Round 19
Gold Coast Titans 22 l. Penrith Panthers 36

2008 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Pritchard draws comparisons with SBW
Mon July 21, 2008
Penrith forward Frank Pritchard drew favourable comparisons with Sonny Bill Williams following his one-man demolition job of the Gold Coast Titans on Saturday night.

The hot and cold Panthers had one of their really hot nights as Pritchard scored two tries and created another as he's slowly showing signs of living up to his full potential. The talent has always been there for Pritchard, but the consistency and attitude has been missing.

One of the main motivations for Pritchard as a copy of the competition ladder posted on piece of paper by coach Matthew Elliott where it showed the under-achieving Panthers sitting in 8th position, which for their talent and development nursery should be around the top four.

Pritchard said, "He came out earlier in the week with a piece of paper, where we stood on the ladder, and it was a shock to most of us.

"We're a lot better than that. For us to be eighth - we're taking aim for the top four so it's full steam ahead."

Penrith captain and long-serving Australian Test forward Petero Civoniceva compared Pritchard to Williams and said, "There's a lot of talk about how damaging Sonny Bill is but I know when Frank gets the ball in his hands, I know there's a lot of opposite second-rowers and centres who have nightmares after they play him."

The Panthers sat in the top eight by one slender point heading into this round and needed a big performance playing on the Titans hallowed patch to have a bit of breathing space heading into the business rounds of the season.

Elliott said, "It was vital. That was really the crux of my motivational, whatever you call it, my team talk - I showed them the competition ladder. I think we had five teams on 18 behind us. We're very assured about what we're capable of doing - we just need to make sure that we keep focused on the job."

Another player to impress for the Panthers was winger Michael Gordon, who scored two tries and landed six goals from seven attempts for a tally of 20 points.

It wasn't a good night for the Titans losing their 3rd straight game at home after such an impressive start to the season and last week defeated the star-studded Roosters at the SFS.

Titans coach John Cartwright said, "I'm very disappointed. Defensively, we were just way off pace - we were very soft in defence."

Does Pritchard deserve comparisons with Williams? One thing that he proved is that he can fight through the pain barrier and continued on despite a nagging shoulder problem. The one flaw on Williams career has been his ability to deal with pain whereas Pritchard has been consistency, attitude and week-to-week performances.

LIVE SCORES & STATS
NRL: Titans 22 v Panthers 36
NYC: Titans 44 v Panthers 22

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