The Panthers lack confidence and timing.
For a club that has won four consecutive premierships and boasts the NRL’s best halfback and game manager, that’s a tough thing to accept. But according to Nathan Cleary, they are the qualities Penrith have been missing through the first four rounds of 2025.
The victory over the Sharks in Las Vegas remains their only win of the year so far. Three defeats since then and 118 points already conceded represents the Panthers’ worst start to a season since 2016.
But Cleary, who returns this week after sitting out for the mandatory 11-day spell after suffering a concussion against Melbourne, insists it’s not time to hit the panic button.
“I think it’s easy to think over this period where we’ve had success that it’s just been smooth sailing, that it’s been perfect,” Cleary said. “It really hasn’t. It’s been lots of ups and downs through the seasons and even through games, really.
“I think we’ve had performances like we’ve had in the last few weeks, but we’ve scraped away and won them in the past, so maybe that’s been a little bit different. But I don’t think it’s really panic stations or anything like that.
Nathan Cleary leaves the field after suffering a concussion against Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images
“There’s sort of that anxiety and that tenseness there because everyone cares so much, and that’s an important thing. If it was the other way around and people were blasé about it, I think that’s a much harder thing to turn around that sort of the technical stuff.”
How does one of the best sides in the game’s history rediscover their mojo? Simple: they win.
The hard part is that it takes confidence to win games, and it takes winning games to find confidence.
The solution is a combination of tightening the defence back up to premiership-winning standard and knowing when to pull the trigger in attacking plays, says Cleary.
“It’s definitely [defence] not where we want it to be,” Cleary says. “I wouldn’t say it’s [just] the defensive system … it’s sort of more coming up with the right play at the right time, we’re just missing that at the moment, and maybe a bit of lack of confidence, but it’s easy to turn that around. I just have full faith in our team and the players in it that we’ll be right.”
The loss of Cleary’s lost long-term halves partner Jarome Luai – a player Cleary called the “premier five-eighth in the game” – to the Tigers at the end of last season didn’t help matters.
Rising star Blaize Talagi is earmarked as the club’s long-term five-eighth, but coach Ivan Cleary has deemed the summer recruit not yet ready for the NRL. Jack Cole has taken up the No. 6 jumper in the meantime.
Cleary urged people to be patient with Talagi – a little short-term pain for long-term gain – and said the 20-year-old was destined to play in the halves.
“He definitely thinks like a spine player [Talagi], and I think it’s just a bonus that he’s able to fill in in these other positions,” Cleary said.
Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler.Credit: Instagram
“Because, as the cliché goes, he’s just a natural footy player. He understands the game really well, so I think long-term definitely the spine.”
The Panthers play the Cowboys in Parramatta at 6pm on Friday night, just two hours before Cleary’s girlfriend Mary Fowler steps out at Allianz Stadium to play in the Matildas’ friendly against South Korea.
Cleary will miss the match, but said he would try to make the second leg of the double-header in Newcastle on Monday.
“It’s just too close in between, but I’ll try to get up to Newcastle on Monday night for the game … It feels like a little refresh whenever I get to see her, and I’m definitely grateful for it.”
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