A Panthers legend claims that even though there is “a bit to get right,” Penrith’s premiership run will come to a stop at four, but they cannot be written off just yet.
following six rounds, Penrith finds themselves in a position where no team since 1908 has won a championship following a 1–5 start.
Bookmakers have now dropped the once-premiership favorites to $14 after five consecutive losses.
Greg Alexander, a former Panther and Fox League analyst, outlines what he thinks has gone wrong so early this season and argues the mountain men will need to make quick changes to keep in touch with the eight.
Alexander remarked, “It will need to happen pretty quickly.”
“I think the Panthers’ sluggish start has been caused by a number of things that we have witnessed.
“I believe that Vegas has even influenced them. They weren’t very good in Vegas, but they managed to score enough points in 5- to 10-minute bursts to win the game. I don’t want to call it complacency.
You might also include the players who have left. In addition, some players are just not performing as well as they have during the previous four years, and there have been injuries and suspensions in the early going of the season.
Due to the wage cap pressure, the Panthers have lost a number of players throughout their four-year run, but they have been able to replace those players inside their own system.
Try-scoring winger Sunia Turuva left this past off-season, along with gun pivot Jarome Luai and one of the finest props in the game, James Fisher-Harris.
Luai, Fisher-Harris, and Turuva have been difficult to replace, despite the fact that most people thought the Panthers’ next man up strategy would cover the gap as it has in previous years.
Blaize Talagi hasn’t developed as swiftly as Penrith had planned, and Jack Cole, Luai’s replacement, was demoted to reserve grade this week.
It’s been a “next man up” mentality for the past four years, but eventually, Alexander stated, “the next man up is a teenager with little first grade experience.”
It’s difficult when you have a lot of young players with little experience, injuries, and major issues with important players at the same time. I’m not saying they won’t become exceptional players.
They are where they are, in my opinion, for a variety of reasons. Many issues would be resolved and they would be on their way, in my opinion, if they won.
Alexander continued by outlining what the Panthers must do to turn things around and expressed confidence that they had the players to get them out of their current rut.
“They have looked completely out of sorts and unlike themselves at times during these games, but they haven’t been far from winning,” he remarked.
They’ll have to improve their defense. Where they used to be able to halt teams and defend mistakes, they haven’t been able to do so lately.
They also need to improve with the ball because they only scored off a kick and a Dolphins error in the goal area despite having 50 tackles inside the 20 against the Dolphins.
Once it clicks, it will click, but there are a few things to do right.
The Panthers are among them, therefore never undervalue or disparage a champion. How could you disregard them?In a live, exclusive game on Fox League that is accessible on Kayo Sports, the Panthers will try to end their five-game losing streak when they play the hot-and-cold Roosters on Easter Saturday.
