Extra Time May 10 2024 (Round 10 - Panthers v Bulldogs)

DOG FIGHT

Dylan Edwards.

Photo: NRL Photos.

In a round that features such highlight games as Melbourne versus Cronulla and St George-Illawarra up against South Sydney, it is this twilight fixture at the foot of the Mountains that provides the most intrigue for many.

Despite being long outsiders in this match, Canterbury come into this 6pm game against Penrith sitting in eighth spot on the ladder, having won four and lost four matches so far this season.

Any suggestion they will be easybeats against Penrith is laughable; especially when you consider the emotion involved.

Stephen Crichton returns to Penrith for the first time since switching clubs in the off-season, as does Jaeman Salmon. Throw in the Viliame Kikau, Matt Burton and Cameron Ciraldo factors and what you have here is two sides that will be desperate to beat the other

the final word

on a whole different level to just scoring two competition points.

It’s for that reason I’m expecting a high quality game of footy on Friday night, and I expect Canterbury to throw absolutely everything at Penrith.

The Bulldogs did enough to beat the Tigers last Saturday but the game never really reached any spectacular heights. And coach Ciraldo would surely be concerned that his side couldn’t ice the game when the Tigers had two players in the sin bin late in the second half. Meantime, Penrith didn’t really get out of second gear against the Rabbitohs, coming from 12-0 down early to get the job done with relative ease, 42-12. Nobody should have been surprised that Souths came out of the blocks hard after an emotional week, so there’s not much to take from the early conceding of points.

There is no question the Bulldogs will utilise their dangerous left-side attack against Penrith, hoping Kikau can run riot at his old stomping ground.

But for Canterbury to win this one, it’ll be their improved defence that makes all the difference.

The Bulldogs haven’t conceded more than 26 points once this season. At the same point of last season, they’d already done that on four occasions. It shows how far they’ve come under Ciraldo, and they’ve almost snuck up on us this year as a genuine top eight contender.

Sure, they lack a certain element of quality that the better teams boast, but through a tougher defence and a bit if spirit, Ciraldo has managed to get this Canterbury side believing this year.

Beating Penrith though takes going to a totally different level. The Panthers showed against the Cowboys a fortnight ago that they still boast

that Finals-like defence when it is needed, and that was a real warning siren to the competition.

The return of Nathan Cleary also emerges as a danger for the Bulldogs. After sitting out the Rabbitohs game last weekend, he’s had a decent recovery after his first game back up in Townsville and will be ready to deliver in this one. It’s often his second game back from injury or suspension where he has the most impact, so don’t be surprised to see him heavily involved in this one – I’m even tipping him to get over the stripe for a try.

In the end, Penrith simply have too much quality across the park to drop the points here.

But I’d be absolutely stunned if it’s a blowout, at least for the first 60 minutes. I’m expecting the Dogs to go with Penrith, but Cleary’s men to be too strong once things get serious in the last 20.

Tip: Panthers by 16.

TROY DODDS FRIDAY, MAY 10 | 6.00PM | BLUEBET STADIUM | REFEREE: LIAM KENNEDY | BUNKER: KASEY BADGER

CHASE FOR FIFITA ROLLS ON

“If David’s services are available for the 2025 season, it would be remiss of us not to look at him.”

An interesting factor in

involves

Adecision on whether David Fifita becomes a Panther in 2024 is expected to be made within days.

Penrith is locked in a tussle with the Sydney Roosters and Fifita’s current club Gold Coast to secure his services for next season and beyond.

The powerhouse forward would be the ideal replacement in Penrith’s pack for James Fisher-Harris, who is departing the club at the end of the season to head home to New Zealand.

Penrith are considered the favourites to secure Fifita’s signature.

He was due to inform the Titans last night (Thursday) whether he would be exercising a clause to stay at the club next year.

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary was coy when asked about Fifita’s potential signing earlier this week. He wouldn’t speak about the 24-year-old specifically, but admitted the side was always looking to grow.

“We’re always looking to evolve, that’s the challenge when you’re losing players. If you’re just staying the same the game will go past you,” he said.

“We’re always looking to evolve but if you do that there’s always a danger you can lose what you’re good at too, so that’s been a balance.”

Panthers Rugby League CEO Matt Cameron certainly didn’t deny the club’s interest in Fifita.

“I wouldn’t be doing my job properly unless I investigated every option that was available to the club moving forward,” he said.

for

The

at www.westernweekender.com.au.

Fifita’s potential signing

his partner, Shaylee Bent. She plays

the Titans in the NRLW but was born in Penrith and is a Glenmore Park Brumbies Junior.

former Dragons Player of the Year is off-contract at the Titans at the end of the year, opening up a possible return to Sydney. It’s understood the Roosters met with Fifita’s manager on Tuesday to make their final offer. Stay up-to-date on developments on this story

David Fifita. Photo: NRL Photos.

panther rumblings

NERVOUS WAIT FOR FIFITA CALL

! When will Cameron’s phone ring? It will be a call from David Fifita’s manager to Panthers Rugby League CEO Matt Cameron that will determine whether the club’s bid for the powerhouse forward has been successful. The Panthers have now done all they can do; it’s over to Fifita’s team to make a decision. I understand Penrith coach Ivan Cleary had already met with the Titans forward by the time the news broke about the club’s interest on Sunday. And how did the story land on Michael Chammas’ desk in-time for his regular cross at half-time of the Sunday afternoon game on Channel Nine? Well, I’ve been told by a well-placed source that the leak definitely came from within the Penrith side of the discussions, not Fifita’s. Whether there’s some strategy or logic to that, I’ve got no idea.

! NRL’s hard stance: I’m told the NRL is considering a re-working of its charges around dissent and contrary conduct towards referees. The rules would punish recalcitrant players who can’t keep their mouths shut when things don’t go their way. It all comes in the wake of recent abuse of match officials, and the NRL is keen to ensure it has strong rules in place to discipline players who step out of line.

! Cautious Cleary: The decision to rest Nathan Cleary from last Thursday’s match against Souths is a sign of what’s to come during the State of Origin period. I’m hearing the club is keen to keep Cleary’s workload manageable during the representative season. I’ll go out on a limb and say the chances of the Blues halfback playing for Penrith against Manly on June 9 (four days after Origin I) are slim at best. Same goes for clashes against the Cowboys and Dolphins, which also follow Origin games. The Panthers have been impressed with Brad Schneider and won’t have any issues with him taking the reigns for a couple of games during that period.

! Spotted: A host of Penrith players switching codes to cheer on the GWS Giants against the Swans at the SCG last weekend.

! Edwards leads Dally Ms: Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards has joined Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes at the top of the leaderboard after nine rounds of Dally M voting. Both Edwards and Hynes share top spot on 24 points, with Canterbury’s Viliame Kikau sitting a point behind in third. Edwards is having a stellar season and ironically the biggest threat to his Dally M claim outside of injury is likely to be potential selection in the NSW side for the State of Origin series.

! Tago cops ban: Izack Tago will sit out Friday’s clash against Canterbury after copping a one match ban for a hip drop tackle last weekend. Plenty believe he was lucky to only get a week, but he’ll be back on deck for Magic Round next weekend.

! Spotted: Panthers co-captain Nathan Cleary, his younger brother Jett and rookie forward Mav Geyer a St Dominic’s College on Tuesday for the inaugural Tim Sheens Cup. Nathan even grabbed a bite to eat from the school canteen.

! Fans on the Field: The Panthers will be bringing back Fans on the Field on Friday night, allowing supporters to run onto the hallowed BlueBet Stadium turf. There will be a second siren about 30 minutes after full-time, indicating fans can head onto the field. Of more interest to yours truly, KFC is giving away 400 free Go Buckets at the game on Friday night.

! Business as usual: The Panthers are the designed away team for Magic Round against the Warriors next weekend. It means they’re

free of any promotional duties for the weekend, and it’ll essentially be a usual away game program for Ivan Cleary’s side.

! Spotted: Which two NRL journalists were seen in a heated debate about who should play fullback for New South Wales in the upcoming State of Origin series?

! Spotted: Ivan Cleary and Brian To’o catching up in the car park at the Panthers Academy on Wednesday afternoon. Cleary rushed out to see the metre-eating winger as soon as he arrived.

David Fifita. Photo: NRL Photos.

KENNY ADMITS TO CHECK OF OPEN MARKET

Popular Panthers hooker Mitch Kenny has opened up about his decision to remain loyal and stick with the Three-Peat Premiers.

While a number of high-profile Penrith stars have to decided to cut loose at season’s end for various reasons, the 26-year-old resisted the opportunity to go elsewhere and reaffirmed his commitment to the club by signing a new three-year contract last month.

However, while many thought Kenny only had eyes for the Panthers, he revealed to Extra Time on Wednesday that he too had a little ‘sticky beak’ before opting to stay.

“You kind of have to,” Kenny said.

“As much as you want the fairytale and stay forever and it’s perfect and sometimes that happens for players and it’s great, but we have short careers, and you have to consider what opportunities are out there.

“I had to do a little bit of that myself, but my preference was to stay here and I’m glad it turned out that way. If

I ever had to leave, it would be pretty bittersweet but I’m glad to be sticking around.”

With 90 NRL games and two premierships to his name, Kenny said remaining at the foot of the Mountains was the best place for him to further develop his career and one day become the game’s premier dummy half.

“Other players have had to move on for whatever reason at times – be it for an opportunity, life changing money or salary cap pressure here, but I was always hoping I could stay,” he said.

“I definitely feel like this is the best place for my development and I feel like I’ve got a lot of developing to do.

“I have the right coaches, system and players around me here that will bring the best out of me and ultimately that’s the goal.

“I just want to be here and continue to be better and I want to help this club continue to achieve success and continue to grow.”

Playing seven matches so far this year – only missing one due to suspension – Kenny is enjoying a solid start to the season despite leading the competition in missed tackles with 38.

The Windsor Wolves junior said he’s got a lot of improvement in him and often blames himself when the team isn’t performing to its usual high elite standard.

“A lot of us are our own worst critic and I can be pretty hard on myself,” Kenny said.

“If I don’t feel the team is playing great, I ask myself ‘what role am I playing in that?’.

“There’s stuff I want to improve on. I’m not super stoked with my game at the moment, but I’m still putting in the work.”

Penrith hooker Mitch Kenny on Wednesday. Photo: Melinda Jane.

“NO MATES ON THE FIELD”, SAYS LUAI

Penrith premiership winners Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau can expect more than a few jeers aimed at them when they return to BlueBet Stadium for the first time as members of Canterbury.

The pair – along with Matt Burton, Jaeman Salmon and coach Cameron Ciraldo – will return to their old stomping ground this evening for the blockbuster 6pm match-up between the Panthers and the Bulldogs.

While all four players won premierships and were celebrated during their time as Panthers, they can all expect a more than frosty reception when they hit the field this evening.

“I hope they (Penrith fans) give it to them,” Jarome Luai told Extra Time on Wednesday.

“They love Critta and Kiks for what they did for the club, but for 80 minutes they need to give it to them.”

While Luai was being rather jovial in his message, he knows how significant this Round 10 clash is for a number of reasons.

Not only will it be strange for Penrith fans to see their former heroes in the blue and white, but the Panthers will want to be at their very best up against one of the competition’s more improved teams.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Luai said.

“I have a few good relationships in that team, which makes it fun for this match-up,

but at the end of the day it is all business and we’ll be going out there to get the two points.”

Luai said coming up against Crichton for the first time as an enemy will be quite the experience.

“We’ve done a lot of opposed against each other out here, so it might be similar to that, but it will probably be a lot more intense as we fight out there for the two points,” he said.

“We’re all competitors at the end of the day and we all love to win.

“It’s going to be good coming up against our brothers.

“But that’s footy – this is what it’s all about – it’s about going up against your mates, no mates on the field.”

While Luai is not contemplating it just yet, he too will be an opposing player of Penrith’s when he joins the Wests Tigers next year.

The 27-year-old said he hasn’t thought about what it’s going to be like to go up against Penrith, nor has he asked his former Panthers teammates what it’s like either.

“I’m just focused on enjoying this moment rather than worrying about what the future’s going to be like – I’ll deal with that when it gets here,” Luai said.

“It looks like they’re enjoying their time over there [at Canterbury]… hopefully I can transition the same way they did but, like I said, I’m not too worried about that.

“I’m really focused on what I have here and enjoying the time that I have left here.”

Jarome Luai knows Penrith fans will give former players a hostile reception tonight.

NATHAN TAYLOR

JAMES FISHER-HARRIS

DANGER GAMES AHEAD

lang on league analysis

with Peter Lang

At the start of every season there are games you circle on your calendar. Games you sense will be special. Either because you hate the team Penrith is playing that round or you simply see the team they’re playing as a threat and know that the two points will be hard to come by.

Looking at the Panthers draw at the start of the 2024 NRL season, I identified three matches which I knew would be important but tough for Penrith to win.

The first 10 rounds of any season are a lottery. You don’t really know if the team you’re playing against will be any good or not and you can’t really base your guess on the previous season either. In other words, a side which was tough to beat in 2023 might be easybeats in 2024.

Now that enough of the season is gone here are the three ‘danger games’ for Penrith in the second half of the year. Games which could very well determine whether the Panthers finish in the Top Four.

Danger game one is in Round 12 at 5.30pm on Saturday, May 25 against the Cronulla Sharks at BlueBet Stadium.

While the Sharks have been blessed with a ‘soft draw’ you can only play what’s put in front of you. This will be a tough test for both teams and Cronulla will be deter-

mined to show that they can claim a big scalp.

They certainly look far more dangerous than they did last year both in attack and defence. If the Panthers aren’t switched on, they could very well drop this one.

The second danger game is in Round 23 at 8pm on Friday, August 9 against the Parramatta Eels at Commbank Stadium.

Regardless of where the Eels are on the ladder, they always give Penrith a hard time as can be referenced from last year’s defeat at BlueBet Stadium in round 26.

Parramatta are hard to beat

because they play a style of football which includes plenty of offloads and a lot of ball movement. The Panthers wouldn’t want to need a win in this encounter to lock up a place in the Top Four.

It’s genuinely a game which could go either way.

The third and final danger game is in Round 24 at 7.50pm on Thursday, August 15 against the Melbourne Storm at BlueBet.

The Storm, until recently, were a real bogey side for Penrith although results have gone to the mountain men of late. This year Melbourne look like the team to beat and a

win against Bellamy’s men in this match will be a tough one indeed.

The big positive is that two of three danger games I’ve identified are at home where the Panthers hold an incredible advantage. It really is a fortress and the crowd support Penrith enjoy is overwhelming. At the end of the day, whether they win one or all three of these danger games, to paraphrase coach Ivan Cleary, the Panthers will finish where they deserve.

Hopefully that will be somewhere in the Top Four. They’ll need to if they’re any chance of making it Four in 24.

player of the year

The Western Weekender Penrith Panthers Player of the Year competition runs throughout the season, with our four experts delivering a 3, 2, 1 rating for the best Panthers players from each Penrith game. The player with the most votes at the end of the season is crowned our Player of the Year.

The Panthers celebrate a try against South Sydney last week. Photo: NRL Photos.

panther memories

In mid-2007, Penrith announced one of the club’s biggest ever signings – securing the services of Broncos prop Petero Civoniceva ahead of 2008.

It was a critical signing at a difficult time for Penrith. Times had become lean following the premiership success of 2003, and captain Craig Gower became a high profile departure in 2007, announcing a plan to leave the NRL to play rugby in France.

Civoniceva was a major name in the game – officials knew he would not only bring talent and muchneeded experience, but an off-field persona that would be lapped up.

They were right –Civoniceva quickly became a fan favourite and would lead the Panthers through a re-building phase that ultimately saw them qualify for the 2010 NRL Finals.

Civoniceva would leave Penrith at the end of the 2011 season, but his 74 games for the club left a mark on the Panthers’ history.

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