The ramifications of one intercept try certainly cut deep, don’t they?
After being in the top two for most of the season, Penrith’s hopes of playing a home Final have faded at the last minute as a result of back-to-back defeats against Melbourne and Canberra.
The Panthers now find themselves in fourth spot and with destiny no longer in their hands as far as a home Final is concerned.
But I suspect coach Ivan Cleary has bigger things to worry about, as his cryptic but deliberate press conference earlier this week suggested.
His main focus will be getting his side’s confidence back up and the players focused for these two final regular season games against South Sydney and Gold Coast.
On paper they both should be comfortable wins but Penrith’s form has been far from superb of late, so you’d have to consider both danger games to some degree.
This is perhaps Cleary’s biggest challenge of the five-year run at the pointy end of the table, though he may argue the 2021 preparation – with all that was going on behind the scenes – was more turbulent.
There is no question the Panthers have not been in this position form-wise at any stage of the Premiership run. As Cleary himself said last week, there’s been times in the last few years when the side has been almost twiddling its thumbs, waiting for the Finals to start. This time around, he has some work on his hands.
Of course we all know that the side will look different in week one of the Finals.
Nathan Cleary will be back and it’ll be pretty much a full-strength team that runs out for that game.
But a lot can be done in the next two weeks, starting on Friday night, to have the team in the right headspace ahead of the biggest games of the season.
The first thing Cleary needed to do was settle his backline. He’s brought back Sunia Turuva and named Paul Alamoti in the centres.
Barring injury or suspension, that needs to be the line-up moving forward. No more tinkering at such a crucial stage of the season.
Next up will be getting in the heads of Jarome Luai and Brad Schneider to ensure there’s no hangover from the performance against the Raiders last week. Both were probably guilty of trying too hard, while in Schneider’s case he was targeted all day – no easy thing to deal with when you’ve been in and out of first grade.
Luai is a confidence player. When he’s on, he’s on. When he’s a little off, he can become trigger happy and off on his own tangent, which makes Penrith’s attack sluggish and clunky.
I suspect Cleary may have pushed for a reset across the board this week. Forget the last fortnight, forget home Finals and top four, just focus on winning.
South Sydney were gallant but generally disappointing against Newcastle last Saturday night and have reached the point of the season where all out of contention teams end up. Namely, preparing for a holiday.
Cam Murray’s failed attempt to have a high tackle charge downgraded at the judiciary on Tuesday night probably put the red felt tip pen through Souths this weekend.
I’ve been wrong a few times this year with outlandish predictions at the end of these previews, but I actually think Penrith have a point to prove this week – and that’s not a position they’ve been in for a while.
I’m tipping they’ll put the foot down and get the job done comfortably.
Tip: Panthers by 24.
Penrith and Souths play at BlueBet Stadium on Friday, August 30 from 8pm. The game is live on Nine, Fox League and Kayo.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.