Round 20: Dolphins vs Penrith Panthers

[Red]

I'm not sure if Benny has any history with Ivan Cleary, as he does with about half the coaches in the competition but I think Cleary won't rest Penriths Origin players as he did after game II. It's not a must win game as it was last round but frankly speaking, unless there is pretty drastic turn-around, we won't be making the finals.

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Team Tips: With an injury cloud surrounding hooker Jeremy Marshall-King, Harrison Graham was strong in his absence. Expect the young gun to continue at starting hooker, with Wayne Bennett potentially shifting Isaiya Katoa to dummy-half and Anthony Milford in to the halves to give Graham a rest. Elsewhere, Felise Kaufusi will return in the backrow, potentially pushing Kenny Bromwich to prop and Mark Nicholls to the bench. Origin gun Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is also expected to replace Valynce Te Whare in the centres.

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Milf definitely needs to be starting. Broncos HQ gang will justifiably hate the fact, Milf is rolling back the clock. Needs to be in the starting 13. SOS has also proven better than Katoa at this point.

 

[Dolph]

I'm not sure if Benny has any history with Ivan Cleary, as he does with about half the coaches in the competition but I think Cleary won't rest Penriths Origin players as he did after game II. It's not a must win game as it was last round but frankly speaking, unless there is pretty drastic turn-around, we won't be making the finals.

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Team Tips: With an injury cloud surrounding hooker Jeremy Marshall-King, Harrison Graham was strong in his absence. Expect the young gun to continue at starting hooker, with Wayne Bennett potentially shifting Isaiya Katoa to dummy-half and Anthony Milford in to the halves to give Graham a rest. Elsewhere, Felise Kaufusi will return in the backrow, potentially pushing Kenny Bromwich to prop and Mark Nicholls to the bench. Origin gun Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is also expected to replace Valynce Te Whare in the centres.

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Milf definitely needs to be starting. Broncos HQ gang will justifiably hate the fact, Milf is rolling back the clock. Needs to be in the starting 13. SOS has also proven better than Katoa at this point.

I reckon all the senior coaches like Cleary, Bellamy, Robinson enjoy beating Wayne-coached teams more than others. Even more than each other. Though I don't mean to rate Robinson anywhere near the Wayne, Bellamy or Cleary.

 

[Josh]

I'm not sure if Benny has any history with Ivan Cleary, as he does with about half the coaches in the competition but I think Cleary won't rest Penriths Origin players as he did after game II. It's not a must win game as it was last round but frankly speaking, unless there is pretty drastic turn-around, we won't be making the finals.

---

Team Tips: With an injury cloud surrounding hooker Jeremy Marshall-King, Harrison Graham was strong in his absence. Expect the young gun to continue at starting hooker, with Wayne Bennett potentially shifting Isaiya Katoa to dummy-half and Anthony Milford in to the halves to give Graham a rest. Elsewhere, Felise Kaufusi will return in the backrow, potentially pushing Kenny Bromwich to prop and Mark Nicholls to the bench. Origin gun Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is also expected to replace Valynce Te Whare in the centres.

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Milf definitely needs to be starting. Broncos HQ gang will justifiably hate the fact, Milf is rolling back the clock. Needs to be in the starting 13. SOS has also proven better than Katoa at this point.

I know centres have been a problem but I just don't think they've been going bad enough to move the Hammer from fullback in order to fix the centres. It didn't work 2 weeks ago. The defence was still too soft and the Hammers attack wasn't as good. And actually, defence is hardly the Hammer's strong point.

 

[Josh]

I really don't agree with Wayne on the #1, #4 and #18 but lets see how it goes once more.

Dolphins team:​

1. Kodi Nikorima
2. Jamayne Isaako
3. Euan Aitken
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
5. Tesi Niu
6. Isaiya Katoa
7. Sean O’Sullivan
8. Jesse Bromwich
9. Harrison Graham
10. Kenny Bromwich
11. Felise Kaufusi
12. Connelly Lemuelu
13. Ray Stone
    
    
14. Herman Ese’ese
15. Mark Nicholls
16. Anthony Milford
17. Jarrod Wallace
    
    
18. Josh Kerr
19. Valynce Te Whare
20. Poasa Faamausili
21. Brenko Lee
22. Kurt Donoghoe

 

[Equaliser]

I really don't agree with Wayne on the #1, #4 and #18 but lets see how it goes once more.

Dolphins team:​

1. Kodi Nikorima
2. Jamayne Isaako
3. Euan Aitken
4. Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
5. Tesi Niu
6. Isaiya Katoa
7. Sean O’Sullivan
8. Jesse Bromwich
9. Harrison Graham
10. Kenny Bromwich
11. Felise Kaufusi
12. Connelly Lemuelu
13. Ray Stone
    
    
14. Herman Ese’ese
15. Mark Nicholls
16. Anthony Milford
17. Jarrod Wallace
    
    
18. Josh Kerr
19. Valynce Te Whare
20. Poasa Faamausili
21. Brenko Lee
22. Kurt Donoghoe

On a brighter note, even minus JMK, that's the best forward pack we've been able to field since Tom Gilbert went down.

 

[Chris]

On a brighter note, even minus JMK, that's the best forward pack we've been able to field since Tom Gilbert went down.

JMK has only played half a game since Gilbert was injured. That explaIns why our form has fallen off a cliff.

Don't quite understand why Milf isn't starting. Maybe Wayne will pull a late switch.

 

[DolphinLungren]

Hate to say it but I think we are gonna get found out big time this game. Penrith aren't even at full strength either.

I hope Aitken and Isaako are ready for an onslaught down their side with Crichton and T'oo.

Don't understand the Hammer/Niko experiment - but after Te Whare's last game I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Surely if it fails again we gotta look at something else. The only things I know for certain are that when Hammer is at fullback and Milf is in the halves we look a better team.

 

[Dolph]

Don't understand the Hammer/Niko experiment - but after Te Whare's last game I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Surely if it fails again we gotta look at something else. The only things I know for certain are that when Hammer is at fullback and Milf is in the halves we look a better team.

Really seems like a no-brainer. I'm wondering WTF Wayne is thinking. Surely there are going to be late changes. I'm hardly the biggest fan of Brenko Lee but having him at centre was working in the first half of the season. Why not give it another try?

 

[Liverbird with Phins up]

I reckon all the senior coaches like Cleary, Bellamy, Robinson enjoy beating Wayne-coached teams more than others. Even more than each other. Though I don't mean to rate Robinson anywhere near the Wayne, Bellamy or Cleary.

No one comes close to Wayne.

Bellamy did it with a financially doped up Storm, Cleary got gifted a junior nursery after not winning anything at other clubs.

Wayne wins everywhere.

 

[Chris]

No one comes close to Wayne.

Bellamy did it with a financially doped up Storm, Cleary got gifted a junior nursery after not winning anything at other clubs.

Wayne wins everywhere.

Talking of Bellamy and salary cap issues, lets not mention Andrew Gee.

 

[Josh]

No one comes close to Wayne.

Bellamy did it with a financially doped up Storm, Cleary got gifted a junior nursery after not winning anything at other clubs.

Wayne wins everywhere.

I'll take Penrith's gifted junior nursery and raise it with most of QLDs junior nursery.

 

[DolphinLungren]

Really seems like a no-brainer. I'm wondering WTF Wayne is thinking. Surely there are going to be late changes. I'm hardly the biggest fan of Brenko Lee but having him at centre was working in the first half of the season. Why not give it another try?

I think Wayne deserves the benefit of the doubt, albeit it really is a confusing selection.

But with Brenko out injured, and being very short on centre replacements, the only options to preserve Hammer at FB are,

Bostock/McGrady/Gildart/Edrick Lee to slot into centre - or to wing and push Niu into centre
Keep big Val there
Play Lemelu

Or with Hammer in centres...

Out of left field, play Milford at fullback to get him involved. (I'd be interested to see this, with Kodi off the bench at hooker for Graham).
Give Trai a go at fullback
Keep Kodi at fullback

Can sort of see why Wayne has done it with all the options laid out - we got a bit of a crisis in depth there.

 

[Josh]

I think Wayne deserves the benefit of the doubt, albeit it really is a confusing selection.

But with Brenko out injured, and being very short on centre replacements, the only options to preserve Hammer at FB are,

Bostock/McGrady/Gildart/Edrick Lee to slot into centre - or to wing and push Niu into centre
Keep big Val there
Play Lemelu

Or with Hammer in centres...

Out of left field, play Milford at fullback to get him involved. (I'd be interested to see this, with Kodi off the bench at hooker for Graham).
Give Trai a go at fullback
Keep Kodi at fullback

Can sort of see why Wayne has done it with all the options laid out - we got a bit of a crisis in depth there.

Gildart is already gone.

If Brenko is still out, I'd go with Te Whare.

 

[DolphinLungren]

Great, looks like Cleary will return this week against us, just what we need. Watch him target Niko out of position with kicks behind the line all game.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/nathan-cleary-on-track-for-nrl-return-against-dolphins/news-story/3929874a9d7b6c283fbe138c5ca70296

 

[DolphinLungren]

Gildart is already gone.

If Brenko is still out, I'd go with Te Whare.

I tend to agree although it is far from ideal with his defense. At least he wouldn't be marking Chricton.

 

[Jetty]

Great, looks like Cleary will return this week against us, just what we need. Watch him target Niko out of position with kicks behind the line all game.

https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/nathan-cleary-on-track-for-nrl-return-against-dolphins/news-story/3929874a9d7b6c283fbe138c5ca70296

Crazy Ivan is going to go for the jugular.

 

[Chris]

Crazy Ivan is going to go for the jugular.

LATE MAIL: Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has a big decision to make and reportedly is mulling over whether to rest his representative stars Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo. “We’ve got a system in place and some contingencies around that as well. We’ll make the decisions later,” Cleary said. The Panthers coach is confident though that son Nathan Cleary will return from a hamstring injury. “There’s a pretty good chance (he’ll play) I reckon … he’s tracking really well,” Ivan said on Wednesday. “No, not fast-tracking. This was the weekend that he was always aiming to play in. He’s gone well in his rehab, so we just have to see how the week goes.”

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I reckon Crazy Ivan will play all the Origin players. Yeo only played for about 20 min, didn't he?

 

[Chris]

I was wrong. Pressure back on us. Means we absolutely must win.

Dolphins team​	Penrith Panters team​
Kodi Nikorima Jamayne Isaako Euan Aitken Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow Valynce Te Whare Isaiya Katoa Sean O’Sullivan Jesse Bromwich Harrison Graham Kenny Bromwich Felise Kaufusi Connelly Lemuelu Ray Stone Herman Ese’ese Mark Nicholls Anthony Milford Jarrod Wallace Josh Kerr Poasa Faamausili	Dylan Edwards Sunia Turuva Izack Tago Tyrone Peachey Tom Jenkins Jarome Luai Jack Cogger Moses Leota Mitch Kenny James Fisher-Harris Scott Sorensen Zac Hosking Matt Eisenhuth Soni Luke Lindsay Smith Spencer Leniu Jaeman Salmon Zac Hosking Matt Eisenhuth Luke Garner Nathan Cleary
Winger Tesi Niu drops out and is replaced by Valynce Te Whare.Anthony Milford trained at five-eighth on Wednesday with Isaiya Katoa running around for the reserves, prompting speculation Wayne Bennett could pull a late switch on game day.	Penrith coach Ivan Cleary will rest Origin stars Stephen Crichton, Brian To’o, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo. The Panthers coach said earlier in the week that he was confident son Nathan Cleary will return from a hamstring injury and the Penrith halfback remains in the extended squad for now. “There’s a pretty good chance (he’ll play) I reckon … he’s tracking really well,” Ivan said on Wednesday. “No, not fast-tracking. This was the weekend that he was always aiming to play in. He’s gone well in his rehab, so we just have to see how the week goes.”

 

[midlands hobo]

Is hammer at centre because he did so well at origin and that (is this the way to) averillo ( tony Christie anyone?) Has been doing well at fullback. So Wayne is getting hi. Ready for next season at 4?

 

[Chris]

Is hammer at centre because he did so well at origin and that (is this the way to) averillo ( tony Christie anyone?) Has been doing well at fullback. So Wayne is getting hi. Ready for next season at 4?

No. Apparently he's been moved because centre because Aitken and Te Whare are rubbish centres while Kodi is an ok fullback. I absolutely disagree. Not saying Aitken and Te Whare are really good centres, Aitken will never be and Te Whare isn't yet, but I don't think they are that bad. Not bad enough to justify moving Hammer from his best position in favour of Kodi.

And the results have shown that isn't a winning formula but Wayne is sticking with it so let's see what happens. The spoon won't be visiting us but pre-season predictions about the bottom 4 can't be ruled out.