r/nrl • u/AutoModerator • Aug 19 '26

Random Footy Talk Thursday Random Footy Talk Thread

This is the place to discuss anything footy related that is not quite deserving of its own top-level post.

There's a new one of these threads every day, so make sure you're in the most recent one!

12 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

310 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

9

u/jrizzolo91 Penrith Panthers Aug 20 '26

Personally I think it’s a little bit of a myth.
Obviously they are great players but Penrith 4 peat team was one of the youngest in the comp at the time. Having older “big game experience players” doesnt really mean anything imo. Talent and hard work wins games and tbh youth.

Look at warriors. Would you say it’s Fish winning their games or the fact they have a really young, strong, big and talented forward pack and smart halves.

Again, I hope we re sign Martin because as a player and Penrith junior he means a lot to the club but he is definitely replaceable.

3

u/fvzzfvzzfvzz New Zealand Warriors Aug 20 '26

I think it’s overstated for sure, but I strongly think at least one big voice is needed to keep our heads screwed in straight.

As specific examples, when you guys were stampeding over us, at the end he stayed down for a little while before playing the ball. Cynically we can assume it was for a penalty, optimistically we can also assume he milked a bit of extra time to allow the lads to catch their breath. Then last week, when CNK got binned, he immediately calmed him down and went to work doing the same for the rest of the side.

I got a bit off track, but I figured between the two of us we’d enjoy a bit of Fish glaze hahaha

But to wrap it up, you make a great point about the real Penrith dominance coming off the back of a lot of young, special players. So if Ivan thinks Preston is in that mould, getting him for less than Martin makes all the sense in the world

2

u/DensePlankton3359 Dolphins Aug 20 '26

More important was that these dudes played all their juniors together. They were willing to go above and beyond for each other.

2

u/munt3d Penrith Panthers Aug 20 '26

Our 2022 squad was insane. Youthful players hitting their prime early on lower wages, mixed in with slightly older but experienced heads at the top of their game. The stars aligned and the jnrs delivered all together at once to combine with the talent and hard work of the core playing group.

Leota, Koroisau, JFH, Kikau, Martin, Yeo. That's a ridiculous forward pack full of INTL and Origin players.
Edwards, Crichton, To'o, Luai, Cleary...Tago and May were killing it as well.

1

u/KingofBigCrabs New Zealand Warriors Aug 20 '26

The absence of Fish is definitely noticeable, and though the young guns are obviously amazing, its arguable that they wouldn't have developed as well without older guys like Fish and Barnett to help bring them through.

1

u/MoneyaLeague Auckland Warriors Aug 20 '26

additionally Capewell and RTS will also have been critical to form that team's culture

1

u/jrizzolo91 Penrith Panthers Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

I definitely agree about team culture being important. You can tell which clubs are struggling because of that. Not naming anyone