Matthew Johns, a former premiership winner with the Newcastle Knights in 1997, has projected which team will pose the greatest threat to the Penrith Panthers’ perfect record of four consecutive titles.
Despite sitting sixth on the NRL leaderboard, the Panthers have been in excellent form this season, and will be joined by Nathan Cleary in Round 8 and Scott Sorensen this week against the Wests Tigers.
Brilliant victories over the Parramatta Eels, Brisbane Broncos, and Sydney Roosters have seen them return to the heights of the previous three seasons, and it seems possible that they will make a long run in the finals again, aiming for another Grand Final appearance.
Surprisingly, when asked which team they see as their biggest threat, Johns projected the Brisbane Broncos.
The Broncos are in 10th place with only two wins this season against the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the North Queensland Cowboys.
“I still think it’s Brisbane,” said Johns on SEN 1170 The Run Home.
“I really appreciate what Brisbane accomplished against the Cowboys; (Reece) Walsh will come back, (Payne) Haas will return, and (Patrick) Carrigan is simply flying.
He also suggested that the New Zealand Warriors, fresh off an away victory over the Rabbitohs and a draw against the Manly Sea Eagles, have a chance to win the league.
“The Warriors can win the competition, in my opinion,” Johns continued.
“I’ll tell you what’s strange about them: every single game this year with the Warriors has been a carbon copy, with the exception of a couple of times when they hung on and won.”
“Each game, they’ve been rampaging in the opening 30 minutes, just blowing the opposition away; nevertheless, by the end of those 30 minutes, domination might be 18, 20 nil, but they’re only six nil up.
“Then you see the opposition come back into the game and it ends up being a tight finish, every single game has been the same.
“There’s a little problem in the mid part of their match of the Warriors.”
