Penrith have won their first game of the season despite giving up 16 points in the second half, downing the winless South Sydney Rabbitohs 24-20.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the goings on at the worst club in the NRL, the players got Petero Civoniceva to confront coach Matthew Elliott about his game plan.
In what is surely a piss take by the players, they said publically that the game plan was too complex and that the training methods of Elliotts coaching staff were leaving the team tired for the games themselves.
So the players were given most of the week off, and come game time, instead of the typical boring Elliott style of out forward running, the Panthers played with width.
While they were helped by a huge amount of possession early on, the work of Luke Priddis and Petero Civoniceva was amazing and running wide, Frank Prichard looks unstoppable oncer again.
Still, old habits die hard, and after getting to a 22-6 lead, possession turned against them and the one out football was back. While they managed to hold on for the win, it was pretty unconvincing against a very poor Souths side.
Having been relieved of his coaching duties by the players themselves, all Matthew Elliott had to do was manage his substitues, but he couldn’t even manage that, taking inspirational captain Petero Civoniceva from the field late in the game as his last substitute.
It was also troubling to see trainer Matt Adamson rushing onto the field and screaming at players at a point of the game when calm heads were needed. Its no wonder the players have no respect for any of the coaching staff.
So thats one win so far in 2008 for the Panthers.
