It may have been an ugly finish, but the Lions got the victory over the Corpses, defeating them 6-0 off the back of two solid field goals from Jeffery Paz was all the difference as the Lions got off the mark this season and avoid the disaster that a winless season would likely bring to the franchise. Despite the lack of points in the game, the Lions can take positives from the game, they were pretty close on a lot of stats with the Corpses, the issue is at the moment getting the offence firing on all cylinders, with Penrith again on the wrong side of the time of possession clock, with the Corpses holding the ball for nearly 8 minutes longer, and while they seemingly were unable to do anything with that advantage, if the Lions are going to be competitive, the possession clock needs to be much closer, or even in the Lions favour.

Quarterback Joe Chacon again had an alright performance, going 21/41 with another 146 yards, and even seeing the sacks lower than Week 1, only getting sacked 3 times, but without a touchdown pass, questions may be raised if this offense can take the next step this season. Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was asked about the offence and how it is trying to click into gear, and whether this is systematic of an issue with the roster and the team this season:-

“Honestly speaking, we are in a fine position. The team has the support of the ownership group and the board. I have regular conversations with the owner, and we are both frank about how we see the team. We always knew that this season was going to be almost a transitional one, one where we would find the wins hard to come by, especially with our schedule and the strong teams that we do play throughout the season, as well as the competitive nature of even our own division. The football operations report made that clear, and we are all aware of it. The whole roster is playing their hearts out there, they are not leaving a single ouch of blood, sweat and tears out there on the field. The results will come, I have the drive to see this project through, end of discussion”.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions, as they face off against the Zena Soneros this week, who come into the game with a perfect 2-0 record so far, and a 31-6 dismantling of the Cape Town Rhinos last week. With 28 unanswered points during the second and third quarters, the game was all but over once Rhinos kicker finally managed to get some additional points on the board. Quarterback Napoleon Whitmore was actually quiet in the game for a change, only with 85 yards, and two interceptions, but it was the rest of the offense that was able to get the points on the board, with three rushing touchdowns from Angelo Canales, Ursula Cruz and Roy McVay, while the defense was there at every opportunity and pretty much smothered the Rhinos, forcing them into three straight 3-and-out drives and managing well over 10 minutes more possession, something they have been solid at doing so far this season.

When seeing the schedule this season, many reporters put this game straight down as a loss for the Lions. There is not just a gap between the quality of these two teams, but it’s the size of the Grand Canyon. An offense and defense that can fire straight up and be on the ball from the opening play, compared to a team that is once again in a transitional year with so many aspects, and seemingly has not found the direction it needs, or at least has a small inkling of the direction but needs the find the way through the woods to get to the main road in order to get back on track with the dream of lifting that trophy at the end of the season.

Penrith head into the game with only one minor injury concern, and that being defensive tackle Clarence Hoff, who will miss with a small foot complaint, something that while it didn’t keep him out of the game, it will be something that will be monitored by the doctors this week, but it is likely that he will hold his spot and be able to play. A fitness test was also done on Joseph Thornton this week, which he failed, so he will sit out at least this week, with rookie Brent Witkowski coming back into the active roster to take his spot. Other than that, the Lions are surprisingly in a good position when it comes to the roster, a stark contrast to the manner in which the Lions are performing on the field.

Game Prediction: Despite the win, we can’t honestly see the Lions winning this one. Let’s just hope they put up a solid performance like they did in Week 1 and keep the Soneros honest and avoid running the score up.

Like Week 1, the Lions suffered a loss, but unlike Week 1, this one was nowhere near competitive. The Soneros ran riot over the Lions, 14 unanswered points and five forced 3-and-out drives to start thew game before the Lions managed anything on the board, and it just happened to be a clean 24-yard touchdown pass for Larry Larson, the first touchdown for Joe Chacon this season. Besides that, it was all one-way running for the Soneros as they piled on the misery for the Lions fans, who sat there and watched another loss by the Lions, leaving them with a 1-2 record this season, but that the home record is still looking respectable, at 24-18 so far in the team’s history.

In his first matchup against the Lions since the blockbuster trade back in 2023, Napoleon Whitmore showed clearly why he was not only the Lions’ first pick in the foundation draft, but why the Soneros paid as much as they did for him, going 28/45 with 254 yards, and despite four sacks on the day, it was clearly his offense and clearly Zena’s day on the field. Zena dominated every aspect, pushing the Lions to try almost anything, which didn’t seem to do much, with the Soneros holding the ball for nearly three full quarters, they just punished a team that is clearly down on its luck. Nothing went right for the Lions, as they suffered the defeat and looked a shell of their former self, with many wondering if this rebuild/transitional year is going to put the Lions further behind.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was looking at the positives still, rather than the scoreline:-

“We put 7 points on them, it’s a difficult task on a good day to face off against the Soneros, they are a strong outfit, and they clearly showed us the high calibre of offence and defence that they have. It’s no surprise that many have put them up there to make the title game, or at least to go quite deep into the postseason, and when you can see their results so far this season, where they have just pounded the opposition into submission, giving up a touchdown or less so far, it’s a clear indication that they are up there at the top for a reason and that we have a very long road ahead of us to get to that stage. We aren’t saying that it was a bad defeat, but we learnt a lot about ourselves and our roster and the way that we play the game. We will get better, it’s a long process, but we will get there”

It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions, as they face off against the also undefeated Forbidden City Dragons, who come into the game off the back of three of their own best performances, almost gliding through them all, giving up only 6 points total this season, 3 of them against North York last week in a 20-3 demolition job. Many earlier in the season questioned the decision to trade away two solid first round selections for rookie quarterback Harry Du Bois, but the naysayers have got to be eating their words now, another solid performance from him, with 141 yards and a touchdown to boot, sitting equal third in touchdowns this season and with 331 yards to his name in just his short career, meanwhile Joe Chacon is all manner of struggling this season, second worse in sacks (only behind Tokyo’s Tiberius Shambles) with a solitary touchdown to his name, the wonder that the Lions are preserving with him is starting to get some people wondering if they should be trading him away to get some picks, or just pushing through with this “transitional” season in the hopes of a high enough draft pick that they can pick up a solid quarterback in the draft to build a new roster around.

With a defense that is at the moment, averaging 43.6 tackles per game (compared to the Lions who are at 60.6), the Lions defence could make this a slightly respectable scoreline, but many are already giving this victory to the Dragons, who could as some have put it this week, play the second string side and still come away with a victory, while the Lions will find the offensive struggles come to light once more. They will have to do this without Michael Frank, who has been ruled out this week with a knee injury, however, the positives are that it will likely only be a 2-week rest for his, while wide receiver Joseph Thornton has again been ruled out with persistent symptoms from a knock he received a training a couple of weeks ago.

The Lions can, however, look beyond this week and see maybe a slightly kinder schedule coming up, with Tokyo after this one, but then with the improvement that both Porth Emmett and Cape Town have been showing this season, it could be a few weeks between drinks for the Lions faithful,

Game Prediction: Another loss, and unlike the others, the Dragons are bound to run the score up on this one. They are just too strong. Let’s hope for some competition, and not just a training run for the Dragons.

The Lions have slayed the Dragon!

That’s right. The Lions defeated Forbidden City on the weekend, an exciting 20-13 victory in front of nearly 50,000 fans at The Lions Den. Despite an absolute onslaught from the Dragons defence, the Lions held strong and managed two crucial touchdowns late in the third quarter to take the lead and were then able to put their own defence on show and limit the Dragons to a punt and a turnover on downs, despite a 14-play 69-yard drive, the Lions held strong and kept the Dragons from managing a come-from-behind victory.

Quarterback Joe Chacon threw what could have been his best game this season, 272 yards and without a single sack. With the single interception late on in the second quarter being the only real blemish on the game for him, and with 117 of those yards coming through the hands of Larry Larson, who is quickly becoming a superstar on the Lions roster following his earlier release from Tokyo and subsequently joining the Lions off waivers. Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was almost giddy with joy at the win, but stayed composed and talked about how they may have managed to cause one of the upsets of the season:-

“Look, we just played our game out there. Nothing against the Dragons, they are a strong side, one of the form teams in the league at this moment, and they played their guts out there today, from start to finish. They are not a team to be ignored, and today was their day as much as it was ours, and our guys wanted it more and were able to execute the game plan we wanted to run out on the field today and we were able to understand what they were up to and make the changes on the field to get the scores on the scoreboard that mattered the most. Fair play to them, they gave us a very big scare early on in the game, but we came back strong, and I think that the connections our guys have made over the last four weeks are starting to pay off. It will leave us in a good position moving forward”.

The Lions now head off to play that very team, the Tokyo Revolver for their first encounter, and will look to make it two in a row, and with the Revolver sitting at 0-4 already, with a league low 3 points on offence, and now three straight shutouts, the fact of it will simply be this week, by how much will the Lions win by. Tokyo have suffered with letting in 123 points over the last three games, an average of 41 points a game, whilst the Lions are only averaging 12 points per game (they are scoring on average 11 points per game in those same three games). If any game could be any “easier” as some punters have put it for the Lions to get themselves a win, this game is one of them.

The Lions will have to go into the game without Eugene Perry, the cornerback has a slight hand issue and the team have opted to hold him over from the game as a precaution, with Earl Chamberland coming back into the active roster. Running Back Leonel Burke has also been made inactive for the game with a slight ankle concern but looks likely to be able to return to full training next week, with the team opting to make a more protected manner to look after his injury concern, with the running back also suffering an injury on the same ankle back in 2023 with Stockholm.

With many thinking that at this point, the Lions would be at 0-4, but instead are now sitting second in the division and at 2-2, it could be seen as a successful opening month to the season, but with some tough games to come up, the Lions need the wins when they can get them, even if they come at the expense of a team that has scored a solitary 6 points across their own first four games, and with a quarterback that has been sacked 59 times already this season, well over three times more than Chacon so far this season, a defence that is looking like leaking more than the Titanic, and with errors across the whole field, the Lions could come away with an easy victory, or the worse display between matches in what could be league history.

Game Prediction: Confident in saying this one, a second straight victory for the Lions coming up. Tokyo are just not with it at the moment.

PENRITH, NSW – The Penrith Lions have made a roster move following the completion of Week 5 of the season.

The Lions have placed DT Paul Payne on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. This is following extensive discussions with the medical staff as well as doctors at Nepean Hospital, and to allow Paul the best opportunity to recover in a controlled environment.

The Lions now have a spare roster spot which they can fill at any time. At the moment, the Lions have not made a corresponding roster move and will head into Week 6 with a roster of 52.

Penrith managed the victory against Tokyo, but ended up allowing Tokyo to double their points total so far this season, in one game. A 15-6 victory with the Lions was what they needed to keep their season on the right track, now sitting at 3-2, they can look towards the positives that even a victory like this can bring. The confidence that the season, no matter how it ends, has seen positives such as these victories. Unlike the win against the Dragons, quarterback Joe Chacon threw for another 328 yards, but being sacked 12 times, was just a massive worry for the franchise, however, they can take the positives of seeing the defence not only intercept Tiberius Shambles late in the second quarter, but they also sacked him a grand total of 17 times.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was confident that a mismatch of a game, with the offensive struggles, but solid defense, was still seeing the positives and the upwards trajectory that the Lions can be on heading into the remainder of the season:-

“We had an alright game; it wasn’t our best, but we will take the victory. Nothing against Tokyo, but we took this game just like any other game, regardless of what season records may show. We aren’t talking about taking any game lightly, or taking any team we face for granted, we want to fight each and every single play, every drive and for every single minute of the whole game. If we start taking opponents for granted, thinking that just because they are 0-5 and we are 2-3 that we are just going to win regardless, then that is when our gameplan goes straight out the window, and we get too cocky. We don’t want that, nor do we play like that. We want to play our brand of football, and it will get there throughout this season, and we are going to keep on pushing forward to achieve our goals and dreams, not just for ourselves, but for this franchise, and for our fans and the community.”

The Lions have a chance to focus on their next opponent, the undefeated Porth Emmett Auctioneers, who come into the game off the back of a tight 9-3 victory over the Reasonable Lengths and will look to keep the undefeated streak on for another week, while the Lions will look to bounce back and also score a victory over Porth Emmett for the first time since 2022. Much like the Lions, the Auctioneers have struggled with their offense, managing three field goals in their victory, as well as struggles with quarterback Clifford Blake, with only 93 passing yards, his second straight match with less than 100 yards, and his third without a touchdown. The Lions haven’t fared that much better, with Chacon only managing three touchdowns and sitting second in the sack race, having been sacked now a total of 28 times, something that has seen the worries with the Lions grow each week.

Despite this, team ownership has the confidence of the staff and roster and is confident of the ongoing improvements and rebuilding phases that the Lions are going through. In a statement issued earlier this week, they made it clear that the coaching staff lead by Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was the man to take the team forward and would be sticking with him and sticking with the long term building program that they have implemented.

The Lions, did, however, also announce that Paul Payne would be shut down for the rest of the season with a nasty neck injury, and upon advice from doctors and specialists, he will be put on the injured reserve list. Penrith also released several players including WR Joseph Thornton following the additions of several new faces, mainly on the offensive line, with a focus to bolstering the offensive line, and will need help, especially following the decision that guard Dirk Shafter missing this game against Porth Emmett as he was placed into concussion protocols and will be evaluated later next week.

The Lions may struggle in more games this season, but with ongoing improvements in the rebuilding plan, and with the long-term focus being on a sustainable franchise that can compete with the best of the best, it is games like this coming up that will really be the test, regardless of the results that may come. No matter what, fans should be ready for some lean times, some tough times, and more defeats, but that short term pain is good for long term success.

Game Prediction: Nah, it ain’t going to be three in a row.