The Lions have fallen hard, and a loss to a previously 0-win team, a loss this time to the Cape Town Rhinos 18-6, with the Lions falling to 1-4 on the season and the season looks almost dead and buried and many wondering if the ownership is too late to make a change, or that the change needs to happen now, but the ownership this week has been nothing but quiet, with the only statement coming out saying the simplest of things:

“James Jennings is our coach, end of story”

The Lions will now head off to Newcastle to face the North Eastern Terriers, who are also sitting at 1-4 and are coming off a heavy 41-8 defeat at the hands of the Batman Robins. The Terriers, sitting 24th in the rankings for passing yards, and 28th in rushing yards (compared to the Lions who are 11th in passing yards and last in rushing yards), the game is looking like a game where it could come down to one or two plays. Both quarterbacks are sitting around 65-70% pass completion on the season, but just both seem to be struggling to get the points on the board, with a total of 4 touchdowns between them, when last season, it was 22.

Speaking at the weekly press conference; Head Coach James Jennings was asked countless questions about his coaching future and whether he would in fact see out the season, but about how they would focus their attention to the quarterbacks:

“We have to look now, each week, at the advantages and disadvantages of our roster and of the opponent’s roster and keep working our gameplans to make sure that we can do as best as we can and go out there for the 60 minutes and try to win a football game. There is no way that at any point in this season, regardless of how it plays out, that we will not keep on fighting every single game and fighting for every win that we can get, this season is not over yet”

Heading into a tough set of games coming up, the Lions need a hard-fought victory, or any victory for that fact. They need to get a whole lot better in a lot of areas, the run game needs to upgrade itself, the aerial game needs major improvements, the defence struggles are real again, the only thing that seems to be working somewhat fine is the special teams, with punter Jeff Robinson sitting 12th in punting yards (and fourth best in average punt yards) meanwhile kicker Jeffery Paz having knocked over all four of his extra points but sitting with a 45% average in his field goals.

The Lions have got to get the offence and defense working again, otherwise, this season will be well and truly gone if they can’t defeat a fellow 1-win team this week, and with two strong games coming up against both Montevideo and Stockholm (along with tough games against Forbidden City and Entebbe), it could be a very tough set of games for the Lions, that could be just that little tougher if they can’t get this win.

INJURY REPORT

Many are questioning why Andrew Robertson was rushed back so quickly, with the defensive tackle again on the injury books, this time with his right ankle causing more problems, and the medical staff are confirming that he will face at least the next three to four weeks off. Defensive End Joseph Hoops is looking at also sitting out three weeks with an ankle injury, meanwhile Keith Gannon will miss at least this week, maybe a second with an arm complaint.

The Lions will welcome back both rookie players in Paul Buckley and Paul Townsend, who have both been passed fit and will come right back in, while both Albert Espinoza and David Lawrence will miss out this week.

Game Prediction: Terriers win this one, by 7 points.

“You would think that after the 25-13 victory last week against the Terriers, that the Lions would have the momentum swinging back to them, but then you look at the calendar and realise that they are coming up against a Montevideo team that was robbed last year and is looking for redemption against the whole league and is so far… undefeated this season”

That was comments made by our sports reporter in Dominic Wilson this week, and we have to consider that the victory against North Eastern was just a blip on the radar, and that the losing ways will return to the Lions. While the Lions were finally able to get something on the ground, it came at a time when the game was all but won for them. The Lions once again struggled, managing a poor 58 rushing yards, and while the offence under Napoleon Whitmore was much better (32/48, 255 yards), it may be the first step that the Lions are taking to get things back on track, because the run game is as good as useless this year.

Speaking to the media this week, Head Coach James Jennings was adamant that the Lions have turned a corner and despite some tough matchups coming in the next few weeks, that they would be better in the long term for the challenges they are facing:

”We know that the next few weeks, many in the media have already written us off, that we have no hope in getting anything from these games, but the whole team is not seeing it that way. We know that we have a challenge each and every single week, but that will not stop us from going out there week in and week out and trying our hardest, giving 110% for the whole game, right until the final whistle”

The Lions are going to struggle this week, the Screamers are coming into the game with the top rated rushing offence, they lead the league in rushing touchdowns per game and they give up basically nothing to he opposition. They also have the second most points scored in the whole league, only behind the Bullfighters, and have put up on average 30 points over the last three weeks, while limiting the opposition to an average of 9 points in the same timeframe (8.8 over the whole season so far). Montevideo are also fifth when it comes to yards from scrimmage (352.5 yards per game) whilst only giving up 258.7 yards per game, which is just slightly over what the Lions get on average each game, so everything leans towards the Screamers winning this one, the only question left to answer is… by how much???

Game Prediction: Screamers winning this one in a canter, by 21 points (or more)

The Lions season just goes from bad to worse, with the Lions suffering a demoralizing 33-3 shellacking at the hands of the undefeated Montevideo Screamers, with the Lions seemingly not even putting up a fight, going down 20-0 after three quarters, and seeing only a 52-yard field goal the only resistance that they put up. The Lions saw their opening seven drives resulting in just punts and a fumble, even Napoleon Whitmore not able to put up anything, going 24/33 for only 174 yards, with many wondering if the Lions can even put up with him for the remainder of the season, or if a change needs to happen.

The Lions just had no options against the Screamers, quarterback Shaun Dial throwing for over 200 yards, and even seeing second string fullback Jeffrey Payton getting more rushing yards (12) than the entire Lions team. The Lions have struggled all season with the run game and with only 12 rushing attempts, it was evident that the Lions have all but given up on the run game this season, many wondering if the whole offense has been decimated and made worse than it was last year, and with the trade deadline coming up, there could be major changes coming to the Lions, or it could just the beginning of the rebuild for next season.

Speaking after the game, Team Owner Leam Mark Farrar spoke about how the team will face the coming eight weeks, with the team languishing towards the bottom of the division and the conference:

“Yes, we have struggled this year. We have gone backwards, we know that. It is not easy to sit here week in and week out and see how things are going, but we are not giving up on it, we are not giving up on this season, and we will also start building for next season. We have plans in place, and I am sure that all of our teams and staffs will be working on those plans, not just for the last eight games, but for next season. We will be better for this season.”

It doesn’t get any easier for the Lions, as they head back home and welcome the defending champions to town, with the North Stars looking to end a two-game losing streak and get their season back into the right direction. Stockholm also struggled the last couple of weeks and will look to use the struggling rushing attack of the Lions to their advantage and will look to push the Lions further into the doldrums and put more pressure on the ownership to make a change somewhere. Even with the North Stars finding very little to get excited about last week, a 31-3 defeat to the Soneros, they still came out of the game with almost as many passing yards as the Soneros, but seemingly made issues converting their drives, but so have the Lions.

Speaking to the media this week, Head Coach James Jennings was supportive of the team moving forward and was just focused solely on each week, rather than what the season outcome was going to be:

“We can’t control what happens in the 15 other games each week, we can only control what we have going on in our game. We will keep on fighting each and every week and going out there for the whole 60 minutes and making sure that, no matter what the result comes out to be, that we keep on fighting for every yard, every point and that we do not let the opposition know that they might view us on the schedule in the second half of the season and think of it as an easy victory, because we will not let them have that mentality”

The Lions will need to bring whatever is meant to be their A-game back to the field if they are to stand a chance, but it seems unlikely that it will happen, the Lions are looking like a squad that has been depleted beyond recognition and may as well just begin planning for next season, and use the remaining time this season to give some of the fringe players some playing time in readiness for next year, and with the trade deadline fast approaching, maybe look at being an active player and getting resources into the roster for the offseason, which will come much sooner than planned this season.

INJURY REPORT

The Lions will be without Luis Walsh again for at least the next two weeks after the veteran cornerback suffered a knee sprain, which hampered his production towards the end of the game with Montevideo. They will also have to do without David Ramsey for possibly a month, after the rookie again found himself coming off, this time with a foot complaint, but doctors have assured the guard that it is not related to his ankle sprain back in the preseason.

The only other concerns on the injury front are with Andrew Robertson and Keith Gannon, but both seem to be on track to return in a week or two and are tracking well in their recovery.


Game Prediction: Stockholm to win this one easy, 14 points.

PENRITH, NSW - Prior to the trade deadline, the Lions have made moves to acquire draft picks in the upcoming draft.

With mere hours before the trade deadline, the Penrith Lions have begun to make some moves, first by trading draft picks to the Dutch Prodigies. The Lions have given up a fifth-round selection in the 2024 draft in exchange for a sixth and seventh-round selection. This gives the seven selections in the upcoming draft, which include three first-round selections.

General Manager Todd Carlton talked about the draft selection trade and how it will affect the team moving forward for the remainder of the season

"Having further selections, no matter where they are in the draft gives us more opportunities to find the players that we are looking for to build our roster for next season and beyond, that is how we are looking at it. We see the draft as a fluid thing that we can build around each season. If we hold these picks into the draft or use them in other ways during the offseason to bring in more picks, or players, then that is the way we go with them. We have multiple plans moving forward and we hope that we can improve our team in multiple ways".

The team will look to potentially make further changes, with the trade deadline coming very quickly.

PENRITH, NSW - In a massive trade, going down just moments before the trade deadline, the Lions have traded away a future star quarterback for more draft selections.

The Penrith Lions have decided to move on from Napoleon Whitmore, by trading him away to a contender, the Zena Soneros in exchange for first-round selections in the 2024 and 2025 drafts, boosting the Lions to now holding four first-round selections, the most of any team over the next two drafts.

In making this move, the Soneros have sent across quarterback Harry Abney, who will be looking to fight for the starting quarterback for the team moving forward, and with William Brown also on the roster, the fight will be there for them both to battle. Some may question the decision to trade away a proven commodity in Whitmore, even with the results that the team has had this season, but also in acquiring additional picks for further moves to be made.

General Manager Todd Carlton talked about why the Lions opted to trade Whitmore away and take in the draft picks and how the Lions will be taking on the rest of the season:

"We are fully aware that some might think that we have just given away the castle for a pack of magic beans, but we felt at the time that the offer was a good one, that we were getting something in return that we can be happy with over the course of this season and we have the draft picks heading into the offseason, so we can be confident that we can take on the draft picks, as we want to look not only towards the rest of this season but for future seasons and we feel that our decisions are right for us and we are right in thanking Napoleon for his service over the last season and a bit and we look forward to seeing how he goes.".

With the trade deadline now closed, the Lions head into the 2024 draft with 8 overall selections including four first-round selections, those being their own pick, and picks from Stockholm, Cheesy Philly and now Zena as well as a second-round selection from Porth Emmett and a sixth-round and seventh-round selection from the Prodigies, to go alongside their own seventh-round selection.

[PLACEHOLDER FOR DRAGONS PREVIEW]

Game Prediction: Dragons by 21 points, maybe more. Let's just hope to avoid a blowout score.