Crichton vows defensive improvement despite attacking brilliance

Panthers centre Stephen Crichton said he must improve his defensive game before considering State of Origin selection after missed tackles overshadowed his hat-trick heroics in Thursday’s defeat to South Sydney.

By Kelsey HogaN

Up until the final 10 minutes, it was all Crichton for Penrith with the Samoan star producing a three-try, three-goal haul to put his side on the verge of victory before a late Rabbitohs resurgence exposed the Panthers’ right edge defence.

With two of the Rabbitohs’ last three tries leaving Blues stars Brian To’o and Crichton in their wake, the 22-year-old centre said improving his defensive game will be a priority before the NSW Origin squad is selected on May 21.

“If that opportunity comes around again, of course I want to pick it up and take it with two hands but I’ve got a lot to work on now at Penrith in terms of both sides of the ball,” Crichton said.

“I really want to knuckle down and nail that for our team before thinking too far ahead. I was good in attack but I’ve still got a lot to work to do on my defence.

“I’ll look at that over the weekend and work on that so I can be a bit clearer in defence as well. My attack is there but there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

Recording six missed tackles and three ineffective attempts, Crichton emphasised he had a long way to go to improve on his 59 percent tackle efficiency, and needs to look no further than co-captain Nathan Cleary for inspiration.

Despite carrying a reported groin niggle that kept him away from goal-kicking duties, the Kangaroos halfback made 24 tackles, including a couple of try-savers, to keep his side in the fight until the dying stages of the ANZAC Round match.

“Clez (Cleary) is one of those players, he’s always up for the game and he leaves nothing to chance,” Crichton said.

“I love defending next to him as well, he cleans up a lot of my mess as well.

“That’s what I’ve been saying. I’ve still got to work that combination between me and him, and Bizza

No teams have faced each other more since 2020 than South Sydney and Penrith, meeting on 11 occasions including four finals matches.

With a knack for big-match heroics, the Samoan World Cup star said despite the disappointing Round 8 result, he relished the challenge that comes with facing Souths and their host of representative stars.

“We’ve versed Souths so many times in the past two years,” he said. “It’s always a big game up against them and a massive build-up to it as well.”

“We both know each other’s game really well and it’s about getting my prep right and being in the right position at the right time to give myself the chance to play well.

“Those are the type of games you want to play in…two heavyweights going at it and always comes down to the 80th minute for whoever wants to take it.

“They had the opportunity there and they definitely took it with two hands.

‘I know we’ll look over it, we’ll review it, see where we can get better and be better off for it later throughout the year.”

SG Ball Panthers eliminated in heartbreaking finish

The Penrith Panthers SG Ball premiership defence is over, suffering a nail-biting 10-8 loss to the Newcastle Knights in the semi final on a grey afternoon at Leichhardt Oval.

The Panthers went on the attack almost immediately after receiving a penalty for a late hit on the kicker. From the ensuing set, Jirah Liddiard regathered a bomb and threw an extraordinary overhead pass to David Afu to score in the corner, taking a 4-0 lead.

The Knights had a couple of chances, however they were denied by strong defence and a forward pass.

A smart grubber from captain Luke Hanson in the 19th minute earnt the Panthers a repeat set and they capitalised on the opportunity when Hanson threw a spectacular cut out pass to Nick Murphy to score in the corner, extending the Panthers lead to 8-0.

The Knights struck back in the final minute of the half, keeping the ball alive on the last to score in the corner through Fletcher Sharpe. Ethan Ferguson converted to reduce the Panthers lead to 8-6 at the break.

Both sides created chances throughout the second half, but neither were able to take advantage for the first 20 minutes.

A poor kick compounded by a penalty put the Panthers under pressure and the Knights finally broke the stalemate, scoring in the left-hand corner through Kyle McCarthy to take a 10-8 lead with 14 minutes remaining.

With time running out, tempers flared after a dangerous tackle by the Knights. Cooper Bigeni was sin binned for his role in the tackle, while Luron Patea was also sent for ten minutes as third man in, leaving both sides with 12.

A break by Murphy in the final two minutes put the Panthers in range for one last attacking chance, however Delahia Wigmore lost the ball attempting to score, leaving the Panthers to suffer a heartbreaking defeat to end their season.

If Rugby League players were a currency what value would be placed on genuine halfbacks and five eighths? The little bloke who may occasionally get run over by a big forward, who doesn’t have the body of an Olympic athlete but is by far the most intelligent and creative player on the field… What value do we place on that intelligence and creativity?

Too often I hear coaches talk about size and athleticism when selecting players, and in some instances, this is very relevant especially when you are comparing a like with a like, two players with a similar skill sets but different size and physical attributes, naturally we are going to select the more athletic player. This has become a talking point this week with the demotion of the Roosters Sam Walker to NSW Cup. A creative player who has been replaced by the more athletic and physically dominant Joey Manu.

Having my Rugby League grounding based on the 1990’s and 2000’s as I grew up as an aspiring player and now coach, I have always found it hard to understand how through an era of such talented and dominant halves that we find ourselves in 2023 with a halves shortage. Surely watching the likes of Alexander, Stuart, Daley, Sterling, Lamb, Johns, Lockyer, Lyons, Fittler, Barrett, Kimmorley, Langer, Walters, Marshall, Prince and Campbell would inspire a generation of young halves behind them?

Halves are a rare commodity. And a very valuable commodity when we look at the impact a quality halves pairing has on your team’s ability to win games. Despite our knowledge of their value the game continues to attempt to develop halves with the same failing methods.

Why does this shortage of quality halves exist? Junior participation numbers grew 30% in the period from 1999 to 2008. Most players in our 17’s, 19’s and 21’s competitions would have begun their Rugby League journey in this period of time. Yet when I watch these competitions there are very few young halves, I can see developing through to play in the NRL.

Junior players are exposed to quality coaching from a very young age. This in the right context can be very beneficial. However, it can also be severely detrimental when we coach the creativeness out of players in order to fit into a coaching structure or system. The mentality of coaches in mini and mod football needs to be that of ‘let the kids play and make sure they are having fun’.

When we look at mini and mod football the rules and constraints within these modified versions of the game need to be closely looked at. There have been evolutions recently with the elimination of the two-pass rule to include bibs for halves and hookers, these rules in my experience are not followed correctly and coaches are more often than not placing these bibs on their more dominant players rather than on their creative players in order to allow them to develop. Short term gains for long

term pains.

There is also a lack of accountability in whose responsibility it is to develop players. We have created such a competitive and win at all costs culture within the junior levels of our game that we cannot see that this mentality is eating the game from the inside out. If I went and asked the coach placing the bibs on the dominant instead of the creative players, what answer would I receive?

Placing bibs on players also pigeon holes them into positions from a very young age, which to me is ridiculous when we know children and adolescents all learn, grow and develop at different rates. Junior players from 6’s through to 15’s should be exposed to as many positions as possible. We will then create well rounded players with dynamic and creative skill sets based on multiple experiences within games in a variety of different positions.

When we look at players developing through to the senior age groups of Junior Rugby League (17’s to 21’s) we also need to be cautious as this is where the creativity is often taken away by coaches and clubs attempting to create robots who follow their structure and their system. In this regard we have our wires crossed as a game. Coaches should not be telling players how to play and what structures and systems they are to run. Player skills and attributes need to be taken into account and a structure and system should be created to best enable the strengths of the creative players to shine through and benefit the team.