Round 19: Penrith Panthers vs St George-Illawarra Dragons

[Titanium_BD1103]

Penrith Panthers vs St George Illawarra Dragons
CUA Stadium, Penrith, Saturday 21st July, 5:30PM


http://www.tictechnologies.com/media/Case%20Studies/Penrith/PANTHERSnrl.jpg vs http://premier.ticketek.com.au/dbimages/sfx3300.gif


Referee: Gavin Badger

Team Notes:

Panthers

- Brendan Worth added to a six man bench.

Dragons

- Dragons Co-Captain Mark Gasnier will this week play his first game on the 2007 NRL season against the Panthers at Credit Union Australia Stadium this Saturday at 5.30pm.

Gasnier, who turns 26 this Thursday returns from a torn pectoral suffered in the Charity Shield match back in March of this year and will start at five-eighth for the clash.

- In other changes to the side Dapto junior Dan Hunt will start in the front row replacing Justin Poore who is out with a shoulder injury whilst Rangi Chase moves back to the interchange bench in the place of Ben Ellis who is out with a hamstring injury.


Teams:

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1. Michael Gordon
2. Geoff Daniela
3. Michael Jennings
4. Maurice Blair
5. Nick Youngquest
6. Richie Williams
7. Craig Gower (c)
8. Joel Clinton
9. Keith Peters
10. Bryan Norrie
11. Frank Pritchard
12. Tony Puletua
13. Nathan Smith

Interchange:

14. Frank Puletua
15. Matthew Bell
16. Peter Wallace
17. Luke Lewis
18. Paul Aiton
23. Brendan Worth (two to be omitted)


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1. Ben HORNBY (c)
2. Jason NIGHTINGALE
3. Chase STANLEY
4. Matt COOPER
5. Josh MORRIS
6. Mark GASNIER (c)
7. Jamie SOWARD
8. Dan HUNT
9. Simon WOOLFORD
10. Jason RYLES (c)
11. Beau SCOTT
12. Chris HOUSTON
13. Ben CREAGH

Interchange:

14. Adam PEEK
15. Rangi CHASE
16. Lagi SETU
17. Corey PAYNE

[jenny]

Deja vu for Gaz

Brad Walter | July 18, 2007

WITH their finals hopes fading, St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown has reverted to Plan A and will proceed with the Mark Gasnier at five-eighth experiment against Penrith on Saturday night after the Test star was cleared to make his first premiership appearance of the year.

Gasnier's return in the No.6 jersey was one of the few team changes announced yesterday that was not a surprise - even if he hadn't trained there since the pre-season.

Desperate Broncos coach Wayne Bennett plumped for forward enforcer Tonie Carroll as the injured Darren Lockyer's five-eighth replacement, while the Bulldogs promoted unknown prop Fred Briggs from park football to cover the loss of Willie Mason.

A shocked Carroll revealed that Brisbane players had discussed who would fill in for Lockyer after last Friday night's win over North Queensland - but his name was not among those mentioned, despite the veteran Origin star having previously played there for the club.

Gasnier's selection in the famous Dragons No.6 jersey was almost as big a surprise, with the performance of rookie halves Rangi Chase and Jamie Soward among the few positives in a disappointing season for the club.

But having prepared to shift Gasnier to five-eighth this season prior to his injury in the Charity Shield, Brown said it was time to put the plan into action.

"We did put three months of the pre-season into [training] Gaz at five-eighth," Brown said yesterday. "Obviously, things haven't gone as well as we'd have liked ? but now he's back and fit, we thought we may as well have a crack with him at it."

If he stays fit, it is expected Gasnier will remain in the position for the remainder of the season, with Chase to share the dummy-half duties with hooker Simon Woolford after being named on the interchange bench.

"I'm just keen to play football more than anything," Gasnier said. "I said to Nathan the whole way along, 'Even if we weren't a chance to make the eight, I still want to play'. I miss it. I miss playing with the guys, I miss having fun. I'm genuinely excited about playing footy again - it feels like it's been forever.

"If we can get a win out of it, it's a big bonus and it'll be a lot of confidence for myself as well the team and then hopefully we can build on that. But I'm not coming out to say, 'I'm going to turn around and win the game'."

Carroll said he was also looking forward to donning the No.6 jersey in a Broncos team to be captained by departing prop Petero Civoniceva in the absence of Lockyer, who is expected to undergo a knee reconstruction on Friday.

"I'm excited about the change. I think it could be a bit of fun," Carroll said. "It's not like I have never done it before. I played in the position against Melbourne a few years ago."

For 27-year-old Briggs, however, just playing NRL will be a new experience after spending most of the season in the Jim Beam Cup with the Sydney Bulls.

After being named on the interchange bench against Gold Coast on Friday night, he will join Cronulla pair Dane Nielsen and Eddie Sua and Wests Tigers fullback Shannon Gallant as the latest NRL debutants.

First, however, Briggs has had to organise a few days off work as he splits his time between training with the Bulls and the Bulldogs' part-time squad and a job as a carpenter.

Manly centre Steve Matai will appear at the judiciary tonight to defend a headbutting allegation.
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

[Steelers]

If Gaz fails to shine at 5/8, which is more than likely IMO, we can kiss our slim finals chances goodbye. Soward and Rangi Chase have been going great guns, and will be (well should be) the halves pairing for years to come.

[Chaos]

It's the back end of the season and with all the changes and injuries, coaches have adjusted their plans to accommodate the natural evolution of the season.

Not Browny...he goes back to plan A

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

The saints have no chance of making the finals, even if we won every game our + and - is very poor, the touchup by the warriors only cemented that.

to make the finals we will need good football and have to blow one or two teams off the park, because having a positive of 10 or 20 won't cut it.

we need a positive of 35+ to have a chance.

Brown and his managment have decided to focus on next year by giving gasnier game time. whilst i feel sorry for rangi(as he has been in brilliant form) he is a much better hooker than ellis, and will still find plenty of game time to stamp himself into saints matches.

with woolford only likely to have a couple more years in him, he may find himself the starting hooker.

then the dragons have so many injuires he will probably end up playing in the 6 or 7 next year.

but i'm excitied about watching gasnier play at 6, i want to see what all the training has created so far.

if its just a smoke screen by brown, well its caused heaps of debate, and will throw off penrith some what :p

[Hoppy2007Dragons]

He's preparing for next year, or its a smoke screen.

[Steve]

Lewis on the bench again is a worry.
He's been solid all year, and awesome in defence.
That said, it's an exciting backline, lots of talent and speed.
Good to see Flash back too, thought he was out for the season.

[jenny]

Penrith's Williams to let his footy talk

July 20, 2007 - 2:59PM

Richie Williams' mouth was part of the reason he was released from St George Illawarra earlier this season, so it is hardly surprising the Penrith five-eighth has abstained from talking publicly in the lead up to Saturday's NRL grudge match at CUA Stadium.

Keen to avoid any pre-game headlines in his first confrontation with former teammates, Williams made himself off-limits to the media this week as the Panthers and Dragons put their NRL seasons on the line.

Williams' exit from the Dragons was put in motion after he sledged Sydney Roosters five-eighth Braith Anasta in the media prior to the Anzac Day clash.

He was out-played, dropped to premier league and told to tone down his antics by the Dragons before given a release to join the Panthers.

Panthers coach Matthew Elliott said Williams was determined to have a standout game and is expecting to feel some heat from his former teammates.

"Richie is fully aware he will probably be targeted a little bit, but it's a challenge he is looking forward too," said Elliott.

"The thing about Richie is that when he plays his best footy it doesn't matter who he is playing, he is going to be a handful."

Dragons coach Nathan Brown, who criticised the player for his Anasta comments, is hopeful the decision to let Williams walk mid-year won't come back and hurt his resurgent side.

"Most clubs have got players from different clubs who can really come back and hurt you on any given day," said Brown.

"It's not ideal when one of your former teammates absolutely comes out and cuts you up but it's just the way it goes.

"Hopefully in our case Richie has a quiet day and we have a good day."

With Penrith last and the Dragons 14th on the NRL table, a loss for either side would likely kill their fading hopes of making the finals.

Elliott said his men cannot afford to consider finals football, he is more focused on posting their first back-to-back wins since round three.

"Our focus is probably more on playing well than NRL finals," he said.

"We're just really focused on playing our best footy.

"All the wins we've had have been really good and against quality opposition. We need to make sure we play that way every weekend."

The red and white army are hopeful Brown's men can muster a late season surge, the return of Test star Mark Gasnier after five months sidelined with a pectoral muscle injury adding to their dreams.

Gasnier is looking to make his permanent move into the No.6 jersey and will play opposite Williams, but Brown wants the gifted former centre to control himself in his first NRL outing this year.

"It's going to be nice to have one of your best attacking players back," said Brown.

"I know Gaz can contribute in a good positive way but we're not going to be putting any burden of expectation expecting him to go out there and absolutely annihilate Penrith.

"It's about him playing his role, doing what's good for the team and also keeping his head and not trying too hard.

"If he tries too hard it will probably be to the detriment of himself."

Both sides were boosted by significant contract signings with the Dragons securing teenage rookie Chase Stanley on a two-year extension to keep him at the club until the end of 2010.

Penrith signed winger and goalkicking ace Michael Gordon on a deal also until the end of 2010.

? 2007 AAP

[Queenslander]

FINAL SCORE

Penrith Panthers 20
Tries: Michael Gordon, Maurice Blair, Richie Williams, Nick Youngquest
Goals: Nick Youngquest (2/4)
St George Illawarra Dragons 38
Tries: Jason Ryles, Jason Nightingale (2), Josh Morris, Rangi Chase, Matt Cooper, Ben Creagh
Goals: Jamie Soward (5/7)

[PROMETHEUS]

Lewis on the bench again is a worry.
He's been solid all year, and awesome in defence.
That said, it's an exciting backline, lots of talent and speed.
Good to see Flash back too, thought he was out for the season.

Lewis is a liability,dragons scored a try off a dodgy pass of his and he misses too many tackles.
Seems elliott is playing him as a second rower off the bench..probably because he knows hes out of form.
(Just on tonights game,why did Wallace play at hooker,when Priddis is wasted in reserves?)