Jarome Luai’s injury has brought Penrith back to the pack and accentuated their biggest strength. It might just take the exact opposite to throw the reigning premiers off their game.
“Out of character” was coach Ivan Cleary’s summation of Penrith’s last-start loss to Parramatta.Nathan Cleary looks on as halves partner Jarome Luai goes off injured during the Panthers’ loss to Parramatta.The Eels join an unfortunate group of grand finalists to miss the next play-offs entirely, and do so after being thoroughly trounced by Penrith last October.
The system is so good, and Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo so precise in guiding their attack, that Cogger doesn’t need to be Luai out on their left for Penrith to roll on. Still, it’s only natural that by removing a player as unpredictable as Luai, anticipating their next move becomes a tiny bit easier.
Within 20 seconds of kick-off, Manly were breaking the mould by swinging four passes and covering the width of the field to have Brad Parker poking his nose through the defence. The problem for Manly was when their execution went awry, Penrith are that good, and Stephen Crichton can pinch an intercept and race 60 metres to score. Or the plan - kicking on a kick return for instance - is just too out there.
Cleary is on the podium for best defensive halves in the game, and he’s not the only playmaker to sit out wide to start a set. Fifita and the Titans caught Penrith by surprise in this instance, but it’s a tad bemusing we don’t see more of it in general.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Erosion of women's rights laid bare by the commoditisation of our body partsWomen have long fought to protect their bodies from all forms of exploitation and attack, but as the last week has shown, new threats keep emerging with women reduced to little more than commodities.
Read more »
Popular Melbourne restaurant creates fine-dining in a canThe hatted chef behind the culinary innovation is inviting 100 lucky people to try the canned dessert for free. Here’s how.
Read more »
Can’t sleep? I’m a doctor and there’s one thing I do every day to nod off faster‘I try to do this at least 20 minutes every day.’
Read more »
The Aussie rising star ready to seize his golden grand prix chance in Barcelona‘I deserve it’: Aussie rising star’s huge grand prix chance - and the ‘harsh reality’ he must beat
Read more »