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Sammut winning acclaim
24 Apr 2008
By Nick Walshaw
PENRITH great Greg Alexander has called off the search - insist- ing livewire utility Jarrod Sammut can become a mainstay as the Panthers' No. 7.
Fresh from booting that golden field goal against Cronulla last Saturday, Sammut is now being hailed as much more than some Jason Akermanis lookalike.
"Oh, I think Jarrod can be a halfback long-term, definitely," Alexander enthuses. "Sure, he isn't the classic style of seven. Not yet anyway. But there's nothing to suggest he can't be.
"And, anyway, I like the way he mixes things up."
Boasting only 11 NRL games, Sammut has been pitched into the chief playmaker role ahead of hyped recruits Joe Williams, Richie Williams and Josh McCrone.
The club also chased, and missed, Canberra boy Todd Carney.
"We were certainly desperate for Jarrod to play the way he has been," continues Alexander, named halfback in the Panthers Team of Legends.
"And, so far, he hasn't done too many things wrong.
"But what I like most is that he's always involved. He has a good kicking and passing game, a unique style and is really enthusiastic.
"And that's what makes a guy like Johnathan Thurston so good. Watch how he's always in the game, the bloke is never out of it."
Sammut exploded into the NRL last winter in a whirl of blond hair, AFL comparisons and exhilarating play.
And despite weighing just 75kg, the Blacktown boy has quickly transformed from road gang worker to Panthers cult figure.
It's been a meteoric rise for the utility whose biggest claim to fame, until August last year, was a handful of appearances for emerging nation Malta.
"So the biggest challenge for him right now is to continue developing his game," Alexander says.
"Right now he's playing naturally but he will need to develop into a halfback who can control the game.
"Because that's the mark of a true number seven. When that spark is needed, you're the one who provides it."...
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