Once seen as Jarome Luai’s successor and Nathan Cleary’s future halves partner, Jack Cole shone for the Penrith Panthers over the weekend, but it wasn’t in the NRL.
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Instead, the forgotten Penrith playmaker continued his dominance in reserve grade as speculation heats up regarding his long-term future at the club.
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At the club since the age of 15, Cole has moved down the halves pecking order in recent seasons following the arrival of Blaize Talagi and Jack Cogger.
However, that hasn’t stopped him from making a statement whenever he plays.
Barely an hour after the Panthers took Melbourne Storm to the cleaners in Round 5 of the NRL season, Cole did the exact same in the NSW Cup competition.
Providing two try assists and two line-break assists, he helped lead the club to a 40-12 win with his attacking skill on full display.
“I’m definitely very open-minded to it, as I’m sure everyone is. Like I said, it is a business and you’ve got to do what’s best for you,” Cole told NCA Newswire this week about potentially exiting the Panthers.
Jack Cole starred in reserve grade.Source: Getty Images
“I love everything about Penrith. I love the boys, love the coaching staff, love what they’ve done for me as well.
“If there wasn’t an opportunity here for me at the end of the year to progress or play consistent NRL, then you’d obviously have to try to have a look.
“But me trying to play well is just going to help the cause of them wanting to keep me or getting interest from somewhere else. So it’ll come when it does.”
Meanwhile, a former Dragons reject sent a statement to the rest of the competition with a scintillating display and a Raiders hooker has pushed his case for NRL selection.
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A fortnight after running for 250 metres and two try assists for the Rabbitohs, Matthew Dufty’s dominance in the NSW Cup has continued.
The best performer across all reserve grade matches in the last round, Dufty had a miraculous 326 running metres, two line-breaks, one try assist and also crossed over the line for three tries.
Dufty played 82 first grade games for St George Illawarra between 2017 and 2021 and played a season with the Bulldogs before spending three seasons in the Super League with Warrington.
Currently on a NSWRL (NSW Cup) contract, don’t be surprised if he gets elevated to an NRL deal over the coming weeks and potentially be used as a back-up for Jye Gray in the fullback role.
In the same match, Bulldogs winger Jethro Rinakama scored a try and made three line-breaks in his return from injury as they fell 36-10.
Luke Hanson may have made his NRL debut a couple of weeks ago and now it looks like halves partner Jett Cleary will soon follow.
Jett Cleary is nearing an NRL debut.Source: Supplied
Cleary continues to dominate reserve grade and led the Warriors to a 26-24 win over the Newtown Jets, his perormance including a try and two linebreaks.
Meanwhile, Bishop Neal ran for over 170 metres and has been rewarded with a starting spot for this week’s match.
Wests Tigers fans may be worried that fullback Jahream Bula will depart the club as early at the end of the season but Jack Attard has shown the future could still be bright.
The 2024 Australian Schoolboy had arguably his best game to date in Tigers colours over the weekend with two line-breaks, one try assist, 97 running metres and a try of his own.
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NSW CUP STANDOUTS
Joey Walsh continued to illustrate why he has been regarded as the long-term halfback of the Sea Eagles with a try and a try assist, but he was no match for the North Sydney Bears as they won 26-18.
Their top performer was ex-Melbourne Storm outside back Ammaron Gudgeon, who made the switch to North Sydney this year after a stint with the Rabbitohs.
It may have been a Mitch Henderson field goal that saw the Knights edge past the Canberra Raiders in the final minute, but they wouldn’t have done it without James Schiller who scored a double in the final 15 minutes.
His wing partner, Siteni Taukamo, was also excellent.
Joey Walsh starred in a beaten side.Source: Supplied
Formerly with the Sharks, Taukamo secured a game-high 205 running metres and also had two try involvements down the edge of the field.
Meanwhile, Owen Pattie continues to press his case for selection to return to the NRL side.
Controlling the ruck, Pattie had 67 metres and 37 tackles.
Ronald Volkman looked elusive at times for the Parramatta Eels during the six-point loss (30-24) to the Magpies and will be given the chance to partner Mitch Moses in the halves this weekend.
Araz Nanva also had 109 running metres, one try, one try assist and three tackle busts as he prepares to make his NRL debut this week on the wing to replace the injured Bailey Simonsson.
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QLD CUP STANDOUTS
There were no QLD Cup matches over the weekend due to the Easter break. The competition returns this week.