An in-depth look at the Panthers and how we can take a leaf out of their book

[Geo]

I'd go further than that mac….Game set match...6-0 6-0 6-0....

With Pamfers shading us by 0.83%

 

[Nelson]

At least the Panthers had a strategy and I think it's starting to bear some fruit for them. They have had a couple of bad years with injuries and that hasn't helped their cause along the way but where they are now isn't bad. They are an attractive club for players to go to as can be seen from some of their signings over recent years. They have plenty of good juniors coming through but they are not reliant on them coming through to first grade. They're quite happy to stick road blocks in front of their juniors (like the Jennings boys and Blake) and make them earn their chance.

We have also been employing a strategy, however ours has involved handing a talented crop of juniors fat contracts and a free ride.

Which do you prefer?

The Panthers approach seems to make sense on paper. A paper theory isn't always going to pan out but I think having logic as the foundation of a strategy rather than blind hope and optimism is probably a better way to go.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

The Panthers juniors are coming along fine, unlike our juniors they've had the luxury of coming in when they were ready and playing alongside men. We threw two rookies into the halves and said "good luck boys". They've managed their juniors miles better than we have. Think of the progress guys like Cartwright, Moylan, DWZ, JFH, RCG have made compared to Siro, Brooks, Moses, even Noffa. We're way behind.

 

[yeti]

Maybe there is only one strategy that actually works ….
\
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.... brown paper bags anyone?

 

[Goose]

Panthers have only had one good year in the last half a dozen or so.

I think they have greatly underperformed given they have a very strong junior base, which provides a million kids every year, and strong financial position.

They had a policy for about 4 years where the Junior program was poorly resourced, they still went well in the lower levels, but did not bring enough through. No coincidence when they put money back into development, the top class kids came through.

I actually believe their current strategy is hurting long term success, people like Hiku and Lewis Brown (I know he is gone now) who are stop gappers why the next golden generation is through have somewhat hampered the development of the guys who will be in the team when they are a realistic chance to win it. It looks like it will result in them losing R Jennings which they are not happy about as well.

I know they think the next generation will win a comp, I think this was supposed to be kept in school, but I was told by an unofficial source so I feel I can share, they had a core of 8 guys all of which are 22 or younger and basically told them as long as they stay together and don't chase cash they will win a comp together. Im not sure who the 8 were, but assume it was Cartwright, RGC, DWZ, Moylan, J fisher-Harris, Tyrone May, Cleary and Dylan Edwards, possibly Yeo in there as well I guess.

Anyway, I dont think that Penrith have been the role model to follow.

 

[ricksen]

The NBA example is very poor one given there's a draft and you only need ~8 competitive players to be successful, not to mention the differences in free agency and salary caps.

I largely agree with jirskyr on Penrith, though I do think we can learn from the Panthers in some forms.
They really scorched the earth to begin their rebuild, something that we appear to be terrified of doing. Yes we tried to get rid of Farah, which didn't work, but if we were serious we'd be doing far more than that. Plus, we resigned under-performers like Lovett, even (apparently) getting involved in a bidding war to do so.
I appreciate a lot of the bad deals (e.g. Broses, Sirro and co) were under previous management, but we appear to be happy to just use that as an excuse and kick the can down the road when we really should be taking action here and now.

That said, at the end of the day, we're going to struggle until the NRL changes the uneven playing field that is the current CBA and Salary Cap systems, as we're never going to compete with other clubs and their TPAs.
* We can't build from within as our best players attract interest from elsewhere and we either a) overpay to keep them, or b) let them go to be successful elsewhere
* We can't recruit from outside as we can't compete with market pricing, not to mention the sub-standard facilities.

 

[tsjonathan]

The NBA example is very poor one given there's a draft and you only need ~8 competitive players to be successful, not to mention the differences in free agency and salary caps.

I largely agree with jirskyr on Penrith, though I do think we can learn from the Panthers in some forms.
They really scorched the earth to begin their rebuild, something that we appear to be terrified of doing. Yes we tried to get rid of Farah, which didn't work, but if we were serious we'd be doing far more than that. Plus, we resigned under-performers like Lovett, even (apparently) getting involved in a bidding war to do so.
I appreciate a lot of the bad deals (e.g. Broses, Sirro and co) were under previous management, but we appear to be happy to just use that as an excuse and kick the can down the road when we really should be taking action here and now.

That said, at the end of the day, we're going to struggle until the NRL changes the uneven playing field that is the current CBA and Salary Cap systems, as we're never going to compete with other clubs and their TPAs.
* We can't build from within as our best players attract interest from elsewhere and we either a) overpay to keep them, or b) let them go to be successful elsewhere
* We can't recruit from outside as we can't compete with market pricing, not to mention the sub-standard facilities.

What about the NFL? AFL? Union? Google? Microsoft? My point was beyond the draft. About astute well rounded people who are able to manage a business. All sport is relatively the same isn't it? You have good managers and businessman and your team will generally succeed whether the system is the same or different the reliance isn't on drafts/caps but on acumen, integrity and pro activeness and common sense. Macro scale. Business 101 kinda thing.

Are the tigers the worst performing team in the past 16 seasons? Average wins/losses?

 

[ricksen]

The NBA example is very poor one given there's a draft and you only need ~8 competitive players to be successful, not to mention the differences in free agency and salary caps.

I largely agree with jirskyr on Penrith, though I do think we can learn from the Panthers in some forms.
They really scorched the earth to begin their rebuild, something that we appear to be terrified of doing. Yes we tried to get rid of Farah, which didn't work, but if we were serious we'd be doing far more than that. Plus, we resigned under-performers like Lovett, even (apparently) getting involved in a bidding war to do so.
I appreciate a lot of the bad deals (e.g. Broses, Sirro and co) were under previous management, but we appear to be happy to just use that as an excuse and kick the can down the road when we really should be taking action here and now.

That said, at the end of the day, we're going to struggle until the NRL changes the uneven playing field that is the current CBA and Salary Cap systems, as we're never going to compete with other clubs and their TPAs.
* We can't build from within as our best players attract interest from elsewhere and we either a) overpay to keep them, or b) let them go to be successful elsewhere
* We can't recruit from outside as we can't compete with market pricing, not to mention the sub-standard facilities.

What about the NFL? AFL? Union? Google? Microsoft? My point was beyond the draft. About astute well rounded people who are able to manage a business. All sport is relatively the same isn't it? You have good managers and businessman and your team will generally succeed whether the system is the same or different the reliance isn't on drafts/caps but on acumen, integrity and pro activeness and common sense. Macro scale. Business 101 kinda thing.

Are the tigers the worst performing team in the past 16 seasons? Average wins/losses?

Fair point re: astute business people, but I'd argue that no - all sports aren't relatively the same.
The current incarnation of the NRL is more akin to the English Premier League and F1 rather than the parity-driven Nth American sports.
The rich are the rich and will more often than not come out on top as a result. Obviously you'll get a Leicester City once in a blue moon, but they're very much the exception rather than the rule.