Panthers sink lower

A bad situation at Penrith is getting worse after its one-sided 30-4 loss to Wests Tigers at Suncorp.

The Panthers were behind 20-0 after just 11 minutes of the first half in a dreadful performance.

That defeat was their seventh already of this season, leaving only the Bulldogs between them and the wooden spoon.

It has been a nightmare return for coach Ivan Cleary at the foot of the mountains.

After the game an emotional Cleary promised: “We have to change something, whether that’s personnel or something else. If we keep doing what we’re doing, it’s not good enough. I feel for the fans.”

Penrith great Ryan Girdler went further, slamming the administration for luring Cleary from Wests Tigers at the end of last year and giving his son Nathan a massive contract: “I think what they did in the off-season was immoral in relation to approaching a guy that had re-signed and just started his tenure at another club.

“I think they made decisions based on fear – fear of possibly losing a young player, and I think Nathan carries a lot of that weight around and he shouldn’t because none of it is really his doing.

“I think they overpaid. I think they overpaid the halfback and they overpaid the coach based on fear.”

A magic idea from NRL

This weekend was the first ‘Magic Round’ where a whole round of NRL fixtures was played at one ground – it worked.

Eight matches were staged at Suncorp Stadium, with one on Thursday night, two on Friday, three on Saturday and two on Sunday, in an ambitious concept borrowed from the English Super League.

Tweet from @NRL

More than 135,000 tickets sold, some great footy, a carnival atmosphere and more than $270,000 pocketed by each NRL club that moved a home fixture.

Magic Round has been backed by the local council and the Queensland government, with the NRL expecting a whopping $20 million return.

Expect Magic Round to hit cities like Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Auckland in years to come, or even go global.

Gold-less Coast



Garth Brennan is a dead man walking. Or if he’s not, he really should be.

Gold Coast fell to the Sharks 26-18 this weekend, meaning its record sits at seven losses and two wins. Let’s not forget that the Titans finished 14th in 2018, winning just eight of 24 games.

At the moment they are 14th on the table and heading for a repeat performance. Brennan’s record in the past 18 months is terrible, with a win ratio of just 30 per cent.

And it’s not like the Gold Coast doesn’t have a talented roster.

It’s a stocked squad that includes Test players Kevin Proctor, Shannon Boyd and Leilani Latu, Queensland Origin forwards Jai Arrow and Jarrod Wallace, Blues Tyrone Peachey and Nathan Peats, as well as NRL veterans Michael Gordon and Tyrone Roberts.

They simply should be doing better. The Titans’ crowds are poor and the region is crying out for a competitive team. If Brennan can’t get them going, then he should be axed.

Back to the burbs

This week the NRL announced that finals footy would be heading back to the Sydney suburbs, with the governing body backtracking on its policy to hold all qualifying finals at the two big Sydney stadiums in Allianz and ANZ.

With Allianz being knocked down, the NRL has decided to allow the likes of Manly, the Dragons, Sharks, Tigers and Panthers to hold semi-finals at their traditional grounds like Brookvale Oval, Leichhardt Oval and Shark Park (PointsBet Stadium).

For a decade they had followed the AFL policy by funnelling all big end-of-season games into two large, central venues.

But the move has not been backed by big crowds, with many fans staying away.

The move back to home grounds should be well received.




Poor Parra spanked

Parramatta has been one of the surprise packets so far in 2019, producing some good footy and winning five of its first nine fixtures.

After the Eels’ 2018 annus horribilis, it has been a big improvement. But against Melbourne on Saturday the Eels were simply abysmal, belted 64-10.

Cameron Munster was magical, scoring the opening four-pointer, and Cameron Smith kicked nine from 11.

It was an embarrassing night for Parramatta and its coach Brad Arthur described their display using of the most damaging words in rugby league – soft.

For Melbourne, which received a rocket from coach Craig Bellamy last weekend, this was the response that was craved.

Origin injury woes

Injury has been the talk heading into State of Origin with Queensland under pressure, thanks to some hurt players and retirements.

With Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith unavailable, and Jake Friend, Andrew McCullough and Daly Cherry-Evans injured, the Maroons need to find a hooker, a halfback and a captain.

Not helping matters has been the average form of Anthony Milford, Michael Morgan and a host of others.

But NSW has its own injury issues after Magic round claimed the scalps of Jack Bird and Curtis Scott, to add to the casualty list of Tom Trbojevic and Joey Leilua.

With the vital Latrell Mitchell hurting his hip at Suncorp as well, suddenly the Blues are looking very, very light in the outside backs.