{"id":59829,"date":"2021-04-18T22:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T22:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=59829"},"modified":"2021-04-18T23:58:16","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T23:58:16","slug":"cocky-panthers-flirting-with-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=59829","title":{"rendered":"'Cocky' Panthers flirting with disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOT-SO-COCKY PANTHERS FLIRT WITH DISASTER<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Did all the criticism of their cockiness<\/a> get to Penrith last week?<\/p>\n

The question has to be asked in the wake of the Panthers' uncharacteristically clunky performance against the Broncos on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

In a match they were expected to win by 40, the Panthers only got home through a couple of moments of magic from their go-to men – Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai<\/a> – in the final 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

The Panthers – normally so confident and well, yes, cocky – looked anything but as the unfancied Broncos matched them stride for stride.<\/p>\n

To me, it looked like the Panthers were second guessing the way they played the game – and that is disaster on a football field.<\/p>\n

Coach Ivan Cleary<\/a> will need to ensure they have their game heads on the right way next week, sticking to their ad-lib style and playing the way they do best again – even if it offends a few people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

STORM LOOK BETTER WITH GRANT THAN SMITH<\/strong><\/h2>\n

They may burn effigies of me in Melbourne for saying this, but I believe the Storm are a better team with Harry Grant in his first season than in 2020 with Cam Smith in his last.<\/p>\n

Smith will go down as one of the game's greats but was past his best in his swansong – albeit still good enough to lead the Storm to the title.<\/p>\n

Grant, on the other hand, is already a superstar<\/a>, a match-winner on the rise – and has only played four games for the club!<\/p>\n

At 23, he reads the game superbly, is yards quicker than Smith and has a marvellous career ahead of him.<\/p>\n

The Storm have lost a host of experience and leadership with Smith gone – but Grant's speed and class from dummy-half opens up a whole new world for Craig Bellamy's men.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

TOM TRBOJEVIC RETURN REIGNITES SEA EAGLES<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After all his hamstring problems in recent times, I thought it would only be natural for Tommy Turbo to ease his way back into football against the Titans on Saturday.<\/p>\n

But the Manly superstar would have none of it and simply destroyed the Titans<\/a> with 202 running metres, one try and two try assists before being given a late rest by coach Des Hasler.<\/p>\n

It's a great sign for the Sea Eagles, who suddenly look finals contenders again after back-to-back wins.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

PROP'S RARE TRY COMES IN STUNNING STYLE<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Only last week I was raving in this column<\/a> about Thomas Burgess and how well he has been going at Souths.<\/p>\n

But I never mentioned big Tom's try-scoring prowess – because that is one thing he is not renowned for.<\/p>\n

Prior to his memorable match-winner against the Tigers<\/a> on Saturday night, Tom had scored just 11 tries in nine seasons at the Rabbitohs.<\/p>\n

But the big fella did the job in extra time – and did it in style.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

NEAR-PERFECT WARRIORS FINALS CONTENDERS<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Warriors' greatest downfall over the years has been their unforced errors, which has cost them many a game.<\/p>\n

Which makes their performance in Sunday's hard-fought win over the Dragons<\/a> all the more remarkable.<\/p>\n

Nathan Brown's men completed a stunning 39 of their 40 sets – as good a percentage as any team all season.<\/p>\n

There's no denying the Warriors have the talent – and if they can keep close to that completion rate, they are finals bound.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

KNIGHTS FIND GAME-CHANGING CULT HERO<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Knights have found a new cult hero in 'super sub' Brodie Jones.<\/p>\n

Jones had a barnstorming game in the Knights' dramatic 26-22 win over the Sharks<\/a>, coming up with some big plays when thrown into the fray from the bench.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old Cessnock Goannas junior scored his maiden try in top company, helped set up two others and saved two tries with desperation defence.<\/p>\n

In a match where Cronulla often held the whip hand, Jones changed the momentum of the play – exactly what coach Adam O'Brien would have wanted from the chunky youngster.<\/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<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOT-SO-COCKY PANTHERS FLIRT WITH DISASTER Did all the criticism of their cockiness get to Penrith last week? The question has to be asked in 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\/59829"}],"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=59829"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59831,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59829\/revisions\/59831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}