I think most forums will be having that opinion come up since our tidy sort-out of the Phins
They are also really down on their own team right now, starting to turn on Foz a bit ect. I think they are just cutting wrists a bit over there, frustrated, losing faith and maybe throwing in the towel. We do the same here when thinks aren't working. Having the wood over them the last 5 years or so probably doesn't feel them with confidence either (like when we play the Panthers or previously Brisbane & Manly).
But scoring 50+ to nill is a rare event in NRL, no matter how good your team is and how good your form and motivation is it's a bit of a freak event. And as a team you really wanna back up that sort of performance in the games that follow otherwise it just kinda stands out as an anomaly or a fluke.
One team has to turn up and play near perfectly and the other has to turn up and be pretty bad (which the Phins were after the first 15 mins) &/or have players out.
Don't get me wrong we were excellent against the Phins and deserved that scoreline but tt might be another 10+ years before the Sharkies put on another scoreline like that. Being a day game really helped too IMO, most NRL games are at night in less ideal conditions.
You have to have next to zero confidence in your teams defense and commitment to expect 50+ to be put on you. Even in the JMO era where missing tackles on our line was part of our mission statement I didn't go into most games expecting to get belted that badly.
Probably helped back then that our attack was half decent even if the D wasn't.
Even the Panthers have probably only done it a handful of times in the last 6 years while they dominated the competition and were winning premierships for laughs
My handful prediction was spot on. I did a google AI summary of Panthers 50+ point games since 2020. On average they did it less than once per season and this is the best team in the comp. Dogs game wasn't 50 points but a big margin and a genuine blow out scoreline
I also suspect that the opposition the Panthers came up against in the below games were likely traveling rather poorly form & fitness wise at that time the Panthers played them although not sure with Raiders and Rabbits as both teams finished in the 8 in the respective seasons
We played the Dolphins who were coming off a bunch of wins and being hyped as contenders but let's not pretend they didn't have a post Origin hangover and players missing on the day. Not our fault, play whats in front of us, we had a few out too and were up to the task
Even considering the introduction of VlandysBall in 2026 that the Sharks have put on three 50+ point winning games in a single season (which isn't over yet is kinda remarkable but also kinda not. The Titans and Tigers are the kinda cannon fodder teams that are always prime for a thrashing. No huge surprises. It's the Dolphins one no one saw coming
Panthers 50+ scorelines since 2020
- 2026: Round 5 vs. Melbourne Storm (Won 50-10)
- 2026: Round 14 vs. Wests Tigers (Won 68-0)
- 2023: Round 5 vs. Canberra Raiders (Won 53-12)
- 2021: Round 11 vs. South Sydney Rabbitohs (Won 56-12)
- 2020: Round 20 vs. Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (Won 42-0)
