Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has dismissed suggestions the loss of two assistant coaches and two senior players at the end of the season means the club’s premiership window is closing, declaring: “It’s not all about one game or one year, it’s about sustained success.”
Should the Panthers go back-to-back against Parramatta on Sunday night, few will be prepared to write them off in their quest for a title ‘three-peat’ next year, which has not been done since the star-studded Eels sides of the early 1980s. But the club and senior coach face some real challenges.
Cleary was not looking beyond Sunday night, but said his team was ready and determined to send departing players Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau – and his trusty assistants Cameron Ciraldo and Andrew Webster – out in style.
“As with every year, the situation changes, circumstances change, each year you won’t have the same group together and, of course, we have some really valued members and a lot of talented people leaving our team,” Cleary said on Saturday.
“We want to make sure we enjoy our little time together the next couple of days and have a good performance on Sunday night. Those guys [Ciraldo and Webster] are off to fulfil their dreams, which is fantastic. We’ll have one last ride and make sure we’re prepared – [which] we are – and we’ll enjoy the next few days.”
Co-captain Isaah Yeo told The Sun-Herald in the days after last year’s premiership victory his club had youth on its side, a familiarity with each other’s playing styles and superstar Nathan Cleary, three reasons that would help them remain on top for years to come.
Jarome Luai looked relaxed at Saturday’s captain’s runCredit:Rhett Wyman/SMH
This week Yeo said the Panthers’ pre-season goal was to play in another grand final, and their roster was much healthier heading into the decider this time around.
The Panthers could not have looked more relaxed as they walked the Accor Stadium turf after lunch for Saturday’s captain’s run. Most of the players were barefoot, Stephen Crichton wore headphones, Jaeman Salmon checked his phone, while Jarome Luai had sunglasses on his forehead.
They will spend Saturday night at the neighbouring Pullman Hotel, and while a dance festival blared at the nearby showgrounds all night, the noise could not be heard inside their rooms.
The Panthers have already won the Jersey Flegg, SG Ball and NSW Cup competitions, and victory on Sunday would give them an unprecedented four titles in four grades.
Questions were asked how they could cope without Matt Burton and Kurt Capewell, who left at the end of last year, but they brought through Izack Tago and Taylan May.
Pressed on whether the Panthers could win on Sunday and then eye Parramatta’s title three-peat in 1981-83, Yeo said: “I definitely won’t say anything about beyond this year. But I do feel like the club itself is in a really good position at the minute.
“We’ve had success in the lower grades, the NSW Cup guys do a lot of training with us and the guys are in our squad.
“I feel like all the hard work that’s gone into it the past five or six years to get to this point is starting to show, and we definitely don’t take it for granted. All the players are in career-best form, and whether it’s the right age, right amount of experience or right amount of big games they’ve played in, it feels like that’s started to show the past year or two.
“It was definitely a goal to get to this point. You understand where you might sit as a team through the competition. We felt we had an opportunity to be at the top and make another grand final. That was discussed at the start of the pre-season. You need luck along the way, but we felt like we had the team and systems to do it, it was just up to us to go out there and do it.”
Nathan Cleary and Dylan Edwards enjoy the Panthers’ barefoot captain’s run on Saturday at Accor Stadium.Credit:Rhett Wyman/SMH
Thoughts about going back to back for Yeo started in November when he resumed training on his own.
“Once you’re back into training individually before coming in and joining the group, that’s the motivation you’re after,” Yeo said this week.
“We hadn’t experienced what it felt like to win a grand final. That success is so much fun. At the same time, we understand how hard it is to get to that position and how much works goes into it.
“I feel like we’re a team that embraces that work, and we’ve given ourselves every chance this year to be a part of it again.
“This year it feels like we’re copping teams’ best performances, particularly early in games. But this time around we haven’t had as many injuries, which has helped us with being able to rest guys. We’re healthier than we were last year, which is a good thing.”
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