For the latest Forum Folly, I headed over to Panther Pride to see what was happening up the M4. My statement last week about people out that way getting on their dial up internet and computers from radio rentals seemed to be correct as this was possibly the worst rugby league forum I have ever seen. I headed over to League Unlimited to see if there was somewhere these Panthers fans got together to talk about their team. It was a bit better.

Straight into their thinking about the game against the Eels today. The big news is of course the return of Matt Moylan. Panthers fans are excited but at the same time reminding each other that he hasn’t played in 8 months and not to expect miracles.

Moylan returns today

• ‘Matt Moylan will be top of try assists by the end of the round. He’s going to ignite the attack with he and TMM leaving you guys wondering what hit you’.
• ‘Well he can at least catch bombs so he’s an instant improvement. Im not expecting much for a few weeks but even at his worst the backs will see a LOT more quality ball’.
• ‘Panthers will put 50 on your mob easily’.
• ‘Our props are one dimensional plodders and our impact up the middle improves drastically the instant they are interchanged’.
• ‘I would start Latu or Matagi. We go so much better when they come on. McKendry can join Taylor in NSW Cup’. (most Panthers fans have written off Taylor and McKendry)
• ‘Whilst I agree with their impact off the bench, our defence immediately deteriorates because Latu and Matagi are below average defenders’.
• The form of Soward is concerning also he has choked almost every big moment so far this year in the last few minutes of games. His confidence looks shot and I don’t know if he will get it back, a few wins would help but we cant seem to manage that.

• ‘Surely we can’t lose this one… Not to the scum Eels…’

Its not only the Eels who have negative nancies amongst their supporter group. He does speak some sense through.

• ‘The season’s young I know but I wont be going to Parra Stadium on Sunday. Just can’t do it to myself (and my wife who takes losses worse that even I do). It’s alright talking about the Eels and there 8 points against the Tigers but at the end of the day they got the job done and got the two points. It’s all about winning. We just can’t seem to get the job done and I can’t see us beating the Eels at there place. Sadly I think this could be a touch up and a convincing win to them’.
• ‘BTW Griffin is f**king hopeless’.
• ‘Look at the squad we have now compared to 2014 and somehow we are playing worse footy. We have gone backwards the last two years not forwards. Half our spine will need to be replaced next season so it will be another year of “building” and the club saearching for reasons for fans to stay positive etc ive been hearing shit like that for 5 years now’.

The Panthers members are still waiting for their hats.

• ‘I’m still waiting for mine. Apparently they’re having trouble sourcing gold tinfoil’.

The new jersey and particularly the ‘50th anniversary logo cop an absolute hammering from the fans.

• ‘Whoever is making the design decisions at the club needs to pull their head in and deadset resign. I bet they only keep their job because they’re someone’s nephew or something. It’s pretty hard to screw up a tried and tested colour scheme like black and gold but we’ve managed it’.
• ‘Maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe the poor sucker does his or her best and actually produces something decent and then some bigwig comes in and goes “nah, but, it’s good, but put like a huge number 50 on the bottom with a cartoon panther jumping through the zero. Yeah. Nah. Now turn it 45 degrees. Yeaaaahhhhh’.
• ‘While I’m on the subject I’ve decided the recently new logo is dumb. I was on the fence for a while – I mean I heard Puletua designed it, which is kinda cool I guess – and I hoped it would grow on me. But it hasn’t. Its dumb. Just gives us back the traditional non cartoon leaping panther and be done with it’.
• ‘Bloody ugly’.
• ‘Come on. How can you not buy a jersey that feature’s Adrian Purtell’?
• ‘The logo looks like an arse shitting a Panther’. How can they possibly think it is a good idea to have an arse-like logo across half the jersey? Gus can be great at times, but he’s too stubborn to admit when he doesn’t know shit’.
• ‘Yeah it looks like the fat Panther is stuck in the zero’.

The stench is bad when the Panther is shat out of the 50th anniversary logo

More new from Panthers on a topic we know only too well.

• ‘CEO – Warren Wilson – gone – no notice
  CFO – internally announced as stand-in for Wilson – gone a few days later – no notice
  CMO – gone a few weeks ago – no notice
  COO and Manager of Penrith club – gone
• Recently two directors quit – no notice
• Two senior football managers – leave for greener pastures at the embattled Wests Tigers
• $6.4m loss in rugby league operations.
  Next – another significant, very very significant departure.
  To me this scenario is very very depressing.
• One communication that stands out is the one that said our football business would break even. That was quite a big story.
• Although it was only a newspaper report the reported $6.4m loss would be the biggest in the clubs history, if true’.

And finally, the best quote I found all week is one that describes how I have felt for a few years. This moment has arrived for Eels fans.

• ‘Maybe one day our NRL teams performance could be our reason for being positive’.

Merrin rehearsing for Manu

See you next week.

Go the Eels !!!

Chris

Photos courtesy of the internet

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