Despite another loss, the Lions should hold their heads high from their game against Balsicas, taking it almost the whole way, but suffered a heartbreaking 31-22 loss to the Zombies. The Lions had a chance to make it a closer game, only down 24-16 heading into the final quarter, but a stunning 79-yard touchdown pass was basically all she wrote, as the Zombies got the victory and giving the Zombies one hand again on the divisional title, with a five-game lead, next week could be that game for them, but also a game that could lead the Lions to another losing season and another season without postseason football.

The Lions can take a lot from the game, with Joe Chacon throwing 41 completions, the most of his career, and also only his second multi-touchdown game of his career. The Lions also saw a solid improvement from the rest of the offence, Brian Lecuyer gaining 112 yards in the air, his first 100+ game since last season, ironically against Penrith, and rookie running back with a solid 83 yards on the ground, however, it looks likely that Alvarado will miss the remainder of the season with a serious neck injury. The Lions have subsequently signed former Paris running back Gerard Ecureuil to assist the run game for the final six games of the season. The team also announced that they are ending the season of defensive end Joseph Hoops and will look to bring him back in preseason next year.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach James Jennings was confident that the hard times are coming around and he spoke about the confidence that a game like that, despite the result, has had on the team:-

“We know that it still not the results we want to see, we want to be seeing wins again and I am confident that we will get there, and while it may not be this season, we are always fighting each and every game for that victory. Just one will give us even more confidence to keep pushing next week. We have seen some solid improvements across both sides and our guys are confident that things will improve, and they are pushing themselves even more each week. We will get there”.

The Lions now head off to play the Derry Mean Machine in what could be an interesting game. The Mean Machine head into the game off the back of a solid 12-6 victory over Edlington and also come into the game on a 4-game winning streak and will look to make that five in a row and keep in touch with both Reasonable and Echunga in the BC West race. The Lions will look to get a second straight victory over Derry, having beaten them in the preseason. Derry will look towards Fromage Homage again, with a solid game against Edlington, having averaged 215.3 yards per game in the last three, while Joe Chacon has been averaging 262 yards in the last three games, it could be an intriguing matchup of these two. The Lions, however, have struggled with the run game, being one of only four teams without a rushing touchdown all year (Derry are averaging 0.9 per game), while both team are roughly around the same for passing touchdowns (Derry at 0.9 per game, Penrith at 0.8 per game).

The Mean Machine defence are also looking strong, with almost 1.5 interceptions per game, whilst giving up only 0.6, with cornerback Xander Liebniz with 4 of the team’s 14 interceptions this season and while the leading tackler in Chipper Nietzsche (61 tackles) being only tied for 15th in the league, but are averaging 42.6 tackles per game, whereas the Lions are averaging around 43.6 tackles in their last three, suggesting a defensive matchup that could result in a low-scoring game, but could also be the best possible chance for the Lions to get a third victory this season.

Game Prediction: Lions to get this one, by 7 points

Once again, the Lions got off to a great start but then the wheels came off, as they suffered another defeat, this time going down to the Mean Machine 26-10 to record their ninth loss of the season and their eighteenth across the last two seasons. While the season may be all but over for the Lions, as they now sit at 2-9, and with the division again all but won by the Zombies, the Lions are mathematically still in the hunt for a postseason berth, but fans and commentators are more focussed on the more critical question that needs to be answered and that is the future of Head Coach James Jennings, and a host of players who have been on the roster for three seasons now and just have not lived up to the hype that they came with.

Speaking after the game, Team Owner Leam Mark Farrar talked about what this season has meant and what the offseason is going to look like for the franchise:-

“To be honest, I’m just gutted. We have, in the last few weeks, made some improvements, we have been a bit more competitive, but away from that, the results just have not come to us. We will be aggressively looking at where the team is right now, and into the future and making sure that we are active even more in finding the right talent that can lead us to victories, and hopefully in the future, a league title. Our whole operation is going to be aggressive in finding the right talent, be it coaches, players, backroom staff, and ensuring that we are better than we are now”.

The Lions took the lead towards the end of the first quarter, but that seemed to be all the positives as Derry came away with 24 unanswered points, led by tight end Coco Epicurus, who was the beneficiary of some amazing passes from Fromage Homage (23-34, 197 yards, 112.01 QBR). Homage also completed a third touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Augustine, tacked on with a 45-yard field goal, and the Mean Machine had the victory all but wrapped up heading into the fourth, with the Lions only able to manage a 54-yard field goal of their own, and the loss just compounded more with a last moment safety.

The Lions now head back home for three of their last four home games, starting off with the 5-6 Tillamook Sharknado, who come in off the back of a tough, but visibly expensive 3-0 overtime victory over Florence. Tillamook may have had to face just over 70 minutes of bombardment from the Fools, but they have come away with it, a 47-yard field goal was all the scoring, despite another 224 yards from Quimbus Baconmaker, giving him nearly 1,800 yards on the season (currently 23rd in the league), but they meant not much with the way both sides of the ball operated in that game. On the other hand, despite the loss, Joe Chacon managed a respectable 125 yards and now has 2,172 yards on the season (good for 9th in the league), and while he has struggled with getting the ball into the hands of his receivers (9 touchdowns, equal 9th), he is slightly ahead of Baconmaker (7 touchdowns, 11 interceptions). The pressing matter will be which quarterback can make the least number of mistakes.

On the defence, Tillamook are seeing a solid improvement across the board, led by both safety Jimmy Goldsmith (63 tackles) and linebacker Jarred Sluss (61 tackles), along with defensive end Alva Gasaway with 6 sacks to lead the team (equal 10th in the league), the Sharknado are squarely seeing a much stronger defence with five defensive players over 40 tackles on the season, where Penrith have seemingly relied on only one or two players, with Paul Quick leading the charge with 85 tackles, followed by Urban Montaigne at 51 tackles.

If Week 5 is any indication of how this game will go, these two quarterbacks will go for it, and will do whatever they can to get the victory for their side. The Lions will have to go through the rematch without Steven Alvarado who was ruled out for the remainder of the season last week, and while both Greg Sanders and Gerard Ecureuil are more than capable of holding down the fort, the Lions will need a whole lot more from them this time around. If they can manage to keep the scoreboard ticking over, not let the wheels come off again and hold out the Sharknado’s defence from getting through, the Lions may hold out for a third victory in this season.

Game Prediction: Tillamook will win this one, by 14 and consign Penrith to a 0-6 divisional record and postseason elimination to boot.

The Lions did it! They won a third game of the season, a season that began with such high hopes but has flatlined every week. However, the last couple of weeks have shown the spirit of the roster and the franchise and the hard work finally paid off with an impressive 28-7 victory over the Sharknado and ensured that Penrith do not finish the season without a divisional victory. It was another statistical advantage to the Lions, garnering 15 first downs (to Tillamook’s 10), and with a solid 299 yards compared to 200 for the Sharknado, another week where the Lions seemingly had the advantage and they took full control of the game, however, it wasn’t until the final quarter where the Lions made it count. Quarterback Joe Chacon had a game to remember, 37 completions and his first game for the Lions without a sack and the first time with 3 touchdowns in a game in his career, and only the third game with multiple touchdowns.

Speaking after the game, Chacon praised the rest of his team, was very humble about his efforts and how the win has given the team some hope for a good end to the season:

”We haven’t played well all year; all the guys know and accept that. We just have not done what we wanted, what we planned or practiced, and it has shown. That win is for them, and it’s for the fans. I’m not here for individual accolades, I want to just win games with this team, with the boys. They are not jumping around like we won the title, but they are taking that win with some renewed vigour that we can compete against the other 31 teams in this league, and we will take that into the remaining games and just keep doing everything we can to get another victory”.

The Lions get another chance to make it a second straight victory in the season as they welcome the Seattle Slammers to The Lions Den this week, off the back of a 21-10 loss to the Forbidden City Dragons. Seattle has lost three straight and will look to get back into the winners circle, despite looking like they could have gotten the game a lot closer, quarterback Richard Landry struggled with 6 sacks and only 74 yards, first time since 2022 that he has been kept to under 100 passing yards in a game and first time since Week 4 last season with more than 5 sacks in a game. The Slammers also battled other issues in the game, their run game with a low 53 yards (Dragons’ Lu Bu got 51 yards on his own), while the receivers also suffered the same fate. The defence, however, looked strong, forcing the Dragons into five straight punts to begin the game, and 11 in total as well as two interceptions and a fumble. 14 punts from Pierre Rivera, second most this season (fourth all time) may be what the Lions need to get ahead in the game. With their solid statistical performance over the last couple of weeks, the Lions look to be in the drivers’ seat for this game, despite many saying that this could be quite an even contest.

The Lions have also announced that Andrew Robertson, following the neck injury from the game has been placed on the injured reserve list for the season, with the team also announcing that both cornerback Barry Ridout and running back Gerard Ecureuil were released, with Roland Stegner, Warren Smith and Paul Buckley coming into the roster to assist with further injuries. The team also announced today that defensive end Gavin Blair and tackle Thomas Wright will also sit out the remainder of the season with their respective injuries, with Thomas Wright recovering from a leg injury and Gavin Blair breaking his ankle. That brings the total of season-ending injuries to 5 for the team, however, with the team all but confirmed (yet, not mathematically eliminated) to not be playing postseason football, the team looks to be focussing already on next season and where the roster will be next off-season, they look to be giving some players who are going to be sticking around the time to recover and be ready for next year.

Game Prediction: The Lions to get another victory, 14 points this time.

The Lions fell right back to earth again, another loss and many question what is going wrong. The stat line reads like it should have been an easy victory, but the Lions missed every opportunity to make it count, going down to the Seattle Slammers who this week announced that new ownership would be in place for the franchise next season, so a victory to begin celebrating the current ownership was right on the cards, the Lions just gave the game to them. Penrith forced Seattle into 9 straight punts, but a 101-yard kickoff return by Oscar Sinkler was all that the Slammers needed to get the well-earned victory. 18 first downs to 6, 329 total yards to 124, even with quarterback Joe Chacon throwing for 235 yards against only 93 for Slammers’ quarterback Richard Landry, and yet; the Lions managed to throw away a 6-0 lead in the space of 3 seconds.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach James Jennings was really not impressed with the manner in which the Lions gave the game away so easily:-

“All credit to Seattle, they kept on fighting and that kickoff return was all they needed, we deserved to give that one up. We couldn’t defend it, and despite looking at the stats and thinking that we should have been the ones winning that one, Seattle proved that stats mean very little, it is how you play and how you use the ball. They fought hard each and every drive and it paid off, they managed to find our weaknesses all over the field, and they found one... just one, to give them what they needed and that was a touchdown. They played their hearts out there, we just didn’t.”

Many are now questioning if that was the last game Jennings will coach the Lions, or if once again, he will make it through another season. The ownership group has been quiet of late regarding the future of the coaching staff, despite several changes made over the last couple of weeks, but with the end of the season fast approaching, it is the question on many lips, as to how this team turns things around, since they are going to have the next three weeks to work it out, starting with a tough matchup against the Nottingham Arrows.

Nottingham come into the game off the back of not just a solid 24-2 thumping of the Crazy Wolves, but on the back of six wins in their last seven, and also with the momentum of being confirmed as FB East division champions for the first time. Another solid performance from the Arrows, with a season record 202 rushing yards from Kevin Morris (only short on a league record by 16 yards), showing how dominate the Arrows offense has been, averaging 13.2 points a game, compared to the Lions at 12 points per game, however, even with such a small difference, it has shown with the Arrows managing almost 6 yards a pass and 4.1 yards per run, whereas the Lions struggle with 3.4 yards per run and 5.1 yards per pass.

Nottingham also come into the matchup with the league’s second toughest defence, giving up only 112 points (only Montevideo at 108 points is better), that being an average of only 8.6 points per game, which was clearly on display against the Crazy Wolves, with the likes of Jose May managing 2 sacks, Kevin David with 7 tackles and forcing 11 punts on the Crazy Wolves for 503 total yards, equal for the most punts in a game last week (alongside Harnosand and Seattle), and only short by 15 yards for the most yards. It looks to be even tougher for Penrith when looking at the stat line, but as we have seen over the last few weeks, the stat lines seem to mean very little to the Lions, if they just can’t get the points on the scoreboard, there is nothing much they can do, the wheels are going to fall off again.

On the injury front, both running back Steven Alvarado and defense end Joseph Hoops have been declared fit and have returned to light training, however, reports are that both will remain on the sidelines for the remainder of the season while they slowly return from their injuries, with doctors concerned that they could both reinjury themselves, and with what happened to Andrew Robertson a few weeks ago, the team are looking to manage them a little better and focus more on getting to the offseason, and ready for OTA’s, allowing both players to get fully fit and be ready for next season. The team further announced this week that offensive tackle Thomas Wright and linebacker Paul Quick will also miss the remainder of the season through injury, allowing the likes of Paul Hayze and Michael McDonald to play a more senior role on the field, despite the Lions signing former Violent Vermin linebacker Allan Michaud to replace Quick for the final three games.

Game Prediction: Sorry Lions fans, this one is going to be a tough one to watch. Arrows to walk it in. Talking about a margin just seems insignificant at the moment with the way this season has gone.

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions today have announced that at the conclusion of the regular season, the team and Head Coach James Jennings will part ways.


STATEMENT FROM TEAM OWNER LEAM MARK FARRAR

“On behalf of the whole organisation, I want to thank James Jennings for his dedication and commitment to the team over the last three years, he has taken the team from nothing to where it is today. We sincerely appreciate all that James has done for the team and wish him and his family all the best in the future.

“Following extensive conversations and discussions with both Todd and the ownership group, we have decided that the Lions need a new direction moving forward and that it would be in the best interests of the organisation to part ways with James. This change will be made following the completion of the season out of respect for the hard work, dedication and effort that James has made to the organisation over the last three years”.

“We recognise that the organisation has not been at the top of its game, and that results have not been what we expect on the field, and we understand that our standards have not been where they should be, for ourselves and our fans. Our fans deserve better. They demand better from our organisation, but they have stayed loyal through all of this.

“I will personally lead the search for the next head coach of our organisation with the support from the rest of the ownership group as well as Todd, whom I have total confidence in as our general manager. We will begin this process to select our next head coach and refocus on playing competitive football to finish the season on as much of a positive note as we can.”

The big news of the week was the announcement that following the conclusion of the season, Head Coach James Jennings would be departing the team. Whether this was a true “firing” in the sense of if someone finally woke up and realized the results over the last two years is anybody’s guess, but sources have all but confirmed that Coach Jennings was effectively pushed out the door, but a lack of serious interim candidates, even internally, led the team to reluctantly give him the chance to coach out the final two games.

Speaking after the announcement at his usual mid-week press conference, Head Coach James Jennings was thankful for the three seasons he had been at the helm, and wanted to give it his all in the remaining two games:-

“I wish results had been better, I truly do. This is a results-driven industry and right now, we have not delivered those results. When I first took on this role, I made it clear on day one that results would be what we went for, and the results is what I wanted to be judged on, and finally that the buck stopped with me, I lead this team from the front. It is my call what we do on the practice field and in the game, and I have to take the responsibility that these results come with. I want to focus on these last two games, not make it a celebration of my time here at the Lions, but to focus on trying our best to deliver strong results in these two games and to keep on pushing and trying each and every minute of the game, and hopefully come away with a couple of victories to end the year”

It made for some news to read about, after the Lions once again failed to live up to expectations, suffering another defeat, this time to the hands of the Nottingham Arrows, 23-9, with quarterback Joe Chacon again throwing more interceptions than throws to his own team, many wondering if he was the right call to spend a second-round selection on the quarterback. That being said, with the Lions projected to hold a top-10 selection and several teams slated to pick ahead either already having quarterbacks that they could go another season with or taking on a quarterback last draft, this could be the draft where the Lions get someone to come in and be that franchise quarterback of the future for them. Running Back Greg Sanders showed why he could be in line for a return in the offseason with another solid performance, 85 yards on the ground, in only his seventh game for the team and a career-best for the 7-year veteran from Nevada. While once again the rushing touchdowns were not a factor (last time the Lions had a rushing touchdown was Week 6 last season), and the Lions look like being one of only a small number of teams this season without a rushing touchdown (Tillamook and Star City are the other two), the season seems to be needing to come to an end as quickly as possible.

The defence has also begun to struggle over the last couple of weeks, linebacker Paul Quick, who was leading the tackle count across the league a couple of weeks ago, has now dropped off and unless there is a miracle tackle count in the final two games of the season, it looks likely that no Lions player will reach 100 tackles this season, the first time it has happened for the franchise. The defence will have to be on their best this week, as the Lions head away for the final time this season to face the playoff-bound Nice Baguettes this week, who come into the game not only on the heels of finally securing a divisional title but on the back of a tough 1-point loss to the Soneros, after winning 6 straight previously.

The Baguettes have seen Breadrick Lepain reach 1000 rushing yards this season, one of only three so far, with Steven Alvarado being the best for the Lions, but only 54th in the league, and despite being given a clean bill of health, the team have opted to not activate him for the remaining two games of the season and bring him back at full health with a full off-season of training. Talk is that the likes of Alvarado and even Joseph Hoops are already being put through their paces with some off-season training whilst they finish off their respective rehabs from injury.

Nice have been one of the stories of the season, leading the league in completion percentage as well as Interceptions per game, off the back of another solid season by Robert Whitworth, who looks to be cruising towards a 3,000 yard season and maybe even 20 touchdowns (currently 5th in the league in touchdowns, Chacon is equal 11th with 11 touchdowns), and a defence that across the last seven games has only conceded on average 7.5 points per game and 8 interceptions in that same span. It could be a tough game for the Lions.

Game Prediction: This one could be more painful to watch for Lions fans. Maybe it’s time to play some actual Baguettes (actually, scratch that... they would win too).