The NRL is so crazy, I love it. Four weeks out from the Finals and Penrith Panthers coach Anthony Griffin is gone, which even though this news had been simmering away since pre-season, is still crazy af. The dramas between Griffin and Phil Gould don't concern me, neither do the reasons why Griffin got the flick, I'm only worried about what this means for a strong #KiwiNRL stable as they prepare to give the NRL Premiership a decent crack.

When I chuck on my #KiwiNRL hat, I immediately think of James Fisher-Harris and whether the new coach will have any impact on his rampant form this season. Cameron Ciraldo has been promoted from assistant coach to caretaker coach for the rest of the season and for the whole team, you'd assume that the continuity offered by Ciraldo coaching won't result in too many changes.

From the outside, Fisher-Harris seemed to blossom under Griffin this season after Griffin got his weird chopping and changing out of his system in the opening 10 rounds. Those opening rounds saw Fisher-Harris play edge to start with and then move into the middle later in the game, but ever since he's been named to start in the middle he has stamped his mark on any opposition forward pack.

Nothing should change here and with Reagan Campbell-Gillard returning from injury, the aggression offered by him and Fisher-Harris needs to be savoured. Then James Tamou and Trent Merrin balance this out with footwork and skill, giving the Panthers a low key awesome middle forward group but it all centres around keeping Fisher-Harris in the middle and playing him 50 minutes.

This will have some impact on what happens on the edges, where Corey Harawira-Naera has understandably fallen behind Viliame Kikau and Isaah Yeo. Understandably because those two are simply better than Harawira-Naera, but the Northland product has still enjoyed decent minutes off the bench, on an edge in recent weeks. Yeo can slide into the middle for example and Harawira-Naera has also been used through the middle this season.

Regardless of how Harawira-Naera is used off the bench, coach Ciraldo will hopefully view him as being a mandatory selection in the top-17. Harawira-Naera has a touch of flair to go with a rugged work ethic and his versatility can be an asset in Finals footy as the Panthers can absorb any situation.

Also appearing to thrive under Griffin this season has been hooker Sione Katoa, who replaced Peter Wallace and then leveled up with every 80 minute game he played. Katoa has proven himself to be the top dummy half at the club and capable of playing full games, but Ciraldo may wish to bring Wayde Egan into the mix. 

Egan doesn't have the all-round skill of Katoa or the physicality in his play, but Egan's quick out of dummy half and having that x-factor could be a a funky twist to the Panthers late in the season. Katoa has also played as a middle forward - testament to his defence and physicality - and we could see Katoa shifted around a bit, or his minutes sliced down to 60mins/game if Ciraldo wants more razzle dazzle late in games with Egan or Tyrone Peachey as a utility.

Griffin recently tinkered with the fullback position after Dallin Watene-Zelezniak earned a Kiwis call up at fullback through his form in that position for the Panthers. With Dylan Edwards out for the season via injury, Watene-Zelezniak was given the job and thrived in the #1 jersey, until Griffin moved Tyrone Peachey to the back and Watene-Zelezniak to wing.

I hope Watene-Zelezniak gets the fullback role again and much of this will depend on how Ciraldo views Peachey's role in his best 17. Peachey can play every position and fullback's a great role for him as he can pop up every where, add his spice into attacking moves and play with freedom. Whether Peachey can handle the workload or positioning that fullback requires is an interesting question though  and maybe having Peachey exert so much energy without the ball, doesn't get the best out of him with the footy in hand.

Watene-Zelezniak is more of a natural fullback, more athletic and with more experience catching bombs, chasing the footy around etc. This is only my personal #KiwiNRL bias, but I loved Watene-Zelezniak at fullback and if Penrith are going to go deep into the Finals, I reckon they need Watene-Zelezniak at the back and Peachey ... somewhere else.

This fullback convo could feature Caleb Aekins, if Ciraldo views him as a funky candidate. The third of the Panthers Northland trio, Aekins did make his debut earlier in the season and ran for 300m or something crazy, which only resulted in him losing the fullback gig to Watene-Zelezniak and Peachey. 

It's highly unlikely that Aekins is promoted this late in the season, I would however love to see the three Northlanders in the same Panthers team together for Finals footy. Aekins could jam fullback, Watene-Zelezniak stays on the wing and Peachey takes a bench utility spot. 

One thing is for sure and that's Dean Whare staying at centre. 

The most interesting thing for me to ponder is how Fisher-Harris and Katoa especially, have played great footy this season under Griffin. All the Panthers #KiwiNRL lads have been good this year, but Fisher-Harris and Katoa have gone nek level and while it looks like that's because of Griffin's coaching, it might not be. We'll find out in these coming weeks and maybe Fisher-Harris might level up again under coach Ciraldo and force his way into the Kiwis certainty category.

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Peace and love 27.