{"id":159070,"date":"2025-09-21T15:28:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T15:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/159070\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T15:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T15:28:11","slug":"nrl-club-is-blasted-for-disrespecting-their-former-premiership-winning-star-in-tiktok-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/159070\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL club is blasted for ‘disrespecting’ their former premiership-winning star in TikTok video"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL<\/a> fans have hit out at the Penrith Panthers media team, claiming that the football club has \u2018disrespected\u2019 one of its former players in a TikTok<\/a> video published on the club\u2019s official account.<\/p>\n

The Panthers secured a huge 46-26 win against the Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon at the Accor Stadium to book their spot in a preliminary final.<\/p>\n

But in the build-up to the match, the Panthers’ official TikTok account sought to build up some excitement around the crunch finals fixture by posting a clip of one current Penrith star squaring off against four-time premiership winner with the club, Stephen Crichton, who left the club in 2024 to join the Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

In the clip, which is captioned \u2018changing of the guard\u2019, the Panthers published a montage of their former premiership hero Crichton coming up against his old side and promising young centre Casey McLean during the Panther two-point win in round 17 earlier this year.<\/p>\n

The centre\u2019s highlights of that game were played in the TikTok video, with the four-time premiership winner showcasing his brilliant ball-carrying skills, breaking through the defensive line on multiple occasions during that match.<\/p>\n

McLean\u2019s standout moments were also included in the clip, with the 20-year-old also seen going head-to-head with the Canterbury player, chirping at him on the field as his side eked out a narrow victory.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen <\/p>\n

Stephen Crichton (right) did not feature for the Bulldogs during their thumping defeat by Penrith on Saturday night<\/p>\n

\"Penrith <\/p>\n

Penrith have been slammed by some fans online after they posted a video of Casey McLean’ (centre) highlights reel alongside one of Crichton’s with the caption ‘changing of the guard’<\/p>\n

However, the Panthers have appeared to have ruffled a few feathers by posting the clip online, with some claiming that they had \u2018disrespected\u2019 Crichton, a three-time Dally M Centre of the year and a three-time premiership hero with the club.<\/p>\n

\u2018The disrespect on your former team-mate is crazy,\u2019 one TikTok user wrote.<\/p>\n

\u2018The disrespect after he scored in five consecutive Grand Finals is crazy,\u2019 one added.<\/p>\n

\u2018The audacity, there\u2019s no comparison, Critta is goated.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018This is not it bro, media team missed that one,\u2019 another wrote.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, others online began to debate which player was better.<\/p>\n

\u2018Both are top-notch players in their own right. McLean\u2019s a quick learner, especially at a young age, while Critta is more experienced.<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019re just different strengths and abilities but valuable assets in both teams.\u2019<\/p>\n

Canterbury had already suffered a huge blow before kick-off on Sunday night, with Crichton being ruled out of the game, having suffered an ankle injury against Melbourne last week.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"Footy <\/p>\n

Footy fans took to TikTok to suggest that Panthers were ‘disrespecting’ their former star Crichton<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old was a huge loss for the Bulldogs, with the centre bringing with him bags of experience and leadership, having helped guide Penrith to flags in 2020, 2023 and 2024.<\/p>\n

Equally, he is one of the best defenders in the NRL this season, and has been enjoying one of his best seasons yet, making 232 tackles with an efficiency of 90.27 per cent, his best career numbers yet.<\/p>\n

Four months after sitting last on the ladder entering round 13, Penrith are now one win from a grand final following a record-breaking 36-8 first half on Sunday.<\/p>\n

And while the Bulldogs added some respectability to the scoreline late on in front of 56,782 fans at Accor Stadium, they were still condemned to follow minor-premiers Canberra out of the finals in straight sets.<\/p>\n

The good news continued for Penrith after full-time, with Liam Martin (ribs) and McLean (hip) gaining a clean bill of health after finishing the game early.<\/p>\n

Already the first team to win four straight titles in almost 60 years, the Panthers must buck history as the only side to lift the trophy from outside the top four in the NRL-era.<\/p>\n

But based on Sunday’s form, they look as big a threat as any remaining team, with the Broncos on notice ahead of next Sunday’s clash at Suncorp Stadium and Melbourne and Cronulla on the other side of the draw.<\/p>\n

Nathan Cleary was at his brilliant best, kicking a 40-20, scoring a try and having a hand in almost everything Penrith did.<\/p>\n

\"Canterbury <\/p>\n

Canterbury had already suffered a huge blow before kick-off on Sunday night, with Crichton being ruled out of the game, having suffered an ankle injury against Melbourne last week<\/p>\n

Moses Leota, Lindsay Smith and Isaiah Papali’i were immense up front, while wingers Paul Alamoti and Brian To’o bagged five tries between them.<\/p>\n

Five-eighth Blaize Talagi also impressed on both sides of the ball, in a game where there was barely a Penrith player who didn’t star.<\/p>\n

“It was pretty good. Very good,” coach Ivan Cleary said when asked if that was his side’s best 40 minutes.<\/p>\n

“After last week it felt like every team member was playing well, so that gives you a lot of confidence.<\/p>\n

“We connected well both sides of the ball in the first half.”<\/p>\n

Penrith’s half-time lead was the largest in finals history, as the Bulldogs missed 42 tackles in the first half alone.<\/p>\n

It was a brutal end for a Bulldogs side that spent half of the regular season at the top of the table, before winning just five of their last 13 games.<\/p>\n

“We ran into a champion team that knows what it takes to win those big games,” Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said.<\/p>\n

“That was a nightmare the first half, and very hard.<\/p>\n

“They were near perfect and we were off the mark in the first half.<\/p>\n

“(But) to come out the second half and attack the game the way they did made me really proud.”<\/p>\n

Questions have been asked about Canterbury’s decision to sign Lachlan Galvin mid-season, but he was easily the Bulldogs’ best on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old scored one try and set up another, as Canterbury at least exposed what may be Penrith’s one weakness – their right-edge defence.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, Canterbury were well and truly beaten on the edges without the injured captain Crichton.<\/p>\n

Up against the best defensive team of 2025, the Panthers threw the ball around with confidence and produced some of their best attacking football of the season.<\/p>\n

Paul Alamoti found space in the lead-up to each of Penrith’s first three tries, as they repeatedly attacked the edge where Matt Burton was filling in at centre.<\/p>\n

One Cleary try came after Lindsay Smith and Papali’i both offloaded in the lead up, before the half passed to Alamoti and loomed up on the inside to score.<\/p>\n

Cleary had the ball on a string, running it down the short side on the last tackle in the lead-up to another try that ended with Brian To’o kicking for Papali’i.<\/p>\n

Mitch Kenny kicked out of dummy-half for another, while Blaize Talagi put a hit on Burton and helped lay on a try for To’o in another first-half effort.<\/p>\n

To’o turned provider after the break, intercepting a Bronson Xerri pass and going 50 metres before Alamoti crossed on the next play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL fans have hit out at the Penrith Panthers media team, claiming that the football club has \u2018disrespected\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":159071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,100,761,762,158,4598,588,85,101],"class_list":{"0":"post-159070","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dailymail","11":"tag-national-rugby-league","12":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","13":"tag-nrl","14":"tag-penrith-panthers","15":"tag-sport","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-tiktok"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}