PRE-GAME [Round 1, 2023] Panthers vs Broncos

[theshed]

Yeah, he's gonna be gassed at halftime...

Given broncos will win by 50, he should have plenty of chances to catch his breath while Reynolds kicks goals

 

[Culhwch]

Given broncos will win by 50, he should have plenty of chances to catch his breath while Reynolds kicks goals

That is true.

 

[BroncsFan]

I personally don't love cobbo at FB yet. Don't think he's fit enough.

My main concern will be his communication in defence and then how he chimes into backline movements.

Cobbo is a completely different style of fullback to Walsh in attack and we've been training all year with Walsh back there, so there might be some teething problems this week.

Reynolds will have to have the game of his life without Walsh there to take some of the pressure off him

 

[Sproj]

Is Cobbo going to be any worse than Niu, Isaako or late career Boyd? Unlikely so we’ll be fine.

 

[theshed]

Is Cobbo going to be any worse than Niu, Isaako or late career Boyd? Unlikely so we’ll be fine.

I mean, we were historically unfine with all of them at fullback but I appreciate the spirit of this comment

 

[Foordy]

Is Cobbo going to be any worse than Niu, Isaako or late career Boyd? Unlikely so we’ll be fine.

I beg to differ ... we sucked with all those guys

 

[Fernando]

Hope i'm wrong I think Cobbo will get exposed by Cleary.

 

[Old Mate]

Panthers will smoke us and be given a few controversial calls that will piss all of us off.

 

[Santa]

N

Hope i'm wrong I think Cobbo will get exposed by Cleary.

No need to worry. Clearly will do his ACL in the first 10min.

 

[McHunt]

Is Cobbo going to be any worse than Niu, Isaako or late career Boyd? Unlikely so we’ll be fine.

I reckon he'll be fine. My expectation is he'll score (at least) 2 solo effort tries and make 5 errors. He'll be compared to Greg Inglis after the game. Whether you think he had a good game or not will depend on the extent you can overlook his errors.

This will be the first time he's faced Luai since that Origin match, and then slagging him off on that podcast.

 

[Culhwch]

Panthers will smoke us and be given a few controversial calls that will piss all of us off.

In those circumstances, probably more likely to just edge us at the death on a questionable call.

I reckon he'll be fine. My expectation is he'll score (at least) 2 solo effort tries and make 5 errors. He'll be compared to Greg Inglis after the game. Whether you think he had a good game or not will depend on the extent you can overlook his errors.

How many times will he pass, though?

 

[007]

While i think Cobbo has fantastic talent - he is a serious weakness at FB at this stage in his career. He will need to have a very disciplined game to be successful.

Panthers game will rely on driving hard up the middle followed by torturing Cobbo. The wingers will need to grab some serious meters from the first set otherwise territory will be lost.

The only way to counter this is to have Haas and Jensen punching through concrete walls.

 

[1910]

On another note, especially for those of of you who get to watch Panthers play live this year, watch for this:

The work that their 1-5 put in on kick returns. You will see that the back 5 bring back 80+% of the ball coming out of their own half. The forwards pretty much won’t touch the ball until they’re in the opposition half. This isn’t “new” and other teams do it to an extent.. BUT..

Penrith do this right through from their lowest junior grades to the NRL. They do it consistently! That’s the difference. Leota, JFH etc are fresh when it matters and they can defend right up to the end, because their back 5 get through a mountain of work, consistently.

The Panthers' sets are a simplistic work of art, particularly after points they're methodical.

It's not just the way they get down the field but who they target to get down the field. Yeo is great at tackle three at making someone double up with their tackles and get stuck at marker.

Then it's Clearly one side and Luai on the left to dent the line again with a backrower and then Edwards through the middle linking up.

They're 70m down field.

After points in the first half in the Grand Final (Three tries and one penalty goal) they averaged 70m and got to their kick four times and got a penalty goal after a drop out.

 

[1910]

My main concern will be his communication in defence and then how he chimes into backline movements.

Cobbo is a completely different style of fullback to Walsh in attack and we've been training all year with Walsh back there, so there might be some teething problems this week.

Reynolds will have to have the game of his life without Walsh there to take some of the pressure off him

When Cobbo played fullback for Wynnum (9 games) he just ran. Ran everywhere in defence and attack.

Gutherson has the same problem and Penrith exploited it last year in the finals, as soon as he took off from A to the to the open- Clearly steps back inside and kicks for Edwards and they score- Gutherson is tearing across the field where he thinks the ball is headed.

This is the big danger for Cobbo.

If Cobbo gets tired like Mitchell did in the prelim and doesn't want to chase, then Clearly rolls it in on the third for Leniu to score or Clearly scored in the second half with Mitchell at A again.

Panthers to score first from a little kick will be very likely.

 

[Gaz]

Paul Wellens and Laurent Frayssinous showed us all how to put a lid on Penrith. Remains to be seen if we are likely to follow suit however. It’s possible.

 

[Sproj]

Paul Wellens and Laurent Frayssinous showed us all how to put a lid on Penrith. Remains to be seen if we are likely to follow suit however. It’s possible.

Live offside and hope you don't get penalised?

 

[Culhwch]

When Cobbo played fullback for Wynnum (9 games) he just ran. Ran everywhere in defence and attack.

Gutherson has the same problem and Penrith exploited it last year in the finals, as soon as he took off from A to the to the open- Clearly steps back inside and kicks for Edwards and they score- Gutherson is tearing across the field where he thinks the ball is headed.

This is the big danger for Cobbo.

If Cobbo gets tired like Mitchell did in the prelim and doesn't want to chase, then Clearly rolls it in on the third for Leniu to score or Clearly scored in the second half with Mitchell at A again.

Panthers to score first from a little kick will be very likely.

Oh god, I'm already having flashbacks to Tesi not being anywhere in frame while tries are scored off kicks....

 

[BroncsFan]

When Cobbo played fullback for Wynnum (9 games) he just ran. Ran everywhere in defence and attack.

Gutherson has the same problem and Penrith exploited it last year in the finals, as soon as he took off from A to the to the open- Clearly steps back inside and kicks for Edwards and they score- Gutherson is tearing across the field where he thinks the ball is headed.

This is the big danger for Cobbo.

If Cobbo gets tired like Mitchell did in the prelim and doesn't want to chase, then Clearly rolls it in on the third for Leniu to score or Clearly scored in the second half with Mitchell at A again.

Panthers to score first from a little kick will be very likely.

The double bluff that Bhunt loves could be on show then.

Cleary at first receiver on the right who then doubles back to Luai on the left followed by a grubber in behind for Tago and co.

From the trials it looked like we were going for the trap and scrap style of defence on short kicks by getting feet, etc. in the way and looking to pounce on the loose ball... it's probably a viable tactic with a rookie fullback who may get caught out at times