Before a ball has been kicked this year during a trial run for the premiers, the animosity between the Melbourne Storm and the Panthers, last year’s grand finalists, has been rekindled.
Prior to the trip to Las Vegas for round one, Penrith was supposed to play the North Sydney Bears, Melbourne’s feeder squad.
To employ in their trial in New Zealand, the Storm have chosen to remove certain players from the NSW Cup squad.
Among the players who will be visiting New Zealand rather than playing for the Bears are Morgan Harper, Ben Talty, Tui Katoa, and Nathaniel Roache.
Ivan Cleary, the coach of the Panthers, said The Sydney Morning Herald, “We wanted a decent quality team, and Norths were the best option,”
“[But] we didn’t really get what we thought we were going to get.”
Cleary continued by calling the prospective Bears team a “Ron Massey team” even though they participated in the NSW Cup final the previous year.
Penrith will play a trial against Manly on Friday, but their team will be depleted with their top players travelling to Las Vegas.
