Extra Time June 19

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PANTHERS V BULLDOGS

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Jamie Soward is set to return this weekend

MATCH PREVIEW PANTHERS

1 Dallin Watene-Zelezniak

2 Waqa Blake

3 Dean Whare

4 Issah Yeo

5 David Simmons

6 Jamie Soward

7 Peter Wallace (c)

8 Reagan Campbell-Gillard

9 James Segeyaro

10 Sam McKendry

11 Lewis Brown

12 Sika Manu

13 Elijah Taylor

14 Tyrone Peachey

15 Jeremy Latimore

16 Nigel Plum

17 Bryce Cartwright

BULLDOGS1 Sam Perrett

2 Curtis Rona

3 Chase Stanley

4 Tim Lafai

5 Corey Thompson

6 Josh Reynolds

7 Moses Mbye

8 Aiden Tolman

9 Michael Lichaa

10 Sam Kasiano

11 Antonio Kaufusi

12 Frank Pritchard

13 Greg Eastwood

14 Danny Fualalo

15 Lloyd Perrett

16 Tim Browne

17 Herman Ese’ese

And so it begins – the second half of a season that promised so much, yet at times has appeared as awkward as a ride in an elevator with Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.

After a promising start, Penrith’s season has been

decimated by injury and the result is that the side currently sits outside of the top eight and has very little to show in terms of consistent good form.

Only bottom placed Manly has scored less points than the Panthers this season, proving just how decimated Penrith’s halves have been with constant person-nel changes resulting in a point scoring drought.

The good thing about a bye weekend is that it offers you the opportunity to reset your season, take stock and start over.

And while coach Ivan Cleary wouldn’t

want a completely clean slate going into the second half of the year (there have been some highlights, after all) it is obvi-ous that he would have drawn a line in the sand over the past two weeks and declared that it’s time to get serious.

Injuries remain a problem at the Panthers but the time for excuses is over. The 17 blokes who run out in that Panthers jumper each week need to do so with pride, passion and determination. They need to be prepared to overcome the adversity that has followed this footy club over the past two seasons.

This weekend against the Bulldogs, the Panthers should welcome back key playmaker Jamie Soward, who missed the match against Melbourne due to a shoulder injury.

He said on Monday that he remained in doubt for Saturday’s clash but was named on Tuesday and is hopeful of playing.

It is vitally important that the Panthers have both Soward and Peter Wallace on the park together.

Wallace struggles without Soward alongside him because he doesn’t quite

have the ability to jump on opportunities and create tries and chances out of noth-ing. Conversely, when Wallace isn’t there, Soward almost tries too hard and the control of the game can fall from his grasp.

Josh Mansour hasn’t been named to make his return but there’s a whisper around that he could push Waqa Blake out of the side at the last minute.

Mansour would provide the Panthers a massive boost against a forward pack that is the biggest in the NRL.

Canterbury coach Des Hasler is back to playing mind games ahead of this game, refusing to name his State of Origin play-ers including halfback Trent Hodkinson.

You can almost guarantee that if fit, they’ll all play come Saturday.

As it stands, the Bulldogs’ starting pack is ferocious. Aiden Tolman, Sam Kasiano, Antonio Kaufusi, Frank Pritchard and Greg Eastwood, along with lively hooker Michael Lichaa, will look to run over the top of the Panthers in the early stages.

It’s a dire warning to the Panthers given they struggled in the forward battle against both the Eels and Storm.

While the Bulldogs have leaked plenty of points this season (300 from 13 matches), their pack is second to none when it comes to size and it doesn’t get any easier when their bench players come on.

With rain likely at ANZ Stadium, every metre up the middle will be important.

Yes, the Bulldogs have size and strength but the Panthers are desperate to restore some lost pride. It should be a cracker.

TIP: PANTHERS BY 6

Panthers hit the reset button

FACT CHECK Penrith defeated the

Bulldogs 24-18 in round one this season

Penrith has won 35 of their 87 all-time matches against the Bulldogs

The last time Penrith played the Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium was last year’s Preliminary Final, won by Canterbury

PANTHERS V BULLDOGS

SATURDAY, JUNE 20 • 7.30PM

ANZ STADIUM

REFEREES: GRANT ATKINS

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TV: FOX SPORTS LIVE 7.30PM

RADIO: 2GB LIVE 7.30PM

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PANTHER RUMBLINGS with the Masked Panther

SEND YOUR PANTHERS GOSSIP [email protected]

» Strong rumours suggest that Api Koroi-sau won’t be at the Panthers next season. For Penrith, signing Koroisau was an insurance policy in case James Segeyaro was out for whatever reason. But for Koroisau, the signing was a strange one given he was unlikely to get any serious first grade game time. Watch this space but it would appear that Koroisau won’t be in a Panthers jumper next year. Expect to see him back at Souths or at the Sea Eagles.

» Daily Telegraph journalist Phil Rothfield has questioned the current situation re-garding the Panthers and injured star Ja-mal Idris. Rothfield reported on Monday that Idris was spotted on Saturday at 3am drinking at the Albion Hotel in Parramat-ta. A couple of weeks ago he was out late at a rave concert in Brisbane, according to Rothfield. While there’s no suggestion Idris displayed any sort of bad behaviour, Rothfield does bring up an interesting point given drinking is usually heavily frowned upon when it comes to injured players – and in fact totally outlawed by many clubs.

» Talking of Idris, Rugby League Week reported on Monday that there’s strong whispers suggesting that he could end up at Manly next season. This isn’t a new rumour, but given the monumental change happening over at the Sea Eagles, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it happen.

» Panthers boss Phil Gould has denied the club is looking to sign Roosters For-ward Sam Moa.

» The Panthers announced the signing of French back-rower Ben Garcia last week. Garcia will join the Panthers next season from English Super League club Catalans Dragons, where he has plied his trade for the last two years. The 22-year-old previ-ously played for the Brisbane Broncos’ NYC side and returns to Australia as a French international, having made his international debut at the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. “Benjamin’s form has been outstanding for the Catalans Dragons and he attracted tremendous attention from a number of Super League clubs looking for his signature,” said Pan-thers boss Phil Gould. “He has a burning desire to make it in the NRL and we are extremely happy he has chosen Panthers as the place to pursue that opportunity. This kid can play.”

» Youngsters Sione Katoa, Viliame (Bill) Kikau and Zach Dockar-Clay also signed deals with the Panthers last week and will add depth to the lower grades next season.

» Hawkesbury Radio has issued an apol-ogy to former Panthers forward Clint Newton, who was in town last week play-ing for Newcastle against the Panthers in the NSW Cup. Newton took offence to comments made during the station’s call of the match.

» Men of League does a tremendous job in the rugby league community and now a Penrith-based committee of the organi-sation is close to forming. It should be up and running by the end of the year.

» One of Australia’s leading sporting administrators, Michael Brown, has

been appointed CEO of the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. His job will be to help plan and deliver a successful World Cup, which will be hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand. Michael has more than 20 years experience in the sporting sector, most recently as CEO of the Asian Football Confederation’s 2015 Asian Cup Australia. That event, which involved 32 games in 23 days, attracted more than 650,000 fans – nearly double the antici-pated crowd figure.

» Former Penrith Panthers prop Ross Cale, who played at the club in the late 70s, remains on the road to recovery after a horse riding accident in Dubbo earlier this year. Cale suffered serious damage to his right leg and also broke two ribs in the incident. He’s now on the mend after stints in both Dubbo District Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred.

API COULD BE ON THE WAY OUT OF THE PANTHERS

Api Koroisau’s future at Penrith is in doubt

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Panthers centre Dean Whare believes his struggling side needs to go back to basics in order to get their season back under control.

The 25-year-old Kiwi interna-tional, who only recently returned after an eight week absence through injury, said the Panthers need to return to playing simple footy or their season could be in severe trouble.

“For us it’s about stripping it back and getting back to that simple footy we know how to play,” Whare told Extra Time.

“I know we’ve had a lot of injuries but that’s definitely not an excuse for us to be playing the way we are. We had the same amount of injuries last year and still made the top four.

“Against Melbourne we had 22 penalties and errors, and you’re never going to get the opportunity to score tries when you don’t have the ball. I think if we hold the ball and play simple footy, we’ll get down to the other end of the park and score points.”

Penrith currently hold the second worst record for points scored this year and will

come up against a Canterbury Bulldogs outfit who’ll be very determined to avenge last week’s shock loss to the Gold Coast Titans.

Whare said Penrith can’t play the way they did against Melbourne a fortnight ago otherwise they’ll be punished by Canterbury’s monster pack.

“The Bulldogs are an awesome team; we know they have the biggest pack,” Whare said.

“If we turn over cheap ball they are going to run amok, so it’s all about us holding the ball and playing simple footy.”

Meanwhile, after a number of injury setbacks over the past two months, Whare admitted he was over the moon to be play-ing in Saturday night’s must-win game at ANZ Stadium.

Whare hurt his hamstring during Penrith’s win over Manly in Round 6 and was only expected to be missing for up to two weeks.

“I kept trying to come back in the captain’s run and I kept tweaking my hammy,” he said.

“I soon found out it was more than just the hammy giving me trouble, it was my back too.

“The hammy feels a million times better and I’m definitely ready for this weekend.”

NATHAN TAYLOR natetaylor87

FEATURE STORY

We need to go back to basics

Dean Whare. Photo: Melinda Jane

With Penrith’s season sitting in a precarious state, Dean Whare says the way forward is as simple as playing basic footy and holding onto the ball...

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KEV’S KORNER

WHY WE WILL MAKE THE FINALS

After an up-and-down first half of the season, the Panthers are sitting on 14 points with 12 games to go.

It probably doesn’t seem like the ideal start but I’m a ‘glass half-full’ kind of guy. Every year a team jumps out of the blocks and has a great opening to the season then falls apart in the backend of the year. Every team goes through a tough period; it might be Origin period, it might be because of injuries or maybe the players just lose form.

The reason I am so confident about our second half of the season is I think we have been through our tough period and can now come out the other side. Our last game against the Storm was probably rock bottom – a genuine reality check for the boys. However we are now starting to get players back from injury and those players will be fresh and jumping out of their skin, as opposed to players who go all season then burn out in the final rounds. The team is starting to combine well in training and beginning to look a lot more fluent in attack. After a week off, the players have bounced into every session looking hungry and ready for the challenge in front of them.

So bring on the Bulldogs! Don’t forget this is the team that knocked us out last year and denied us our fairytale run to the grand final.

They are going to be extremely moti-vated after their loss to the Titans and will likely have their Origin stars back on deck. But we’re ready.

Come on you Panthers fans – get your-selves down to ANZ Stadium on Saturday night and help us kick off the second half of our season with a win.

WITH KEVIN KINGSTON

Sam McKendry in action

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LOCALRADIO

After years of waiting, construction has finally commenced on the $20 million Panthers Rugby League Academy.

The world class centre of excel-lence, which will be located behind Penrith Panthers Leagues Club, is designed to provide a premium training and development environment for both senior and junior players.

The Panthers Rugby League Academy will boast expansive education facilities, team rooms, state-of-the-art AV rooms, a fully-equipped gym, medical facilities and recreational spaces.

Due to be completed by June 2016, the main academy building will be flanked by two full-size training fields and establish Penrith Panthers as an eminent force in the development of current and future rugby league players.

“The Academy will be among the best in the country and cements Panthers’ commitment to being one of the preemi-nent sporting organisations in Australia,” Panthers Group CEO, Warren Wilson said.

Panthers Executive General Manager of

Rugby League, Phil Gould, said the facility will play a vital role in developing the next generation of rugby league stars.

“It’s the most significant investment this club has made in rugby league in its history,” he said.

“The facility will be a source of inspira-tion and aspiration for all young players, not only in the Penrith district, but in country areas as well.”

Attending the ceremonial ‘turning of the

sod’ last Friday morning was NSW Sports Minister and Penrith MP Stuart Ayres, Federal Member for Lindsay Fiona Scott, Mulgoa MP Tanya Davies, Panthers club director Greg Alexander as well as current players Bryce Cartwright and Reagan Campbell-Gillard.

“This will become a mecca for people who want to participate in good commu-nity activity and enhance their footballing prowess,” Mr Ayres said.

NATHAN TAYLOR natetaylor87

FEATURE STORY

Panthers look to the future

Stuart Ayres, Tanya Davies, Greg Alexander, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Phil Gould, Bryce Cartwright, Fiona Scott and Warren Wilson

Phil Gould calls the new Rugby League Academy at Panthers the most significant football investment in Penrith’s history...

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WIN TICKETS TO PANTHERS V RABBITOHS ON JULY 3

The Panthers do battle with reigning premiers South Sydney on Friday, July 3 and we want you to be there.

Extra Time is giving away four double passes to the Friday night blockbuster at Pepper Stadium, which will see the 2014 premiership winners in town for the first time this year.

The clash will also be the very first time former Panther Tim Grant will return to the foot of the Mountains to take on his old club. Grant joined the Rabbitohs this year after eight seasons with Penrith, so there’s no doubt he’ll have plenty to prove when he runs out against his former teammates.

With both sides battling a range of injuries all year and not playing to their potential, a win is a must for both clubs at this stage of the season.

Extra Time has four double passes to see the Panthers take on the Rabbitohs at Pepper Stadium on July 3 to give away. For your chance to win one, email the code word ‘RABBITOHS’ to [email protected] with your name and contact details. Entries close Friday, June 26. Authorised under NSW Permit Number LTPM/15/00066. Terms and conditions at www.west-ernweekender.com.au or Weekender reception.

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Years supporting the Panthers: Five and a half yearsFavourite current Panther and ex-Panther: Jamal Idris and Tim GrantWhy do you support the Panthers? Because of the colours of their jer-seys and I love going to the games!What’s your best Panthers memo-ry? Heritage Round in 2014 when Tim Grant gave me a ball.What’s your prized piece of Pan-thers memorabilia that you would never sell? EVERYTHING!If the Panthers won the 2015 Grand Final, how would you react? I would be very excited.Would you ever get a Panthers tat-too and where would you get it? Yes! On my arm.

Want to be our fan of the week? Call us on 4722 2998 and ask for Nathan

NRL LADDER & FIXTURESCLUB PD W D L B F A +/- PTS

1 Broncos 13 10 0 3 1 297 214 +83 22

2 Cowboys 13 10 0 3 1 288 255 +33 22

3 Dragons 12 8 0 4 2 212 155 +57 20

4 Storm 13 8 0 5 1 246 188 +58 18

5 Roosters 13 7 0 6 1 279 176 +103 16

6 Rabbitohs 14 8 0 6 0 274 254 +20 16

7 Raiders 13 6 0 7 1 319 303 +16 14

8 Titans 13 6 0 7 1 298 312 -25 14

9 Panthers 12 5 0 7 2 190 220 -30 14

10 Warriors 13 6 0 7 1 261 292 -31 14

11 Bulldogs 13 6 0 7 1 266 300 -34 14

12 Sharks 12 5 0 7 2 195 236 -41 14

13 W. Tigers 13 5 0 8 1 245 248 -3 12

14 Knights 13 5 0 8 1 230 290 -60 12

15 Eels 14 5 0 9 0 282 336 -54 10

16 Sea Eagles 12 3 0 9 2 172 264 -92 10

ROUND 15

Sea Eagles v Wests TigersFriday, June 19, 7.45pm

Brookvale Oval

Raiders v CowboysSaturday, June 20, 3pm

GIO Stadium

Titans v WarriorsSaturday, June 20, 5.30pm

Cbus Super Stadium

Bulldogs v PanthersSaturday, June 20, 7.30pm

ANZ Stadium

Knights v SharksSunday, June 21, 2pm

Hunter Stadium

Storm v BroncosSunday, June 21, 4pm

AAMI Park

Dragons v RoostersMonday, June 22, 7pm

Allianz Stadium

ByesEels

Rabbitohs

Extra Time Issue Number 016

PRINTED BY Spotpress Pty Ltd / PRODUCED BY The Western Weekender

EDITOR Troy Dodds / 4722 2998 / [email protected]

COVER PHOTO: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak

SALES MANAGER Simon Gould / 4722 2998 [email protected]

EMILY MARTYNCranebrook

FAN OF THE WEEK

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In an absorbing and at times physical encounter that lived up to the pre-match hype, Penrith have held off a fast-fin-ishing Newcastle side to win the second Grand Final replay of 2015, 30-24 at Pep-per Stadium.

In an evenly matched first-half, Penrith led 14-12 before taking a commanding 30-12 lead midway through the second half before Newcastle hit back with two tries in five minutes to set up a grandstand fin-ish before the Panthers prevailed.

The win over the Knights sees the Pan-thers increase their lead at the top of the ladder to three points, as they head into their second of three scheduled byes.

However the win may have come at a price with Wellington Albert (dislo-cated shoulder) likely to be sidelined for an extended period while Sione Katoa accepted a one match ban for a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact charge.

Will Smith was due to appear before the judiciary on Thursday night after he plead not guilty to a Grade 1 Shoulder Charge offence that carries a two game ban should he be found guilty.

Penrith came into the game strength-ened by the late inclusion of Sam Ander-son, Adam Docker and Katoa, replacing Matt Eisenhuth, Nathan Smith and Sam

Scarlett respectively. The competition’s best defence was put to the test early, as Penrith repelled several Knights attacking raids inside their 20 before the Panthers turned defence into attack to score two tries in six minutes through Isaac John and Eddie Aiono, to open up a 10-0 lead midway through the first half.

A run of penalties allowed Newcastle to hit back and take a 12-10 lead after 29 minutes when Chad Redman and Joseph Tapine scored back-to-back tries.

An error from Knights skipper and ex-Panther, Clint Newton on the stroke of half-time, was punished by the Panthers when Aiono finished off a slick backline movement to score his second try of the afternoon to snatch a 14-12 lead.

Penrith scored three unanswered tries through Will Smith, Wellington Albert and Leilani Latu to open up a com-manding 30-12 lead midway through the second half.

Newcastle took advantage to narrow the gap to six points with eight minutes remaining after Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Danny Levi scored, but Penrith closed out the game in the same manner that they started it; through grim defence, to record their sixth win in seven matches.

The side has this weekend off.

HOLDEN CUP NSW CUP

PENRITH PANTHERS PREVAIL IN GRAND FINAL REPLAY BUT AT WHAT COST?

The Penrith Panthers will look for their ninth straight win this Saturday even-ing when they take on the Canterbury Bulldogs at ANZ Stadium.

The Panthers are the Holden Cup’s hottest team at the moment and are playing to the standard that they were when they won the premiership back in 2013.

That side, of course, featured a num-ber of current NRL players including Bryce Cartwright, Waqa Blake, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, George Jennings, Isaah Yeo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and now Titans players James Roberts and Kierran Moseley.

This year’s crop may be full of un-knowns at this stage, but if they keep performing the way they do, there’s no telling where they could end up.

Speaking to Penrith’s official website recently, rookie Panthers coach and for-mer player Cameron Ciraldo said he was very happy with how his young side was tracking at this point of the season.

“We’ve been improving our perfor-mances each week, which has been pleasing, we’re still halfway though the comp, so we have a long way to go,” he said.

The Panthers currently sit in first place

on the Holden Cup ladder with 10 wins and two losses to their name.

Ciraldo admitted if his troops con-tinue to perform to a high standard this season, they could push for NSW Cup selection as early as this year. Already a number of players including Stanton Albert and Maliko Filino have made their NSW Cup debuts.

“Our entire forward pack is pushing to play NSW Cup in the near future. Also our captain Brent Naden is going really well, same with a couple of others like Tyrone May and Soni Luke,” he said.

While the Panthers are flying high and look unstoppable at the moment, Ciraldo said now’s the time not to get complacent as there’s still plenty to work on.

“Defensively we’re always looking to improve, we hate letting in tries,” he said.

“We’re scoring a fair few points at the moment but I think leading into the back-end of the season, we’re going to have to work harder for our tries and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Kick off between the first-placed Pen-rith Panthers and 12th placed Canter-bury Bulldogs is at 5.15pm this Saturday, June 20.

PANTHERS LOOK TO MAKE IT NINE STRAIGHT WINS AGAINST STRUGGLING BULLDOGS

BY NATHAN TAYLOR @natetaylor87

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