The Panthers defense

[Northern Beaches dog]

Out of all my years watching the game i have never seen a defense like this in my life.
Have you ever seen a team that sprints off its line for 80 minutes and not only that, physically man handle the ball carrier and drive them backwards and side ways for 80 minutes?
Souths last night did not get a full set of 6 in the Panthers 20 until the 70th minute mark.
In fact, they barely got a tackle in the Panthers 20 all game.
The thing is, they have pretty much been doing this for the last 2 years.
I am sure every coach would love to see there team do this, but the team would be absolutely exhausted after 25 minutes yet the Panthers can do this for 80 minutes????
Panthers came into this game after 3 weeks of tough grinding games and a few players busted yet it did not matter.
The question is, are they that much fitter and physically more dominant than every other team?
Generally there is an inverse relationship between fitness and strength, yet they have both far far superior than anyone else.
Even Phil Gould said 2 weeks ago in the commentary, he has never seen anything like it when talking about the Panthers line speed and physical dominance.
Not even the storm are like this.
Is there strength and conditioning coach and sports science programmes that much better than everyone elses?
What is going on?

 

[BELMORE]

They do lapse in energy throughout the game but they turn it back on exactly when they need to. One of the commentators mentioned it last night, tackles 1 and 2 they are charging off the line. Once those are won, you are on the front foot for the next two tackles.
But yeah they are very good at making metres in defence.

 

[Riggs80]

They do lapse in energy throughout the game but they turn it back on exactly when they need to. One of the commentators mentioned it last night, tackles 1 and 2 they are charging off the line. Once those are won, you are on the front foot for the next two tackles.
But yeah they are very good at making metres in defence.

‘yep they perfected tackle 1 and 2 knowing refs won’t blow a penalty

 

[Northern Beaches dog]

Even so, what explains barely able to get a tackle in the opposition 20 especially in the modern era.

 

[Tazer]

Latrell getting suspended really came back to bite them in the ass last night. Taffe got ragdolled all night and spent much of it going backwards. Consequently they couldn't get out of their own end for most of the game.

South's need to insert a clause in his contract that if he gets suspended again for a finals series he loses half his paycheck.

 

[Rockford]

They probably train like AFL players, that's where their fitness is at. Would love to see the V02 max on some of the players.

 

[Headmix]

Latrell getting suspended really came back to bite them in the ass last night. Taffe got ragdolled all night and spent much of it going backwards. Consequently they couldn't get out of their own end for most of the game.

South's need to insert a clause in his contract that if he gets suspended again for a finals series he loses half his paycheck.

They would have won last night if latrell was there… IMO

 

[racin jason]

They ALWAYS go early and never get pulled up for it. This makes their line speed look better than it actually is. The Parra game they were moving forward when the ball hadn't even been placed on the ground let alone cleared the ruck. They did the same last night too. Their fitness is good because they are always getting back the ten but it's the going early with no penalty that has won them this premiership.

 

[Tazer]

They would have won last night if latrell was there… IMO

100% they win. If I'm South's management I'd be pissed. 2 years and has missed 2 finals series.

 

[KiwiDog7]

Baz obviously learnt fk all about their defence system

 

[KiwiDog7]

It reminded me of the roosters 2002 defence

 

[sgodllubsti]

clever coaching, get the upper hand early stay on top and be relentless, panthers bashed the rabbits from the word go, speed off the line all night long kept the bunnies out of it,
bunnies were to slow all night they could have set up and played the same style as panthers but didnt

best side won and for me it was a very entertaining enjoyable game to watch

 

[TwinTurbo]

I believe a part of Penriths durability in games comes from their age, they are young and recover quickly and they haven't had years of injuries piling up on them, wearing them down, physically and mentally, season after season. At the start of the season Souths did have the oldest average aged team, with Melbourne a close 2nd oldest, whilst Penrith are the 3rd youngest.


Always a Bulldog

 

[Rodzilla]

this is why you needed guys like sam perrett who is the expert at getting to ground and up quickly on tackle 1, massively underrated part of the game

 

[diddly]

It seems the better teams sustain the quick defensive line speed, by, among many things, using their back 4 to do a lot more of the hard carries after kicks. The forwards often just walk back and are not in play until after three or four carries by the backs - some teams leave a forward resting on the wing during entire attacking sets. Some of Burtons and Dylan Edwards carries last night were incredibly effective in making yards from the backfield. Footwork/ speed can be more effective than size and strength in making those hard yards.

 

[CrittaMagic69]

The six again rule is absolutely broken and the Panthers have totally abused it and won a comp off the back of it. They kick teams deep (Cleary best general play kicker) and then continually shoot off early in tackles 1/2 and maintain momentum. They get penalised for it at times but even then it doesn't matter, they still maintain momentum and concede and extra 10 metres at most.

It's such a dumb fucking rule, dead set you're giving an advantage to the offending team by removing the penalty kick that would normally get them 30+ metres upfield and breather. It was actually a real punishment that fit the crime.

Souths also didn't have the bodies in their back 3 to try and wrestle back momentum, AJ, Taffe and Paulo were weak as piss in comparison to the Panthers back 3. This is something I'm worried about next season with both JAC and Dufty in the backline, they're both getting hammered and we're going to be needing To'o like numbers from Cotric. We do have Schoupp and Naden so they will probably have to get back early and help out and little more often.

 

[steeliz]

Out of all my years watching the game i have never seen a defense like this in my life.
Have you ever seen a team that sprints off its line for 80 minutes and not only that, physically man handle the ball carrier and drive them backwards and side ways for 80 minutes?
Souths last night did not get a full set of 6 in the Panthers 20 until the 70th minute mark.
In fact, they barely got a tackle in the Panthers 20 all game.
The thing is, they have pretty much been doing this for the last 2 years.
I am sure every coach would love to see there team do this, but the team would be absolutely exhausted after 25 minutes yet the Panthers can do this for 80 minutes????
Panthers came into this game after 3 weeks of tough grinding games and a few players busted yet it did not matter.
The question is, are they that much fitter and physically more dominant than every other team?
Generally there is an inverse relationship between fitness and strength, yet they have both far far superior than anyone else.
Even Phil Gould said 2 weeks ago in the commentary, he has never seen anything like it when talking about the Panthers line speed and physical dominance.
Not even the storm are like this.
Is there strength and conditioning coach and sports science programmes that much better than everyone elses?
What is going on?

Panthers are off side at nearly every play the ball.

The defensive line is not supposed to move until the ball has cleared the ruck.

The Panthers go when the ball is still being played.

They always risk a six again in the first 3 tackles to get to the ball just as the first receiver is getting it.

This is not a massive revelation, all teams do it. Some more than others. Melbourne and Roosters are masters of it as well.

Refs will also penalise some teams more than others for it, to 'let the game flow'.

It has also been interesting to see how some teams get verbal warnings for offside compared to others who get penalised immediately.

Panthers have been on the good side of the Refs good side all year and used it to their advantage.

 

[dogwhisperer]

Maybe we should of got their defensive coach as our head coach instead of getting their attacking coach.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Panthers are off side at nearly every play the ball.

The defensive line is not supposed to move until the ball has cleared the ruck.

The Panthers go when the ball is still being played.

They always risk a six again in the first 3 tackles to get to the ball just as the first receiver is getting it.

This is not a massive revelation, all teams do it. Some more than others. Melbourne and Roosters are masters of it as well.

Refs will also penalise some teams more than others for it, to 'let the game flow'.

It has also been interesting to see how some teams get verbal warnings for offside compared to others who get penalised immediately.

Panthers have been on the good side of the Refs good side all year and used it to their advantage.

https://www.nrl.com/siteassets/operations/documentation/nrl_laws_interpretations_2020.pdf

That’s not actually the rule, there is no requirement for the ball to have cleared the ruck. The act of playing the ball is the trigger. The well coached teams go as soon as the ball touches the ground, they practise it endlessly at training, optimising the timing. Then they need the discipline and stamina to execute what they practised during games. It’s been a Melbourne trait for years, the Chooks copied it but their players got old, injured and tired.

Always a Bulldog

 

[Motorhead]

Incredible line speed=offside (especially at the back end of matches).
Some teams get away with it and others get hammered by the refs for it. NRL Lottery at it's best.