General 2021 NRL Premiership Finals - WEEK 3

[wizards rage]

So so many errors from the storm.

Crumbling under the pressure…

The hole left by Cam Smith is harder to fill than it looks

 

[Beastmode]

Smh…

 

[wizards rage]

Clearly should have been checked for HIA with 11 minutes to go but was to valuable…

Wonder if anything will happen about that!

 

[Beastmode]

Penrith are imploding….

 

[Beastmode]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great game.

 

[tajhay]

worthy of being the grand final.

 

[wizards rage]

Well done panther! What a game.

Part of me is happy nostrils didn’t win a premiership the year after he leaves us

 

[Sup42]

Watching that game....some Warriors fans will still stick to liking attacking players that cannot tackle.

Do not ask me why.

Warrior blindness.

You will never win the NRL without the best defence in the competition.

That is the sole reason the Warriors have not played finals regularly ever.

Attacking teams and players that cannot tackle have never won the NRL ever.

Pretty clear then how we need to recruit.

 

[Warrior#214]

IF (allcaps!) Penrith get up and beat the Storm I predict they lose the final to Souths - off the back of 2 tough games where their forwards get beaten up and with that psychological issue of having 'played their final' against the Storm. Bennett will pick away at Cleary in the Grand Final Week pressers - it would be beautiful. And Reynolds, Gagai, Su'a, Marshall & Bennett all leave the club on a fairytale win. Latrells career defining moment will end up being that hit on Manu that denied him the chance to take the park and win the GF. So much story there.

Either that or the Storm puts on a combined hundred points in the next two games regardless of who the opposition are - and the dynasty continues!

Here we go - Bunnies for the win

 

[Zarjaz]

Damn what a game, epic effort from the Panthers. Just bloody love seeing the Storm rattled. Panthers did well to upset them. Might come down to who's fit winning next week.

 

[Worried2Death]

Goodbye Storm dynasty, they had a good run.

 

[Jaffa J]

Feel like the Storm were a better team when Hynes was at FB

 

[Ever Hopeful]

Well I caught the last two minutes. I hope the GF isn't at the same time, because 6-8pm is a black hole when you have young kids.

I wanted the Panthers to win the comp, but I have got to say that it feels a bit disappointing that the team that is clearly the best in the NRL is not in the GF

 

[Worried2Death]

I wanted the Panthers to win the comp, but I have got to say that it feels a bit disappointing that the team that is clearly the best in the NRL is not in the GF

True but it looks like they'll never let the Warriors make another GF

 

[Ever Hopeful]

Good to see real rugby league back.

The Panthers last two winning scores 8 and 10.

 

[Mr Brownstone]

Well I caught the last two minutes. I hope the GF isn't at the same time, because 6-8pm is a black hole when you have young kids.

I wanted the Panthers to win the comp, but I have got to say that it feels a bit disappointing that the team that is clearly the best in the NRL is not in the GF

Storm aren’t clearly the best - finished on same points in the regular season as the Panthers who won 2 out of the 3 games they played this year.

 

[snake77]

Its amazing at this time of year how often a favoured team will look off in such a big game. The Storm were making a lot more handling errors than they would normally. They didn't look themselves on attack until a set near the end.

Had a lot of guys close to making breaks and it would fall over due to handling mistakes. Its a credit to them that they were able to stay in it. Often a favoured side gets rattled they are on the back foot all game.

 

[snake77]

An interesting week coming up after the two coaches fueding a few weeks back.

Bennett knows how to manage a team through the big week and get up for the Grand Final. His record in Grand Finals is fantastic. As a head coach he's only had the one loss.

Can he win a premiership with a third club?

Cleary has failed twice in Grand Finals (sorry for the reminder). Is it a case of needing to lose one to win one.

Then there is Benji Marshall. Won a premiership at the start of his career and has a chance to finish with another one.

 

[Ever Hopeful]

Storm aren’t clearly the best - finished on same points in the regular season as the Panthers who won 2 out of the 3 games they played this year.

Fair enough, not clearly the best.

I personally felt they were a better team this year offensively. Often it is defence that wins at the business end though. The late season rust that the Panthers showed at times is probably fresher in the mind than their great first half of the season.

The Storm have been scintillating. They also played a chunk of the season without their stars and still won comfortably. The Panthers looked lost without Cleary.

The Panthers are still worthy, as are the Rabbits. I'd have like a Panthers Storm final personally, which obviously wasn't possible.

 

[Mr Brownstone]

Fair enough, not clearly the best.

I personally felt they were a better team this year offensively. Often it is defence that wins at the business end though. The late season rust that the Panthers showed at times is probably fresher in the mind than their great first half of the season.

Yeah Storm def went in as favourites, Panthers had been off their game lately. However when The Rabbits thrashed the Sea Eagles last night I began to wonder if Storm were potentially not quite as much in form as they might have appeared a fortnight ago. Their last few regular season games hadn’t been super either.