NRL 2026 Round 5 Discussion

every team we have beaten In 2026 has gone on to be faded. We are amazing.
 
Ask Ashley Klein and Liam Martin, they'll fill you in.
I stand by the Liam Martin try was one of the worst calls I have ever seen.

At least with the Matt Gillette sin binning, it was the heat of the moment and wasn’t through the bunker.

The only thing I can think of that was worse is the Billy Slater drop kick.

Terrifies me that could be dished up in a final or origin game.
 
Bellamy said he'll train them harder! What an outrage.

"How will you lift spirits after that Craig?"

"We'll train harder and if anyone doesn't want to do that they'll play reserve grade".

Almost like all the best coaches train hard. Crazy. It's why all the Madge shit was just so ridiculous
 
Not sure how much to take out if it all tbh. All of their opponents this year, have been big dogs...they haven't had an easy draw at all.

Round 1: Us, the defending prems who dared to break their streak
Round 2: The sharks, consistent finals team.
Round 3: Roosters, always there or there abouts come the end of the season
Round 4: Eels, a team that has troubled them in the past in the regular season and their 2022 opponents.
Round 5: Melbourne, a team that has troubled them frequently in the regular season and the team that dared delay their dynasty by 1 year.

Point being, they have reasons to get up for all of these games. Are they going to be this ruthless against a Newcastle, Titans etc?

I don’t think they need to be to be fair. They are so far ahead of everyone right now it isn’t funny. They could drop 30% against those teams and still win comfortably.

All of this did put in perspective that we weren’t really as bad as we thought in round 1. They were amazing, we were way off and if not for one or two absolutely ridiculous decisions, we were still in for 60-70 mins. We are also much better now. The re-match will be interesting.
 
I don’t think they need to be to be fair. They are so far ahead of everyone right now it isn’t funny. They could drop 30% against those teams and still win comfortably.

All of this did put in perspective that we weren’t really as bad as we thought in round 1. They were amazing, we were way off and if not for one or two absolutely ridiculous decisions, we were still in for 60-70 mins. We are also much better now. The re-match will be interesting.

In both rounds 1 & 2, we didn't play as a team, we played as individuals.
 
It's definitely still Penrith's premiership to lose.

They've got the systems, the pathways, the fitness and the coach. Take that and they've been the quickest to adapt to the new meta of 6 against.

That said, Melbourne looked sparkling in round 1, and see what difference a few weeks make.

Easy to assume their form remains constant, when every week, it's whoever is better on the day.

We have a lot of work to do if we want to replicate last year, but there's a good enough team there on their day. Believe!
 
I thought the most interesting test for Penrith early would be Parra (given we were coming off an England trip, I weren’t expecting much from us) but they absolutely belted them. This side is going to take some amazing work to beat. It is enviable how consistently good they are.

They are the best in everything they do, fortunately we’re the closest and that means on our day, we are probably the only ones who can take it to them and thats exciting for us.
 
They are pretty amazing and my hope is that Penrith are so good that it elevates the standard across the league. I'm glad they haven't fallen off after losing players, make the other clubs lift their game. Really makes you wonder what some sides spend all their time on when you see what a low standard some produce year after year. Starts with better coaches I guess.
 
They are pretty amazing and my hope is that Penrith are so good that it elevates the standard across the league. I'm glad they haven't fallen off after losing players, make the other clubs lift their game. Really makes you wonder what some sides spend all their time on when you see what a low standard some produce year after year. Starts with better coaches I guess.
I think the limitation to elevating across the league is potentially the mentality of the playing group.

The Panthers as a squad are all about premierships, but would anyone believe that is what Latrell is about?

He's a better player than most in that panthers squad... if he was in that panthers squad and at their standards he would be ****ing unstoppable... but he's only unstoppable when he chooses to actually give a ****... and I think that's what would hold the comp back. Do the players want to put in the work to match what Penrith do or are they happy with getting paid and turn it on every now and then.

Storm would be the only other team where the whole squad is about premierships... it's not money, exposure, origins, etc. Just premierships... but thank god that's not been translating to premierships in recent years... probably because they dont have the talent that panthers do from their conveyor belt of juniors.

Players and teams can get up every now and then, which shows theyve got it in them to be elite, but they dont have the motivation to sustain that for 7 months straight (10 if you include preseason training, etc.).

Players get access to everything they could ever need to succeed, but do they have the drive to do that every day year in year out.

NRL in it's current form is just too taxing to always be up... unless you're on the Panther's cycle
 
It probably just comes down to fitness and a bit of smarts (which fitness aides). They are just always on and always probing. Take Jenkins first try last night. Alamoti offloads and they immediately look to switch it left knowing Melbourne will be short. How many other teams would put it through the hands and take that on? Most teams would probably pass one or two wide and take an extra 10m and take the tackle. It's not even high risk play, it's just smart football with good execution. Obviously Maclean is superb and creates it but if they're not positive and trying to make the most of it, Maclean never gets the opportunity.

Later on that half, Jenkins makes a break down the wing and knows he's not going to make it early on - his eyes never leave the inside of the field as he's looking on the positioning of his inside players to kick infield. It's not that players on other teams don't do this either, but it's just another example of a team focused approach - he doesn't ever think i'll take this on myself.

They've got a great team with great players but their culture is even better.
 
Call it cope or salt. They are very good/fit, but it's no coincidence that the regression back to the 6-again over the top vlandoball-make the game as fast as humanly possible analfest turns them into superhumans again just like post COVID.
 
I stand by the Liam Martin try was one of the worst calls I have ever seen.

At least with the Matt Gillette sin binning, it was the heat of the moment and wasn’t through the bunker.

The only thing I can think of that was worse is the Billy Slater drop kick.

Terrifies me that could be dished up in a final or origin game.
The skater drop kick being all good but the Matt Gillette field goal being denied is just typical.
 
I think the limitation to elevating across the league is potentially the mentality of the playing group.

The Panthers as a squad are all about premierships, but would anyone believe that is what Latrell is about?

He's a better player than most in that panthers squad... if he was in that panthers squad and at their standards he would be ****ing unstoppable... but he's only unstoppable when he chooses to actually give a ****... and I think that's what would hold the comp back. Do the players want to put in the work to match what Penrith do or are they happy with getting paid and turn it on every now and then.

Storm would be the only other team where the whole squad is about premierships... it's not money, exposure, origins, etc. Just premierships... but thank god that's not been translating to premierships in recent years... probably because they dont have the talent that panthers do from their conveyor belt of juniors.

Players and teams can get up every now and then, which shows theyve got it in them to be elite, but they dont have the motivation to sustain that for 7 months straight (10 if you include preseason training, etc.).

Players get access to everything they could ever need to succeed, but do they have the drive to do that every day year in year out.

NRL in it's current form is just too taxing to always be up... unless you're on the Panther's cycle
Yeah it's a good point. When it comes to recruiting, that is the player that the Panthers and Storm are looking for......players that are willing to give everything for success of the team. Most other teams are looking for that "Latrell" type talent that often doesn't really give a ****.
 
Bloody hell just saw the scoreline of the Penrith Storm game..............I thought the Penrith Panthers would do it well but that the Storm would at least put up a fight. Am I missing something haven't watched the highlights yet.
 
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Bloody hell just saw the scoreline of the Penrith Storm game..............I thought the Penrith Panthers would do it well but that the Storm would at least put up a fight. Am I missing something haven't watched the highlights yet.
Storm had nowhere near the talent required to match up with panthers... but not many teams do
 
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