A Cat Got Onto The Pitch At Pepper Stadium And Cursed The Penrith Panthers
It was one of the greatest things that has ever happened in a game of rugby league, but at what cost, asks Calum Henderson.
Fullback Ben Barba scored two first half tries to lead the Cronulla Sharks to a 26-10 victory over the Penrith Panthers at Pepper Stadium on Sunday afternoon – the team’s 13th win in a row – but his heroics were overshadowed by the rare and joyous sight of a cat on the pitch.
Eight-and-a-half minutes into the second half, with the understrength Sharks holding onto a narrow 8-6 lead, commentator Andrew Johns interrupted proceedings with a major announcement: “I just saw a cat runnin’ down the field,” he spluttered, “I’m sure it was!”
Could it be true? Or was Johns suffering some kind of terrifying hallucination? A slow-motion replay soon proved Johns was right – there really had been a cat on the pitch.
A black medium-haired domestic cat was shown running along the halfway line before performing an abrupt 90 degree turn to sprint along the touchline towards goal, as if on its way to score a magnificent breakaway try. It slowed upon reaching the ingoal area before disappearing from camera shot.
Yep, that's a cat! #NRLPanthersSharks #NRL pic.twitter.com/nzkdoSEYX0
— NRL (@NRL) July 10, 2016
Little information was immediately available about the Pepper Stadium cat. Where did it come from, and where did it go? Did it successfully find its way out of the stadium and to safety? What is the cat’s name? Who are the cat’s owners? Or was it a stray? Perhaps, as Johns speculated, it was “a miniature panther”?
On Monday afternoon the club released a statement titled Black Cat Update saying the cat is believed to be a local stray, and that this was not the first time it had been sighted at Pepper Stadium. What the statement failed to address was the fact that since the cat ran onto the pitch, the Penrith Panthers have not won a game.
The Sharks, missing six first team players due to injury or State of Origin commitments, pulled away shortly afterwards, with a pair of tries to Mitch Brown and Joseph Paulo coming in the 51st and 54th minutes. Another to Luke Lewis in the 69th minute put the result beyond doubt, and secured the Sharks’ position at the top of the NRL table.
The Panthers, who went into the game as favourites and had dominated the first half, spurned a golden chance to leapfrog the Warriors on the table and consolidate their foothold in the top 8.
There is only one reasonable explanation for their second half capitulation, and it is the cat.
The black cat, who somehow got onto the pitch at Pepper Stadium, and put a curse on the Penrith Panthers.
Comments on RugbyPass
Excellent analysis Nick as we have come to expect. I was not really aware that NFL strategies have been adopted by rugby teams, especially in defence. One point I would make is that the Northhampton attacking player on the end of the chain in the video examples has not maintained the correct depth to be effective. In the footage shown the outside player is too flat to make the best of the opportunity his inside players have provided. In each case they have to reduce speed and turn their body backwards to secure the ball, losing all momentum and giving the impressive scrambling defence the chance to shut down the threat.
1 Go to commentsMorning, John. Do you think that it may be a good idea to rest both teams from the Madrid comp leading in to the Olympics
2 Go to comments« I am preparing myself for much more, something much bigger. I’m focussing on the next cycle, » You don’t say…
1 Go to commentsGeez plenty of time to come right before test season starts. Dont panic mr Mannering!!!!!
1 Go to commentsGreat read Nick. The Reds really have been great to watch this year, and the improvement of not only the players you mention, but the squad in general has been obvious. The Reds 10/12 play making axis is a nice counterpoint to the 10/15 partnership at the Brumbies and Rebels. If Schmidt was to pick say, Lolesio, Paisami and Wright / Kellaway, would this be too many play makers? I notice in a lot of those clips Tim Ryan playing across the field in support of Vunivalu. Is this a feature of Kiss’s structure?
2 Go to commentsSo sad, god rest him. Too young to be gone. RIP
2 Go to commentsRIP big man 🙏
2 Go to commentsThe GB coach. “Just because we don’t get together as much as other teams we don’t use that as an excuse for performances when we don’t hit the mark”. Why mention it at all then?
1 Go to commentsNo mention of the yellow card for Harlequins which really cost them.
3 Go to commentsThought you’d left us Nick. Good to have you back writing for us. So hunter ikitau works? I reckon wright kellaway as two of the back 3. Tim Ryan and Toole looking good for strike winger but I still want the power of korobeiti and figure our forwards still need him to help them out. Million dollar question is who plays 10? I’m thinking Noah for his kicking and combo with wright. Reckon the pair adds up to an attack and kellaway will help. Can you comment on Zac Lucas in Japan? How is he going?
2 Go to commentsMack Hansen, Ethan Roots, Taine Plumbtree, Louis Lynagh, Emmanuel Meafou? Which country do you want to pick your Barbarians from?
3 Go to commentsInstead of apologising, try to act like an adult, fcknut.
3 Go to commentsLooks like the Force twisted his leg…ahem arm
7 Go to commentsScotland should change their name to the Barbarians
3 Go to commentsThe game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
3 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
8 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
3 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
3 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
3 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
7 Go to comments