and emulate what works in other sports. Why shouldn’t we have a two-point conversion like the NFL does?

Instead of a field-goal one-point shot, teams could risk it for twopoints through a scrum feed 20m out where they get one play to score a try.

The six-again rule has been scrutinised recently, why not get rid of it completely and see how sin-binning for those offences goes?

The NRL shouldn’t miss an opportunity to get on the front foot and trial ideas that could work.

Who knows, it could genuinely be for the betterment of the game.

the western weekender • extra time » Friday, July 23, 2021

My solution to ensuring every NRL game to come means something

Joel Caine believes now is the perfect time to trial new, out there rules. Photo: NRL Photos.

extra minutes ! The Bulldogs have turned to Phil Gould as they desperately try to turn the club around. Gould, who won a Premiership with the Bulldogs as coach in 1988, is returning to Belmore as the club’s new Head of Football. ‘Gus’, who worked in a similar role at Penrith, had most recently been involved with the Warriors, but COVID-19 has made his role at the club difficult to undertake. ! Canterbury have re-signed Jayden Okunbor for the next two seasons, keeping him at Belmore until the end of 2023. “Jayden is an outstanding talent who burst on to the scene in 2019 and was able to make his mark immediately,” said Bulldogs CEO Aaron Warburton.

Meantime, the club has also re-signed winger Tui Katoa on a one-year deal.

! The NRLW will go ahead this year despite the unfolding COVID-19 situation, but schedule changes may be forced. The competition is due to start in line with Round 23 of the NRL in around a month’s time. A condensed season or a delayed start to the competi-

Phil Gould is heading to Canterbury.

Tuesdays 7:00pm-8:00pm

tion are both the most likely options at this stage.

! Meantime the future of the NSWRL senior competitions remains clouded, with no chance of a restart in play until the current lockdown in Sydney is lifted. The NSWRL is still hopeful of resuming the competitions and of staging the NSW Women’s Premiership Grand Final between Central Coast and Mounties. However, the latter game could be complicated given the NRLW situation.

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! The COVID-19 situation and subsequent relocation of teams to Queensland has left commentators to primarily call games off television. While Fox League is using its Queensland-based talent as sideline commentators, the main callers are broadcasting from the Fox Sports studio in North Ryde. Nine is facing similar issues, with lead callers Ray Warren and Mat Thompson both based in Sydney.

39

Friday, July 23, 2021 « the western weekender

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