Latest news with #BlaizeTalagi
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Panthers down Titans in golden-point thriller
Penrith five-eighth sensation Blaize Talagi has scored a golden-point try for the ages to down a brave Gold Coast 30-26 in a drama-charged classic at Robina. Panthers halves Talagi and Nathan Cleary orchestrated a 24-0 lead by halftime before the Titans hit back in stunning fashion in front of 18,174 fans. Gold Coast fullback AJ Brimson and half Jayden Campbell turned it on with sheer individual brilliance as the hosts scored five tries in 25 minutes to take a 26-24 lead in the 74th minute. Cleary, as only he can, landed a 41m two-point field goal in the 79th to take the match to golden point. He then missed his first field goal shot from 30m out before 20-year-old Talagi started and finished a 60m attacking raid in the 83rd minute.. The Panthers secured an eighth consecutive victory to leave the four-time defending premiers on 29 competition points, just one behind the fourth-positioned Warriors. In an ominous omen, Penrith have made the grand final on all five occasions (2003 and 2020-2024) they have previously won eight in a row. The Panthers are capable of challenging for a fifth straight title but will need to heed lessons from their great escape. They were cruising at halftime but the Titans had other ideas. Talagi seals the game in golden point! 💥Telstra Moment of the Match — NRL (@NRL) August 2, 2025 Brimson sent centre Brian Kelly in before Campbell intercepted a Cleary pass to race 90m and get the 16th-placed Titans on the board. Campbell was at it again to step and weave his way through and hooker Sam Verrills dived over from dummy-half. Minutes later Phil Sami finished off a Brimson bust and the lead had been cut to two. Sami was in again after Penrith muffed a Kieran Foran bomb and Gold Coast led 26-24 with six minutes to play. The high drama continued when a Panthers trainer ran in front of Campbell as he was preparing to line up the conversion. He missed after re-setting. The Titans scored three tries when centre Izack Tago was in the sin bin for a professional foul on Brian Kelly. It was Cleary and Talagi brilliance that then saved Penrith. Talagi has been a revelation in 2025 after filling the big shoes of club legend Jarome Luai. His confidence and decision making have grown each week, and the 20-year-old's skillset and speed are top notch. Panthers winger Thomas Jenkins has enjoyed a breakout year and he leapt high above opposite number Jaylan De Groot to snaffle a pinpoint Talagi bomb to open the scoring in the 19th minute. Cleary genius with the ball in hand deceived the Titans defence to lay a pass on for fullback Dylan Edwards to score. Cleary, again, bombed away and Talagi leapt high above Brimson before streaking away under the sticks. Centre Casey McLean then rocketed 55m to score on the cusp of halftime. The fireworks then exploded after the break in what was a sensational confrontation.
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jarome Luai's classy act for Panthers player that could backfire on Tigers
Blaize Talagi has opened up on the mentorship he received from Jarome Luai while on tour with Samoa last year, which helped him transition and take over the No.6 role at the Panthers. But the classy gesture from Luai has the potential to backfire on the Tigers if Talagi helps the Panthers take down their NRL rivals on Saturday. Talagi has cemented his spot as Penrith's five-eighth after being forced to bide his time in reserve-grade to start the season. Many expected him to become Luai's immediate replacement when the four-time premiership-winner left to join the Tigers in the off-season. Talagi predominantly played wing and fullback at Parramatta, and took some time to adjust to the Panthers system when asked to play five-eighth. It wasn't until six weeks into the season that he nailed down the spot in first-grade, but he's now flying and has made it his own. On Saturday, Talagi will go head-to-head with Luai in a battle against the man whose shoes he's stepped into. Luai won four premierships as the Panthers' No.6 before a big-money switch to the Tigers late last year, which coincided with Penrith signing Talagi from the Eels. Speaking to on Thursday, Talagi lifted the lid on how Luai helped him find his feet as a five-eighth. Talagi and Luai never crossed paths at the Panthers, but they were teammates for Samoa on their end-of-season tour to England last year. In the second game of that series, Luai switched to halfback so Talagi could play 6. "It was a bit challenging when I first came here with all the talk about me filling his shoes," the 20-year-old said about Luai. "As I've been here longer, as a group we've talked about we're not here to fill anyone's shoes. You're here to be yourself and that's helped me grow each week and that's showing on the field." What Blaize Talagi learned from Jarome Luai Talagi opened up on what he learned from playing alongside Luai at Test level. "Jarome's a special player," he added. "He knows how to carry a team and lead by his actions. That's something I learnt from him. He's a really good mentor. He gives a lot of time to the younger boys and helped us a lot, especially at training. He would show us how to do things and I learnt a lot watching the intensity he trains at." The gesture from Luai shows the Tigers captain's class, as he could have been forgiven for not wanting to help his direct club rival too much. And from what we've seen of his character, he won't regret his actions should Talagi star for the Panthers against the Tigers on Saturday. Panthers resurgence built on defence The Panthers are flying after winning six in a row heading into Round 21 - where they'll meet western Sydney rivals the Tigers. Luai's side are coming off a vital win over the Titans at home, which has given them a four-point buffer to the cellar-dwellers. For the Panthers, it's been their stingy defence that's led the turnaround after they were at rock bottom two months ago. They haven't allowed more than 18 points in any of their six-straight wins, conceding 68 in total - the fewest by any team in that period. RELATED: Michael Maguire spills family detail that has Broncos primed for finals Kevin Walters vows to act as three players consider leaving Kangaroos 'You can just feel like we're more resilient, we're stopping tries, we're making it hard for the opposition, whereas that wasn't really the case for the first half of the season,' co-captain Isaah Yeo said this week. 'I feel like they'd go down on our end in the first set, they'd put on a play, and it wasn't under pressure, and all of a sudden they're scoring, and you're probably sort of kicking yourself going, what's just happened to everything we spoke about? 'But I feel like we're trusting the system a bit more, we're being a bit more proactive, particularly at the start of the games, and when you're holding your line and being resilient, that affects the other team's confidence. We've relied on that for such a long period of time now, and we didn't have that for the first half of the season. It's not something you can ever take for granted."

ABC News
11-07-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
After they transformed his career, Blaize Talagi will do whatever it takes to keep Penrith's revival going
Because of what's happened since, Penrith five-eighth Blaize Talagi's first clash with his former club Parramatta already feels like a long time ago. In reality, it was only a month ago when the Panthers scored that much-needed win. At the time they were dead last on the ladder and it was fair to wonder that perhaps their great winning run was over and Talagi had arrived too late to be part of it. But now, as they face Parramatta again on Sunday, their chances at continuing the dynasty don't just feel reborn but forged in fire and the Panthers once again feel like they can be the monster at the end of so many team's premiership dreams. That Eels game kicked off a run of four straight wins that culminated with the 8-6 win over Canterbury two weeks ago that doubled as a warning to the rest of the competition that what Penrith have cannot die until it's killed. It was a street-fight of a match, the hardest game of Talagi's young life and a taste of both what the Panthers have been through before and, given how open the premiership race now seems, what may yet be to come. "It felt exactly how it looked. They said it was like a finals-type intensity and it was definitely the hardest game I've ever played in," Talagi said. "They came to play and we felt it, that makes getting the win over them that much better. "It's such a good feeling, to get on a roll and get those four wins in a row. It's boosted my confidence and helped me play better, I'll do anything to keep it going." The Panthers will look to Talagi, both on Sunday and the weeks to come, as they look to continue their run. Their draw is favourable, but some of their biggest names are through an exhausting State of Origin series and after New South Wales demoralising defeat Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Dylan Edwards and Brian To'o will be battered physically and emotionally. They're all expected to be rested at least once or twice and players like Talagi will be asked to continue their strong form in their absence. But it's a job he seems ready for. Like Penrith, Talagi took a while to get going in 2025 after he arrived over the summer as the prospective replacement for Jarome Luai after playing all over the backline for Parramatta in his rookie year. Talagi didn't get a start at five-eighth until Round 6 but he hasn't missed a game since and has settled into the position nicely after migrating all across the backline in his strong rookie season with Parramatta last year. With the benefit of hindsight, Talagi thinks the wait was the best thing for him — it meant his chance had to be earned rather than given. "There was no pressure on me, I could bide my time and when the time came for me to be ready I wanted to take that spot and not go backwards and I think I've done that," Talagi said." While Penrith are rounding into form at just the right time, Talagi understands he's far from the finished product. But his distribution skills, his connection with Nathan Cleary and his ability to fit into Penrith's shape have all improved, while retaining the best thing about his game — a willingness to run onto the ball with little regard for what's in his way. "That's just me. If I'm doing something it's either 100 per cent or nothing. I think that's a good mindset," Talagi said. "I think I'm such a different player to when I arrived at the club and that's thanks to everyone, the boys and the coaches. "My footy brain has changed. Not the talent or the ability, but being able to see things and being clear." That's a clarity which has come through in his combination with fellow new faces, centre Casey McLean and winger Tom Jenkins. Together, the trio have become one of Penrith's best attacking weapons and their performance against Canterbury, where they saw off a sustained assault from former Panther Stephen Crichton, felt like a coming of age. "Our combination has been growing each week, we've been connected at training and off the field and we see it improving, we feel it," Talagi said. "There's no underestimating us, we can go on to do great things and hopefully keep this going. "The main thing for us has been putting the work in at training, keeping the standards high and our heads down. That shows on game day." Leaning on that right edge, and on Talagi's physicality as a runner, will prove important if Penrith are to steer their way through the post-Origin period and back into the finals. A fifth-straight premiership would take a different kind of effort — the Panthers would likely have to fight their way from the bottom half of the top eight and given 115 of the 117 premiership teams in Australian rugby league history finished the regular season in the top four, it's as tall an order as can be imagined. But finishing better than you start has become a way of life at the foot of the mountains and Talagi's first season in black is living proof that it's worth the wait.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
No Origin stars, no worries; Panthers in boilover win
An undermanned Penrith have secured a critical 28-18 victory over the high-flying Warriors despite missing their swag of State of Origin stars. The Panthers arrived in Auckland without five stars including Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo due to the travel factor from Origin II in Perth to New Zealand. But the rookie outfit shocked the third-ranked hosts in their Saturday clash to bank a third straight win and continue their climb up the NRL ladder. Depending on results the defending premiers could finish inside the top eight at the end of the round for the first time since Las Vegas in the opening round. Winning seven of their past eight matches, the Warriors were expected to outclass Penrith but the Panthers' young halves Blaize Talagi and Brad Schneider stood up to steer the visitors home. Talagi won't be stopped 🔥 #NRLWarriorsPanthers Telstra Moment of the Match. — NRL (@NRL) June 21, 2025 With Moses Leota leading the way up front with 147 run metres, second rower Scott Sorensen also stood tall, scoring two of their five tries. The Warriors weren't helped by losing Marata Niukore to a head knock 10 minutes into the match and then winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, who appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury. Sorensen went on report for the tackle that ended Watene-Zelezniak's night. Trailing 6-8 at halftime, the Warriors' hopes of a big finish were also hobbled as halfback Luke Metcalf struggled with a quad injury. The Panthers started with a bang with Sorensen held up over the line early but they made no mistake in the 16th minute when centre Casey McLean found winger Tom Jenkins, who bagged a hat-trick last week. In a pulsating contest the Warriors soon levelled with a ball bouncing up for Jackson Ford after Leka Halasima skittled Penrith players leaping for a Metcalf bomb. Sorensen again put his team ahead, scoring his first try with three minutes remaining in the half. The Warriors edged ahead soon after the break through Jacob Laban but the full house at Go Media Stadium had little to cheer about until a 78th minute consolation try by Moala Graham-Taufa. In the meantime, the Panthers piled on a further three tries, with Talagi and winger Paul Alamoti getting in on the action, to seal the win.

News.com.au
10-06-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Late pen sinks Tigers – Benji blows up!
NRL: Jarome Luai was penalised for a late shot on Blaize Talagi with the scores tied at 10-all, giving Penrith the lead with coach Benji Marshall not being happy about it.