Tag: Matt Blyth

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“I don’t know why people say it, but I don’t believe it is true. The consistency we have shown over the last three years, I don’t think there is any way you can do that if you are disrespectful or arrogant.

“I’m not sure how every other club does it, but if there is any team that has players that spend more time with the public and kids, particularly after games, than our boys do then I would like to see it.

“We are very proud of our club and our boys. We are probably not perfect, but I would like to think we are doing a decent job.”

“The Penrith Panthers are not doing a decent job, they are doing an outstanding job,” Anasta said.

“They have been marvelous the last few years and they are close to greatness looking to go back-to-back. Are they arrogant?”

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The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read believes there needs to be a clear line between what the Panthers do on and off the field and defended any perceived arrogance from players during matches.

“I think you have got to differentiate what they are like on the field and off the field,” Read said.

“Ivan was talking about how they do a lot of work with kids. Off the field those guys like Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary are fantastic blokes.

“On the field they play with swagger. They play with a bit of arrogance. You have got to have that to be successful.”

Anasta agreed that arrogance can be a powerful tool for a sporting team when used correctly.

“Don’t you want that?” Anasta said.

“In any sport you have got to have confidence. Some people think they cross the line a little bit but you need confidence. You need a little bit of arrogance. You need to go out there thinking, I’ve got you covered.”

Paul Kent believes the Panthers are an outstanding club off the field and if the players show arrogance on the field, their success has given them the right to express themselves.

“It all shapes in narratives,” Kent said.

“They do have swagger. They are confident and they are aggressive and they let you know it and they actually reveal it in showing you how well they are going.

“That’s on the field. Ivan didn’t address that at all. I have addressed them off the field where he was 100 per cent right.

“They are tremendous the way they interact with their fans and give back to the community.

“I think it is not a bad thing what they do on the field. It annoys me sometimes. I don’t like seeing some of the things, but it is part of the big picture.

“Everyone wants it to be completely black or completely white. They are neither. They are somewhere in the middle and that is where the fun happens to be honest.

“They are a little bit arrogant on the field, but it is a healthy arrogance.”

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield believes the Panthers players are expressing themselves and their upbringing, which they are very proud of.

“You don’t want a dull boring footy team,” Rothfield said.

“You want personality. You want characters.

“What we see from Penrith on the football field is these boys who have grown up in the district in tough areas around Mt Druit and St Marys and they are characters.

“They just love celebrating it. I don’t think it is arrogance.”