{"id":124564,"date":"2021-09-05T21:26:18","date_gmt":"2021-09-05T21:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=124564"},"modified":"2021-09-06T00:00:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T00:00:57","slug":"panthers-superstar-threatens-nrl-rivals-mantle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=124564","title":{"rendered":"Panthers superstar threatens NRL rival's mantle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Has Brian To'o<\/a> taken over Josh Addo-Carr's mantle as the best winger in the game?<\/p>\n

The question has to be asked after To'o finished the regular season in spectacular style with his first career hat-trick against the weakened Eels side last Friday night.<\/p>\n

To'o had a mighty year in 2021 – leading the league in running metres and post-contact metres.<\/p>\n

He won all 17 games he played for the Panthers, often getting the team out of trouble with his barnstorming runs from the backfield.<\/p>\n

A personality player who loves his footy, his enthusiasm and power running will be key weapons for the Panthers in the month ahead.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

ROOSTERS PUT THE HEAT ON THE NRL<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Roosters are applying the heat on the NRL<\/a> – and their power and influence is clearly working.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks back, Roosters supremo Nick Politis complained in the press that his club were the most penalised team in the past 10 years\u2026 and a few days later they won the penalties to help them to a narrow win over the Broncos.<\/p>\n

Then Roosters coach Trent Robinson went nuclear on the refs and the bunker in round 24 after THAT Latrell Mitchell tackle<\/a> that ended Joey Manu's season, copping a $20,000 fine.<\/p>\n

But it proved money well spent as the Roosters won the penalties against the Raiders last Friday night 8-3 – and got just about every line-ball decision in their favour.<\/p>\n

It reminds me of a premiership-winning coach from the 1990s, who copped a $10,000 fine for abusing the referee in his post match press conference.<\/p>\n

When I asked him why he went off as he did, the coach replied with a wink "Because I want to win the penalties next week."<\/p>\n

And sure enough, he did.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

STORM REGAINS FINAL PUZZLE PIECE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last piece of Melbourne's title assault puzzle was put in place in the win over the Sharks on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Brilliant fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen<\/a> had been struggling for form and confidence since returning from a heavy head knock way back in Magic Round.<\/p>\n

But Papenhuyzen regained his mojo with a sparkling attacking display against Cronulla that will have rival finals teams losing sleep over the next four weeks.<\/p>\n

Papenhuyzen scored three scintillating tries, ran for 204 metres and made 14 tackle busts in a performance that screamed two words – 'I'm back'.<\/p>\n

His return to form has me convinced that – if they stay injury free through the finals – the Storm will make it back-to-back titles.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan<\/p>\n

WORRYING SIGNS FOR KNIGHTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

There were worrying signs for Newcastle in the 35-22 loss to the Broncos on Saturday afternoon.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sure, the Knights rested plenty of big names and had little to play for, with their finals place assured.<\/p>\n

But the Knights defence looked paper thin at times as a Broncos team that has struggled for attacking cohesion all year racked up try after try.<\/p>\n

More worrying was that coach Adam O'Brian played his two big guns – Kalyn Ponga and Mitchell Pearce – in a bid to work on their combinations.<\/p>\n

The pair have played just eight games together this year and clearly are still working on their understanding.<\/p>\n

But they did little with the ball to worry the Broncos before being replaced early in the second half.<\/p>\n

Both will need to lift for the Knights to have any hope of staying alive beyond next weekend.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR MANLY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manly come into the finals full steam of confidence<\/a> after their scoring spree against the Cowboys last Saturday night and are one team that could worry the Storm with their strike power.<\/p>\n

But how different they look to a few months back, when they lost their first four games and people were calling for Des Hasler's head and tipping them as possible wooden-spooners.<\/p>\n

It's been some turnaround by the Turbo-charged Sea Eagles<\/a> – and the first time since the Dragons of 2005 that a team has gone from winless in the first month of the season to finals football.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Has Brian To'o taken over Josh Addo-Carr's mantle as the best winger in the game? The question has to be asked after To'o finished the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124564"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=124564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124566,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124564\/revisions\/124566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=124564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=124564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=124564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}