BroncosFever
State of Origin Rep
- Jun 6, 2014
- 5,225
- 9,729
Penrith are falling victim to the salary cap.
I thought last year they'd find it very difficult to replace Api Koroisau and they did, at times their attack looked pedestrian but they were able to get moments of brilliance out of players like Stephen Crichton. I don't even think Luai is that big of a loss for them moving into next season, if you got Ivan Cleary in a room with no cameras or microphones involved, I reckon he would tell you that they let the wrong player go in Matt Burton. That's a sore point for their fans. I think they know it too but would rather not think about it.
Be interesting to see how they go this year, their pack will dominate a lot of teams and it won't matter at the end of the day, they'll just grind their opposition into submission with Cleary's accurate kicking game but if you get on top of their forwards which we have proven we are capable of doing, they're a very beatable team having lost a few key players which take away the unpredictability of how they score a try.
Peak Penrith had Api at hooker, Cleary running the show with his kicking/running game, then you had Luai laying it off for Viliame Kikau. They will go down as one of the great NRL teams. The salary cap has well and truly torn them apart though, they'll still be a good team with their pack and Nathan Cleary organizing them around the park but nowhere near as dominant as they were.
I thought last year they'd find it very difficult to replace Api Koroisau and they did, at times their attack looked pedestrian but they were able to get moments of brilliance out of players like Stephen Crichton. I don't even think Luai is that big of a loss for them moving into next season, if you got Ivan Cleary in a room with no cameras or microphones involved, I reckon he would tell you that they let the wrong player go in Matt Burton. That's a sore point for their fans. I think they know it too but would rather not think about it.
Be interesting to see how they go this year, their pack will dominate a lot of teams and it won't matter at the end of the day, they'll just grind their opposition into submission with Cleary's accurate kicking game but if you get on top of their forwards which we have proven we are capable of doing, they're a very beatable team having lost a few key players which take away the unpredictability of how they score a try.
Peak Penrith had Api at hooker, Cleary running the show with his kicking/running game, then you had Luai laying it off for Viliame Kikau. They will go down as one of the great NRL teams. The salary cap has well and truly torn them apart though, they'll still be a good team with their pack and Nathan Cleary organizing them around the park but nowhere near as dominant as they were.
