NRL News Rugby League

Pressure on Craig Gower Mounting

As the men from Penrith struggle with 2 back to back lossess - the Penrith Panthers supporters have turned nasty on the teams website. It seems fans are unhappy with the form of Gower at the start of 2007 and believe the talented Penrith halfback's heart may not really be in it for his club anymore. The Panthers Interactive website has had many posts specifically about Gower, his current form and the halfbacks approach to NRL in the past season.

After an off field incident earlier this year and last years Pearce family disaster - Craig Gower had the Penrith captaincy taken away from him and many believe this has seen the drop in form and subsequent loss of interest from the no. 7

It's never easy for the headline players to constantly face the scrutiny of fans and media when their team is losing, but Craig Gower can thank the Roosters for taking the limelight away from him and the Panthers. The winless Roosters again came up without the goods in Canberra, after being torn apart by the boom youngster Todd Carney.

Gower has faced all this before, and it may be a case of water off a ducks back - but Penrith must be flush with cash to spend under the salary cap and it will be interesting to follow developments in this area as the year progresses. If Craig really isn't happy doing what he is doing, we may see some mid season movement at Penrith, which only a few weeks ago seemed a happy and cheerful place under Matt Elliot after some nice wins. Once again, just a week of football can change it all - as it really is such a long time.

Stay tuned later tonight, as NRL News examines the team line ups and reports on who's in and who's out.

NRL News