2009: Year of the Panther Cub
Highlight: Having some razzle dazzle for the first time since 1991 (2003 wasn't a razzle dazzle team) - the introduction of young, small, quick players ignited some spark in the team.
Lowlight: That spark being doused by old, big, quick players in the opposing teams.
Most Valuable Player: Petero Civoniceva and Trent Waterhouse get the nods here... Petero, because the Panthers' season crashed as soon as he was injured and Waterhouse because everytime you see a game he is busting his gut. He invokes the spirit of Martin Lang, without the head movements.
Most Worthless Player: Sammut - looking like Jason Akermanis will only get you so far... He tries hard, but the one-on-one in goal strip by Luke Burt a couple of weeks ago summed up his year (when push comes to shove, he hasn't got the balls). Especially given that Luke Burt would struggle opening a bag of chips.
Telling Statistic: Looking at try-scorers, Michael Jennings scored an admirable 17 tries in the season. However, tied second were Frank Pritchard and Brad Tigh on 6 each... So basically, if you could shut down Jennings, you could be fairly certain that no one else would step up and take some pressure off. The only teams with less players in the top 50 try scorers were ... well none, although Roosters and Warriors were just as bad. Now let's compare that to a team with real premiership potential... In the top 10 try scorers Bulldogs had Morris (3rd), Goodwin (4th), and Hazem (7th).
Telling Statistic # 2: To prove to Hammertime that I've done my homework, got another one. Panthers were criticised all year for not committing themselves to their defence - the sign of a lazy team says Gus "No No No No No No No" Gould. And by conceding the greatest number of line breaks per game (5.6), which culminated with them losing 35-0 in the playoff for the playoffs, the Panthers showed they just couldn't be arsed.
Quote that sums up their year: "If Walshy gets tied up in it, he is going to have a big size 11.5 and I'm going to introduce it to his backside." Matt Elliott warns Luke Walsh what would happen if he got too concerned over playing his old club, and also says hello to the ladies.
2010 Outlook: With Matt Elliott's contract extended on the basis of the Panther's improvement over the last three years (they've gone from 16th, to 12th, to 11th), look for them to move up into 10th place in 2010.
Much as I love watching the most inspiring team in the history of rugby league (the Knights), it's a pity the Panthers didn't make the semis. I would have enjoyed seeing if they could break the record for biggest loss in semi-final history. Something to aim for next year. Htime
ReplyDeletePanthers really are an enigma. So much promise, so little follow through. I agree that Petro's injury finished them. In retrospect, they seemed to lack self belief without his on-field presence.
ReplyDeleteI suspect a lot of fans would be pleased to see the Panthers have a break-out season next year. Even other teams' supporters might be hard-pressed to begrudge them a small amount of success, such as making it to the semis.
The best thing about the Panthers is that when they do have success, such as every 15 years or so, they never stay up for very long. They are not one of those teams that hog success for year after year, decade after decade etc. Which is a great trait, from the point of view of other teams' supporters . . .
And hey, what a cute pic of that cub!