{"id":578226,"date":"2026-04-01T09:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578226\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:19:29","slug":"scott-sorensen-says-this-teammate-must-be-picked-for-origin-the-western-weekender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/578226\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Sorensen says this teammate must be picked for Origin \u2022 The Western Weekender"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Penrith forward Scott Sorensen. Photo: Melinda Jane.<\/p>\n

Premiership-winning Panthers forward Scott Sorensen is demanding Laurie Daley select unsung teammate and dummy half Mitch Kenny in the NSW Blues team this year.<\/p>\n

The extraordinary call comes just days after 28-year-old Kenny was suspended for this Friday\u2019s blockbuster against Melbourne following a hip-drop tackle on Eels fullback Isaiah Iongi last weekend.<\/p>\n

Speaking with the Weekender prior to the Good Friday clash at CommBank Stadium, the experienced backrower said the Panthers are going to miss Kenny dearly against the Storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m actually really glad you asked about him,\u201d Sorensen began.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mitch Kenny in action. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like Mitch doesn\u2019t get the praise that he deserves. He has been an absolute warrior for our side for so long. The way he is leading our team at training, the way he is leading our team on the park \u2013 he\u2019s taken his game to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorensen then doubled down on Kenny\u2019s impact for Penrith as well as his maturity and leadership by calling for the hooker\u2019s selection in this year\u2019s State of Origin series.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might come across biased because I\u2019m one of his teammates and I love him, but he is honestly kicking the door down for State of Origin\u2026 he\u2019s kicking the door down for international football. I say that with absolute honesty, like he\u2019s screaming out to get a Blues jersey and he deserves it,\u201d Sorensen declared.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that plays with Mitch here knows that when he is playing it fills you with absolute confidence and I love playing with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat should explain how much we\u2019re going to miss him on Friday; you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Mitch Kenny. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

Kenny\u2019s absence on Friday night will see new Panthers recruit Freddy Lussick in the starting hooker role against the Storm. On Monday, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary praised Lussick\u2019s work ethic at training and Sorensen said he couldn\u2019t agree more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he came in the pre-season Freddy just grabbed the opportunity with both hands \u2013 he was very impressive,\u201d Sorensen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously Ivan has built an incredible culture here and he\u2019s just bought straight into that and is doing an incredible job.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is putting his hand up and more to push for a position in this team and he\u2019s been very impressive. For him to get a crack on Friday night is very exciting for him and for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Scott Sorensen in action. Photo: NRL Photos.<\/p>\n

After six amazing seasons with the Panthers, Sorensen will depart the club at season\u2019s end. He\u2019ll join new NRL franchise the Perth Bears from 2027 on two-year deal.<\/p>\n

Sorensen, whose wife is from Western Australia, said he\u2019s looking forward to his latest chapter next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very fortunate and very grateful to the Bears for this incredible opportunity, it\u2019s very exciting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s going to be hard to say goodbye to this organisation. It\u2019s going to be bittersweet, but I can\u2019t say thank you enough to the Bears. But that opportunity doesn\u2019t come without the Panthers obviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prop Liam Henry and former Panther Mav Geyer will join Sorensen in Perth.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor<\/p>\n

Nathan Taylor is the Weekender’s Deputy Editor and Senior Sports Writer. He also compiles the weekly Chatter on the Box TV column. Nathan is an award-winning journalist, who has worked at the Weekender for a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Penrith forward Scott Sorensen. Photo: Melinda Jane. Premiership-winning Panthers forward Scott Sorensen is demanding Laurie Daley select unsung…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-578226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578226","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=578226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}