Criticism crosses the line
Nobody is denying that referee Belinda Sharpe had a challenging night at CommBank Stadium last Saturday.
But some of the criticism from the corporate areas from Penrith fans was nothing short of misogynistic and disgraceful.
I’m told it was a similar story in the stands as well. It was so disappointing to hear, especially when you’ve got women and young girls listening to it all from grown men who should know better.
Bland stadium likely to stay
Weekender Editor Troy Dodds certainly got people talking via both the Tension’s Running High podcast and an online editorial last week about the blandness of the designs for the new-look Penrith Stadium.
He’s rightly called for the stadium to have a Penrith look and feel given it’s a suburban venue with the Panthers as the anchor tenant. But the reality is, it won’t be happening.
The State Government and Venues NSW want it to be as plain as possible, for want of a better term. They believe they can better sell outside content without branding specific to a certain club or team.
Stadium spend context
It’s worth noting a few things about the cost of the new stadium, which sits at $309 million. The new stadium at Townsville, which is the home of the Cowboys, opened in 2020 and cost $250 million.
A compounding rate of five per cent per annum in escalation costs would value that stadium at around $319 million. Had the NSW Government applied an escalation rate to the project in Penrith, the budget would be far more impressive than it is today.
The reality is the project is very budget constrained, hence why there won’t be a stadium the quality of CommBank or the Townsville venue. History will show this was a dud deal.
Spotted
Panthers CEO Matt Cameron and Chairman Peter Graham deep in conversation on the field after Penrith’s loss to Manly at CommBank Stadium last Saturday night.
Sorensen outed
After a period of so much uncertainty surrounding illegal tackles, it was no surprise the Panthers took their chances and headed to the judiciary to fight Scott Sorensen’s shoulder charge offence on Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, perhaps typical of Penrith’s season, it didn’t pay off and he’ll miss the next three weeks.
Schooners make a difference
Are you heading to Magic Round this weekend? For every schooner of Great Northern Super Crisp (pictured) sold at Suncorp Stadium for the Women’s State of Origin on Thursday night and the next three days of Magic Round, Great Northern will donate 50 cents to charity partner Rural Aid.
Rural Aid will use the funds for hay deliveries to starving livestock, direct financial relief for impacted farmers and for ongoing mental health support through its dedicated counselling team.
Irony as NRL gets black eye
The NRL’s efforts to shield referees from criticism this year by dumping Graham Annesley’s weekly briefing and not sending officials appointments out to the media on a Tuesday afternoon has backfired on them.
The officials have never been under more pressure and there’s so much uncertainty around The Bunker and the referees.
While it was great to have NRL CEO Andrew Abdo front up on Fox Sports and Channel Nine on Monday night, he can’t do that every week. Annesley’s weekly briefings at least provided some balance to the conversations that inevitably flow.
In an effort to take the attention away from match officials, the NRL has only increased the scrutiny and discussion points.
Sculpture screams Panthers
It was installed with little fanfare but how cool is this new sculpture that is out the front of the Panthers Academy? It’s behind the security gates, which is probably a shame – we reckon it could be a tourist attraction!
Vegas victims?
There was an argument building, partly based on last year, that going to Las Vegas was a severe disruption to the season for competing teams. But it’s hard to justify that stance now – of the four teams that went this year, two of them are sitting in the top four and a third is seventh. Only the Panthers sit outside the eight.
Media ban?
Which Panthers official is apparently on a media ban? We’re not sure if it’s self-imposed or come from above.
Who let this happen?
Kayo Sports subscribers will be able to hear special commentary from Nathan Hindmarsh and Bryan Fletcher on the two late Saturday games as part of Magic Round. The special feed will be provided as an alternate to the main call provided by Fox Sports.
Masked Panther
The Masked Panther is the most mysterious journalist of all. He has the inside word on everything happening in rugby league.