Was the Panthers season decided in the first 20 minutes?

We had gained the reputation throughout this season as the unflattering “Heat Attack Kings”. It will probably be what Penrith will be known for this season, coming back in the second half against deficits that would see a lot of teams fall on their swords.

But maybe more accurately the Panthers should be remembered for giving away massive leads in the first 20 minutes of the game. To a point where they wouldn’t even switch gears until they were a couple of tries down.

I really do hope this is a matter of the coaching staff focus of the off-season, as after I looked at the season and threw it into a spreadsheet, had the Panthers had better starts the season could have looks much different. Obviously there are more factors involved but take a look at the season if points from the first 20 minutes of Panthers matches are removed.

I also added the 2 final matches below as well. What are your thoughts? Would love to hear your opinion on the Panthers slow starts this year.

RESULTS 2018 (BOTH SIDES LAST 60 MINUTES EACH MATCH)

Round Adjusted Adjusted Actual Actual Adjusted
R1 Panthers 24 Eels 6 24-14 W (W)
R2 Panthers 18 Rabbitohs 6 18-14 W (W)
R3 Bulldogs 6 Panthers 18 6-18 L (W)
R4 Cowboys 14 Panthers 21 14-33 W (W)
R5 Eels 6 Panthers 4 6-12 W (L)
R6 Panthers 35 Titans 6 35-12 W (W)
R7 Sharks 22 Panthers 16 22-22 L (L)
R8 Panthers 20 Bulldogs 8 20-14 W (W)
R9 Panthers 20 Cowboys 14 20-26 L (W)
R10 Knights 12 Panthers 17 12-29 W (W)
R11 Panthers 16 Tigers 0 16-2 W (W)
R12 Panthers 28 Dragons 2 28-2 W (W)
R14 Raiders 16 Panthers 17 16-23 W (W)
R15 Roosters 14 Panthers 0 14-6 L (L)
R16 Panthers 8 Sea Eagles 12 8-18 L (L)
R17 Panthers 36 Warrirors 4 36-4 W (W)
R18 Panthers 10 Sharks 18 10-24 L (L)
R19 Broncos 30 Panthers 18 30-18 L (L)
R20 Sea Eagles 22 Panthers 28 22-28 W (W)
R21 Panthers 28 Raiders 23 28-31 W (W)
R22 Titans 10 Panthers 11 10-17 W (W)
R23 Panthers 12 Knights 12 12-20 L (D)
R24 Warrirors 28 Panthers 16 28-16 L (L)
R25 Storm 14 Panthers 18 14-22 W (W)

 
 
ADJUSTED LADDER (PANTHERS LAST 60 MINUTES)

P PTS W D L B F A +/- ACT
1 Panthers 24 35 17 1 6 1 439 305 134 (5)
2 Storm 24 34 16 0 8 1 534 359 175 (2)
3 Roosters 24 34 16 0 8 1 524 355 169 (1)
4 Rabbitohs 24 34 16 0 8 1 574 437 137 (3)
5 Sharks 24 34 16 0 8 1 509 415 94 (4)
6 Dragons 24 32 15 0 9 1 519 472 47 (7)
7 Broncos 24 32 15 0 9 1 536 500 36 (6)
8 Warriors 24 32 15 0 9 1 464 447 17 (8)
9 Wests Tigers 24 26 12 0 12 1 375 460 -85 (9)
10 Raiders 24 22 10 0 14 1 549 522 27 (10)
11 Knights 24 19 8 0 15 1 400 595 -195 (11)
12 Titans 24 18 8 0 16 1 460 576 -116 (14)
13 Bulldogs 24 16 8 0 17 1 408 472 -64 (12)
14 Cowboys 24 16 7 0 17 1 437 509 -72 (13)
15 Sea Eagles 24 16 7 0 17 1 492 620 -128 (15)
16 Eels 24 16 7 0 17 1 366 542 -176 (16)

 
 
FINALS 2018 (BOTH SIDES LAST 60 MINUTES EACH MATCH)

Round Adjusted Adjusted Actual Actual Adjsuted
:trophy: EF Panthers 19 Warriors 0 27-12 W (W)
:trophy: SF Sharks 9 Panthers 20 21-20 L (W)

we’re our lax starts symptomatic of poor warm up?

Quite possibly it’s systematic. They may have been of the belief that their second half performance was good enough to warrant letting in the occasional try it the first half.

But as you can see from the adjusted stats, it hurt them without even noticing.

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It is a bit reminiscent of 2003 - ‘We don’t care how many points you score, we’ll just score more’.

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