BigBlog

The World Cup loss was devastating. I don’t think there is any doubt we saved our worst performance for last in the tournament.

Our form in the lead-up games to the final was as good as it gets. We gelled as well as any Australian team I have ever been a part of and, if anything, our preparation increased in intensity before the final.

We certainly didn’t coast and were not complacent in any way.

Come game time the talk just wasn’t at the level it had been prior and the Kiwis were red hot.

At the end of the game we were a shattered group and I know we all copped a bit of criticism for not facing the media, but a few of us did. Simply put it was a hard loss to take.

A lot of us did things out there we wouldn’t ordinarily do. I tried for a charge down, Billy threw that pass, but at the end of the day those things didn’t matter as we were beaten by a better side on the night.

The losses of Steve Price and Brent Tate in the lead up to the game probably didn’t help matters, but we had the depth to cover them.

There was a silver lining for me when I took out the Players’ Player Award with Braith Anasta. It’s the award you want to win as a player because it’s a judgment which comes from your peers and not the media analysts.

I knew I was nominated but I didn’t really think I was going to win. You never really do, so to share the award with a high-quality player like Braith is a huge honour.

I also think it’s a vindication of sorts for Braith. For so many years he has been the target of magazine polls suggesting he is overrated. I would say those days may be over, or at least this award from his fellow players shows what they think.

I’ve played with and against him and can assure you Braith is very, very good.

From good news to not such great news and the Bulldogs have sacked talented back-rower Reni Maitua, after he once again missed a training session.

What Reni did was hardly a criminal offence but the Bulldogs appear to be trying to set new behavioural standards and improve their reputation. They deemed it was the last time Maitua would miss training.

It really is a shame because we all know what a talented player Reni can be and I’m sure now all he would want is to play good football.

The Dogs want him deregistered in 2009 and if missing training is all he has done wrong then I don’t support that move. To me the punishment doesn’t fit the crime under the current circumstances.

Closer to home and there was a bit of a blunder with our membership advertising campaign. I’m sure the company who created the advertisement are quite embarrassed, but there are probably bigger concerns in life.

As for me I’m looking forward to spending Christmas with the family up in Queensland, and am enjoying being home with Bonnie and the kids after living out of a suitcase for the better part of a month.

It’s also great to be able to spend time with young Jacobi, after being away for much of his first month with us.

Have a great Christmas - Petero

I’ve had a good portion of today off which has given me the opportunity to go home to Penrith and see the family including my youngest son Jacobi and I’m happy to report they are all doing well.

Kaden now likes to answer the phone when it rings which is pretty cool. He has a lot of fun with it.

The Rugby League World Cup is now at the business end of the tournament with the semi finals on this weekend. We take on Fiji, while the Kiwis take on the Poms in the other match.

If we are able to beat Fiji then I don’t have a preference as to who we play, but I do hope they bash each other into oblivion.

I think the Kiwis have begun to hit their straps and were really inspired by Issac Luke in their encounter with England last weekend. Having said that I fully expect England to be fired up after all the negative press they have received for their performances thus far in the tournament.

As I said we are taking on Fiji in our semi-final and as someone of Fijian descent I am exceptionally happy to see they made it to the semi-finals. They have got there ahead of more fancied sides like Tonga, Samoa and Ireland and without all the hype those teams had.

While I am happy for the boys and am pleased to see them do well, I will be pulling on the green and gold this Sunday and will not treat Fiji any different to any other opposition side and I hope we end their run.

Ironically Jarryd Hayne will be representing Fiji just over a year after he pulled on the green and gold. Haynesy has been very good during the World Cup and I hope he continues to improve.

I hope the performance of Fiji in the World Cup has put rugby league back on the map in Fiji and encourages youngsters to take up the game rather than union where it is so hard for them to get a start.

I also think it would be beneficial for clubs to send scouts out to Fiji to find youngsters. The current Fiji side has shown they have plenty of talent, and there is more out there. I also doubt the scouts would mind heading off to Fiji!

While I’m on the topic of the Pacific nations, I think it would be great to see the NRL expand into the Pacific, certainly at a grass roots level with the juniors, but also perhaps look at a Papua New Guinea side and even a Pacific Islands team.

With so many Polynesian players making their mark in the game at the moment I believe that is the geographical area the NRL should look at.

Having missed the PNG game I am feeling refreshed for this weekend’s battle and, from what I saw after the game, it was a good one to miss as a lot of the boys were bruised and battered after it.

I was also impressed with the effort of Stanley Gene for PNG. The man is a marvel and is built out of granite. I’ve had the occasion to meet him many times and it’s always been a pleasure, but even I haven’t seen his birth certificate. Not that it matters, he should play as long as he wants to.

Off the field camp is continuing to go well and there is a good atmosphere inside the team. We’re all looking forward to Sunday night and hope we can get a huge crowd to the game at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Petero

There has been a lot happening since I last posted and I apologise for the delay. However, with the arrival of our youngest child Jacobi and preparing for the World Cup I haven’t had a lot of time.

Jacobi is doing well with Bonnie and the other kids back at home in Penrith but it’s been really tough being away at this stage of his life. I was there for his birth but had to join the rest of the World Cup squad when Jacobi was just two days old, leaving the family up in Brisbane.

Thankfully I’ve been getting plenty of phone updates and photos of Jacobi from Bonnie and it’s keeping me going until I get to see them all after the World Cup and we take a holiday back up to Brisbane for Christmas.

The situation has been made easier by the fact I am rooming with Billy Slater who welcomed his first daughter into the world two days ago.

Billy was pretty stressed he might miss the birth, but his partner had the baby here in Melbourne and he has had the opportunity to spend a bit of time with her.

It’s actually junior Kangaroo fever here in camp, as Paul Gallen’s significant other is also expecting.

It’s strange not to be rooming with Steve Price, but the two of us still manage to have our old blokes cup of tea before bed. I was told I have been roomed with Billy so they could have the two fastest guys in the team together. I don’t know what they’re talking about -  Billy’s not that quick!

A bonus is I might get the good oil on the Spring Carnival from Billy. Being a former trackwork jockey he knows the horses pretty well, but they do say jockeys are the worst judges.

As for Billy, he has had his fair share of press recently over his slide tackle technique, where he slides feet first at the ball as it’s being put down.

It has come off a few times and worked for him, but I think the general consensus is if he gets it wrong then it could be a dangerous practice and with some of the suspensions Billy has copped over his career I think he is looking at changing his technique just in case.

I want to say I think it was a courageous effort from Johnathan Thurston to play last week after the death of his uncle. It says something about the quality of the bloke that Johnathan is that he didn’t want to let his teammates down and that he turned in a typical JT man of the match display against the Kiwis.

Everyone is writing off the New Zealand side after the beating they took from us, but I think they will get better after the loss. It’s a very different Kiwis side this time around and is one which has lost a lot of experience in recent times. They are minus the likes of Ruben Wiki, Sonny Bill Williams and Frank Pritchard and those three players would be hard for any team to replace.

I felt we performed well in that game to gain a 30-6 victory. It was a particularly good result considering we hadn’t had a trial game and the Kiwis had played a couple.

I was especially impressed with the very strong performances of debutants Glenn Stewart, who was very, very good and Joel Monaghan, who looked dangerous every time he touched the ball.

I always find it amusing when the usual comments about the age of Pricey and I come out, and last week was no exception with former Kiwi coach Graham Lowe claiming Pricey and I "look old and out of gas."

I guess we showed him. Pricey told me later that it’s not unusual for Graham Lowe to make those sorts of statements and is a bit renowned for it in NZ. It’s water off a ducks back in the end.

This weekend we take on England at the Telstra Dome here in Melbourne and we’re expecting a decent crowd, with 30,000 - 40,000 tickets reportedly having been sold.

I think England will be a stronger side than the one which was a little lucky to beat PNG last weekend. They have a lot of quality in their side including Paul Wellens, Danny McGuire James Graham and Leon Pryce.

Then, there is Adrian Morley. Muz is certainly their firebrand and hitman and I look forward to renewing acquaintances with the big fella.

On a side note it’s good to see Karmichael Hunt back in the test arena, but the circumstances are unhappy ones. Kurt Gidley has been one of the best players in the game this year and for Kurt to go out with a knee injury is sad to see.

Petero

The season may be over for the Panthers but it’s not over just yet for me. I’ve been named in the train-on squad for the World Cup and I’m keen for that – hopefully I’ll get chosen because I’d really love to be playing in such a big event.

I’ve been pretty happy with my form this year and getting picked for the World Cup would be a huge honour that would definitely cap off my year. Being named last week as Dally M Front-rower of the Year was a real honour for me as well and I guess that shows others have recognised that I’ve had a good year. Even though the Panthers didn’t make the semis in the end, I think there was a lot of improvement in the team from the previous year and, like I said a few weeks ago, I’m excited about next year.

It’s been a bit of an interesting few weeks for me in other ways too. My name seems to keep popping up in all sorts of places. There has been all sorts of speculation about what was happening with the Panthers but I just want to say that I am glad that the board has made a decision with regards to our coach and coaching staff and now we can move on and look forward to bigger and better things in 2009.

Just to make things clear; I am contracted to the Panthers to the end of next year and then the club have an option in their favour after that. There’s been talk about what I was going to do but as I said in the last blog, I am staying at the Panthers for next year. Obviously after that there’s a decision to be made. I’ll be 34 by that stage so we’ll see how the body’s holding up. I’m pretty confident that I’ll still be in shape to play, so whether there’s an option to stay at the Panthers or head over to England or elsewhere, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Next year will be an interesting time at the Panthers with so many experienced guys moving on. It’s a new beginning for the club and some of the young guys who came through into first grade this year will be getting a lot more time on the field. As captain and a senior player, that’s exciting. The captaincy this year has been great and I feel it has brought the best out in my game. Having that extra responsibility is something I cherish and I’m looking forward to playing a part in the development of some exciting young footballers, being a role model to them and being a positive influence on their futures as rugby league players.

On a different note, let’s talk about the first semi finals last weekend. It was actually one of the rare opportunities I’ve had for a while to sit down and watch a fair bit of football and gee, there were some fantastic games, starting with the Roosters and Broncos on Friday night. What a cracker of a game. So tough.

The Roosters really came out and gave it to the Broncos with some massive hits. But the class of the Broncos won out in the end and I just think that was a fantastic game of real old-style rugby league. I still have many friends at the Broncos so I’ll have to admit I was cheering them home. Great footy, and I think the Broncos are a real threat for the premiership.

In terms of the other games, like everyone I was amazed at the Warriors beating Melbourne. The Warriors really stood up to the Melbourne forward pack and it was great to watch. One thing I will say is that the Warriors exposed something I have suspected a little bit, that the Melbourne forwards may not be as formidable as they’ve been made out to be. I’m not meaning to knock those guys – they’re great players – but the Warriors took it to them in that area of the field and beat them.

Cronulla were very solid against Canberra and I think it’s got to a point where they shouldn’t be underestimated. They’re a quality team and although they are enjoying flying beneath the radar, they disposed of a Canberra side that had been sweeping all before them with relative ease. I don’t think they should be written off in any way.

But having said all that, the team that has really impressed me is Manly. If I had to put my money on a premiership winner right now I would pick the Sea Eagles. They took care of the Dragons with minimum fuss and they just look really dominant. They are a very ruthless football team with a great deal of control. So there it is – for the moment, I’m tipping a Manly premiership. But I might re-assess next week!

The first thing that I want to say very clearly is that I am NOT leaving Penrith. There’s just been some ridiculous rumours going around in the press this week that I wanted out of the club. It’s simply not true and I want to assure all the Penrith fans and everyone else that I am totally committed to the club and looking forward to giving it my full energy next year.

I’m actually a bit disappointed and a bit shocked that that story was going around.  There’s no truth to it at all. I am contracted to the Panthers and I’m going to see out my contract here. The Panthers have some amazing young talent coming through and, although a bunch of very experienced blokes are leaving this year, I think the future is very bright. So I just wanted to say that loud and clear. I am staying at the Panthers and I am committed to the club.

Now that that’s out of the way, I just want to say a few things about the game against the Warriors last weekend. Well, we had a lot to play for and we could have got ourselves into the eight with a win. But what can I say? We just brought ourselves undone again and as a result we’ve missed the finals. Very disappointing. We had a good start to the game, we picked up the first points, but after that there was just a crazy 15 minutes where they put three or four tries on us. It was tough going and it was hard to peg them back from there.

It was an emotional day for them with Ruben Wiki and a few other guys leaving, so we were up against it and we didn’t get it together. We needed to win and we needed a result or two to go our way but that didn’t happen, so it’s over, we’re gone for the year. It’s not a great way to finish the year, with one game remaining. So much hard work goes into a year of football and for it all to end pretty poorly is very hard to take.

If I look back at the year, you could say that if you look at where we placed last year we had a pretty good year this year because we just missed the eight. But it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like a disappointment. There were a few crucial games where we just didn’t turn up, with the one where we were flogged by Canberra a few weeks ago springing immediately to mind. We showed plenty of promise at different times and the fact that we were in the eight quite recently but then slipped out makes it even harder to take.

So now it’s time to look forward to next year. In the game against Manly on the Saturday night we will farewell a bunch of guys who have had some great success at the Panthers. Luke Priddis, Rhys Wesser, Tony Puletua, Luke Rooney and Shane Rodney, who’s off to Manly, are all leaving so it’s going to be a real changing of the guard next year. But we’ve seen the emergence of some fantastic talent this year as well, guys like Lachlan Coote and Wade Graham and a bunch of others. Those guys are potential stars of the future and will figure prominently next season.

Just on that final game against Manly, it would be great to see a big crowd down there to farewell our guys who are leaving. They’ve all been here a long time and brought the club the premiership in 2003 along with other successes and they really deserve a good send-off so I would implore everyone to come down to CUA and give them a big farewell. As a team we will be striving to prevent Manly from taking the Minor Premiership, plus we will be aiming to finish the season on a very strong note.

On a very different note, some of the boys (including myself!) are featured in a new photographic exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. So as a team we went into town to check it out. The exhibition is called “Heads Up” by an artist named Craig Walsh and features massive headshots of some of the Panthers’ players with some fans.

The photos were taken after the final whistle of one of our home games so they are very raw and full of emotion. They’re also massive, about seven or eight feet high. They really capture something, that’s for sure. It’s definitely worth checking out and fans can get a chance to win tickets to the World Cup if they get along there. It was a pretty different thing for a team of footy players to go to a contemporary art museum but it was really enjoyable - and thankfully my photo was hidden up the back. It’s pretty scary!