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I don't think many of us are surprised.

Hard to put a gauge on Penrith, played a very sub-par Sharks side in the wet.
I think Storm will need to be at their best to beat them, but at our best we will beat them.

I think that is fair. I genuinely believe our best footy is better than their best footy. The question will be, can we play that on GF day?

Panthers will do what they did tonight, and what they have done for 5 years… kick it into our corners, make us play off our line and try and force an error, then put on their plays. It’s monotonous but very effective.

Penrith definitely didn’t play great football tonight but they definitely won’t play like that next week

They are very gettable but we’ve gotta be at our very best. No NAS means we’re going to need a someone else to aim up big time.

Penrith are not the team they were in years gone by, definitely beatable as we proved in our 2 meetings this season. We should be favourites and should be too good, only a monumental collapse in form will cost us glory this year.

As mentioned above, our best is better than theirs this season no question, just got to show up and not get stage fright.

If we play the way we did last night we will win. I’m very confident. Penrith are a very good team still but there’s weaknesses to exploit that simply weren’t there in previous years. I think our bench will be crucial, Welchy and MacDonald will need to really step up because that’s the time I think we can get some joy.

Storm 24 - 12, Papenhuyzen Clive Churchill

Ivan Cleary already trying to sway officials next week at his press conference. Complaining about no try obstruction against Panthers.

Even swaying who is the video ref - "if Chris Butler is in the box ... I shouldn't have said his name."

blazza18 wrote: ↑Sat Sep 28, 2024 10:52 pm They are very gettable but we’ve gotta be at our very best. No NAS means we’re going to need a someone else to aim up big time.

I'm not actually that concerned about no Nelson. If you look at his stats from Friday night I think he's definitely replaceable. If you look at his stats, Tui and Alec each brought us similar attacking input in about half the time on field.

Nelson:
7 runs
61 metres
28 post contact metres
2 offloads
21 tackles
1 penalty
1 sin bin
46.05 minutes

Not earth shattering numbers from your key forward.

Don't get me wrong, NAS will be badly missed; his presence on the field is enormous and he attracts loads of attention which frees up space for Rome and Munny. But I think we can - and will - cover for him.

Yeah, his numbers weren’t anything special, but it is a little bit the intangibles with NAS.

Aggression in defence and first contact.

When carrying the ball he bumps at least one player and defences swarm to him.

Like you mentioned, the attention he draws just being out there. Look at Munster’s try in the Sharks game.

His quick play the balls are such a threat.

I agree that we can cover NAS’ absence and still win, but we are still a lesser side with him out and our other big boppas will need to lift against a strong Penrith pack.

The numbers don't stand out at all but I really loved his energy Friday night. His effort and line speed was great and I think we might struggle without that. I think Welch probably gets more minutes and responsibility next Sunday but in limited minutes he looked off the pace to me against the Roosters. Hopefully that's nothing to worry about and he delivers against Penrith.

No Panthers charged from last night's game. Only two Sharks Rudolf and Talakai charged.

I fully expect Martin toi attempt to make a big hit on Howarth to try and reduce his effectiveness early in the first half.

No exaggeration, after every single tackle, the Panthers at marker rise to their feet and have hands all over the ball. The Sharks ruck was slowed down so much because of it. Every tackle the Sharks players had to rip their arms and the ball away in order to play it and the Panthers never get pinged for it.

Obviously a well drilled tactic that is working wonders but I have no idea how it escapes any scrutiny.

blazza18 wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2024 9:48 am The numbers don't stand out at all but I really loved his energy Friday night. His effort and line speed was great and I think we might struggle without that. I think Welch probably gets more minutes and responsibility next Sunday but in limited minutes he looked off the pace to me against the Roosters. Hopefully that's nothing to worry about and he delivers against Penrith.

I don’t agree that Welch looked off the pace. He only got 8 minutes at the end (I’m guessing saving him for the gf?). He’s been very good when he actually gets minutes off the bench this year

Genuinely have no idea which way this will go. I’d say with NAS we’d have been favourites - his suspension levels the playing field.

I feel there’s a bit of fate in us winning. To be able to bookend this panthers dynasty with premierships of our own would be poetic.

Whatever happens, I’m thrilled with our season and think we are in really good shape for next year regardless.