A debutant looms
The whispers are getting louder that young fullback Isaiah Iongi will make his NRL debut on Sunday against the Dolphins.
Iongi was pulled out of NSW Cup last weekend and named as 18th man for Sunday’s game at BlueBet Stadium.
A family member told a supporter in the crowd: “They wanted him to rest for ne xt week”.
With Dylan Edwards to be rested, Daine Laurie has been named at fullback but you’d think there could be some ducks and drakes at play.
Laurie is very unlikely to have recovered from a hamstring injury in time to take his place in the team. Expect a late change.
Open for business
The brand-new Panthers merchandise shop has officially opened inside the foyer of Panthers Leagues Club. The shop is bigger than the previous outlet and is designed much better. It opened on Monday and is located to the left of the main entrance when you walk in the doors.
When you look at the foyer these days, it’s a far cry from a period of time we went through about a decade ago when you wouldn’t have known it was a footy club.
May wears out delete button
Taylan May’s erratic Instagram behaviour shows no sign of slowing down. He’s constantly putting up posts and then deleting them hours or days later, keeping only a select few on his main grid.
What’s also interesting is the number of top-line first grade players liking his posts – an awkward look given the serious domestic violence charges May is facing back at home.
Spotted
Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai training the house down at Ballymore Stadium for the Blues ahead of the State of Origin decider on Wednesday evening.
Art’s the answer
Penrith City Council is encouraging the developers of the new Penrith Stadium to incorporate public art into the design of the stadium. They’ve pushed for the inclusion of public art, including ways to highlight connection to the community. In their response to the Environmental Impact Statement for the stadium, Council has encouraged the use of a local artist to deliver any local art.
Commentator shuffles
It’ll be interesting to see how both Channel Nine and 2GB juggle their Olympic coverage with their NRL commitments over the next month or so. Nine is using many of its TV and radio commentators and talent in Paris, with a bit of shuffling to occur for the NRL coverage.
The good news for Nine is that the 8pm games it broadcasts on Thursday and Friday nights are on at about Midday Paris time, so there shouldn’t be any major clashes with huge medal events. Thankfully, digital channels these days makes things a lot easier for programmers.
Brandy’s radio waves
It’s slow going, but Panthers legend Greg ‘Brandy’ Alexander is having some success on breakfast radio. His show with Andrew Voss on SEN 1170 has gone past the long-running Big Sports Breakfast on 2KY in terms of the ratings.
I have to admit, I’ve become an SEN convert. Vossy and Brandy never fail to deliver a quality show.
Who would have thought that two Penrith 1991 Grand Final winners in Alexander and Mark Geyer would both be doing breakfast radio in 2024? MG is still plying his trade on MMM.
Fans on the field
Panthers will have another crack at Fans on the Field on Sunday, after the last attempt was called off due to weather. Fans will be able to head onto the playing surface after the second siren sounds on Sunday against the Dolphins. It’ll be about 30 minutes after full-time.
Cleary’s Bennett run
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has won six of his last seven games against super coach Wayne Bennett – a pretty good run many other coaches would be envious of.
A five-match winning streak was broken when the Rabbitohs beat the Panthers 16-10 in the 2021 Finals, though Cleary had the last laugh a few weeks later.
While Cleary has had the wood over Bennett lately, it hasn’t always been the case. Ivan lost 10 of his first 12 clashes against the veteran, covering his time at both the Warriors and his first Penrith stint.
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