Round 19 - Storm vs Panthers - #CAM300

[Inglis#3]

Clinical that was. No passengers tonight.

[LESStar58]

Another VRL junior pops his try scoring cherry. Good stuff, Richie.

[tugga]

Good for our points diff.
Clinical display. Even when they scored two tries quickly, we put the foot down again, which was the most pleasing thing for me.

[nacho]

Not sure if weve lifted for Cam or if theyve finally clicked

NAS is growing more and more each week - physically and as a player. JB and NAS starting front rowers looks daunting to the opposition but itl happen soon. Also loved his quick play of the ball but they were nail biters at some points.

I think Munster is going to be a fitting replacement for Bill- the best thing about him is that hes a bit cocky, can back it up and pretty tough. We need some ego and some confidence (read as slight arrogance) to spice it up i recon. Sign him till 2020!

Does anyone know the go with Kaufusi? Just rotated out? Welsh was good a good replacement for the limited minutes, deft ball at the line to put Green through a huge gap. Contrasting playing styles though

Thought defence was good but wasnt tested much considering what the panthers were dishing up

[blazza18]

That was easily the most clinical performance we've had in a very long time. And we still left points on the field. Was a great way for the club to celebrate such a milestone.

One thing that is concerning me with NAS is he tries to play the ball quickly every time and he either falls over while playing it or doesn't touch the ball with his foot, he just rolls it between his legs. It's a nit-picky thing but it'll come back to bite us one day so I hope someone gets in his ear.

It's hard to believe we scored 10 tries and our fullback didn't score at least one. Munster deserves a bag full soon the way he's been playing.

[yourhero]

Brilliant game and I echo Blazza's point above, easily our most complete game in a long time.

Whilst we likely cannot play with that kind of emotion and determination every week, that performance should be driven home to the boys as a perfect example of what we "can" do, if we show up with the right attitude.

Great all round team performance. NAS was fantastic. Every run was determined and he is playing like a guy his size should be. I agree a couple of his PTBs were rushed/risky, but these days quick PTBs get you wins. I don’t want him to clam up in fear of making a mistake and lose that valuable aspect.

Every time Munster returns the ball, I think he is going to be driven backwards. He looks slight. BUT, somehow this rarely happens, even with 2 or more defenders on him. He almost always pokes his nose through and finds his belly. So strong for a smaller guy - Smith-esque.

I am heterosexual but I have huge amounts of man-love for Marika... Love the way he goes about his business.

Finally and probably most importantly, a big shout out to Cronk who absolutely busted his @ss to ensure Cam could celebrate this huge milestone in style. 2 tries. 2 try assists. 3 line break assists. 1 line break. 4 tackle breaks. Did every single thing with his absolute all.

[Scooter]

Awesome game by the whole team. NAS definitely had his best game but agree re his play the balls and what about when he driven back 10 metres from kick off for line dropout.

Not only did Welch throw pass for Green but also threw an awesome offload to Jesse the play before that. It was easily Proctor's best game of the season. Green was back to his form from earlier in the season.

What about MK5 (or is it MK2)? How about when he took the Panthers bomb abd was off to the races? I thought he would get pushed into touch but produced that fend. Thought he should have had three tries can't believe he was disallowed for the softest of pushes. And then almost scored another.

Another highlight of the night was when Richie Kennar used Soward as a speed bump. Plus his first try as well.

[The Mauritian]

I haven't seen NAS play the ball properly once. Never touches with foot. Still playing union. Lucky he gets away with it.
Disappointing crowd for a Friday night for Cams 300. Penrith never a big draw.
Ritchie pretty lucky to be holding mahe out of team. Over ran chambers ball to bomb certain try. still looks a bit lost.
Future front row: Bromwich and Mclean starters. NAS, Welch and Kaufusi bench.

[Storm Spirit]

I will make a BIG call now...

If NAS and Welch and Kaufusi are handled properly by the Club....then those guys plus J-Brom and Jordy will make an unstoppable fwd pack over the next 5 - 10 years

[Gaiscioch]

...

One thing that is concerning me with NAS is he tries to play the ball quickly every time and he either falls over while playing it or doesn't touch the ball with his foot, he just rolls it between his legs. It's a nit-picky thing but it'll come back to bite us one day so I hope someone gets in his ear ...

I know what your saying too there Blazza, heart in your mouth moments, but the main thing to worry about (and to answer The Mauritian aswell) is that the ball is rolled back, rules state that a simulated foot rucking motion over the ball is sufficient. No need for the foot to physically touch the ball. If you don't offer a foot rucking motion that is when you will be deemed to have made an illegal play.
Rules are also the Marker shouldn't be touching the player playing the ball, so the play in question when the Ref called for a Penrith Scrum, as quick as NAS played the ball the Marker was touching him, the Ref could have also have asked NAS for a replay on the Play the Ball since a Penrith Player was like white on rice on him.
One time he played the ball, the ball spun, so we got away with that, I'm sure it will be something they will tidying up in his game. But his quick play the balls, you have to say as YourHero says, it can get you wins and it really got the team attacking an off-side defence, putting added pressure onto Penrith.

Awesome game by the whole team. NAS definitely had his best game but agree re his play the balls and what about when he driven back 10 metres from kick off for line dropout ...

Yeah I thought that was not the finest moment of the game too Scooter, but from where Cronk caught the ball, that added time for the defence to speed up to make the tackle, and if you watch the replay, you won't often get 5 tacklers to make a tackle, I'd challenge anyone to watch that play again I maybe wrong, but I thought I counted 5

I was really amazed on the confidence Munster was showing under the high balls compared to other games, he made more catches on the full and didn't let many bounce, I think that made a huge difference to the team on a whole, how he ran out of the in-goal also, he just gave the team more breathing space and less pressure for them which was pleasing.
And the way JB runs the ball, he is just a machine and a pure metre eater of a player

[Scooter]

Gaiscioch there were definitely plenty of defenders in the tackle. I wasn't being critical of NAS just couldn't believe it happened.

[Gaiscioch]

Haha Scooter, I was thinking just like you, reminded me a bit of the repeat six and the goal mouth drop out against the Warriors, not a great way to hand the ball back to the opposition.
But yeah, as fans, to be critical or not, just to have a discussion on this forum and having things to think about is all I like to do as everyone here likes to do also, I'm just putting it out there, but having 5 players in a tackle is very much an outstanding play for Penrith as Koribete chasing down Johnson.

I'm going off track here, but either way you look at it, I'm just saying having 5 players used to drive NAS back may say a lot about NAS lol.

[KingHoweofIsrael]

Can't really add anything that hasn't been said already - but i am extremely proud of the way everyone stepped up and made it a night to remember..... can't wipe the smile off my face! I do acknowledge that the panthers weren't exactly the strongest opposition, so I hope the guys will continue to step up and play every game like it's Cams' 300th!

Just on NAS.... being equally nit-picky here, but it was closer to 5 metres, rather than 10 when he was driven back. I agree with the play the ball comments. ...Cam actually did get in his ear about it after he was pinged for it, his next attempt was perfect. ... but thereafter he seemed to go back to playing two man tunnel ball - surprised he wasn't pulled up for it a few more times. Beyond that, he was really impressive!

[yourhero]

I hate to take away from a wonderfully positive night, but something that bothered me...

Crowd - 11,956.

That is a disgusting crowd. No excuses... Well below our average.

We never get Friday night blockbusters and will be permanently stuck with Monday night games if this is all we can draw.

For such a massive milestone and a game which got ample media coverage, that crowd attendance is pathetic.

[KingHoweofIsrael]

Maybe because it *was* on tv..... Saturday nights is our best slot in my opinion. .. actual statistics may prove me wrong - but i think it always draws a great crowd.