'Want to get to the bottom of it' - Panthers could go overseas for treatment of Cleary's injury
It was a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury that kept star halfback Nathan Cleary out for a month, and his coach and dad Ivan…
After watching his team all but secure a spot in this year’s NRL finals series, Penrith coach Anthony Griffin admits he’s no idea how far his team can go in 2016.
The Panthers have emerged as this year’s premiership darkhorses after impressively disposing of the Wests Tigers 40-10 at Pepper Stadium on Friday night.
It was their third victory on the trot – all of which have produced at least 38 points – as well as their second biggest win over their neighbourhood rivals, leaving the Tigers’ finals hopes in tatters.
For Penrith, they are now three points ahead of the eighth-placed Gold Coast.
“It’s nice. We’re learning and we’ve improving at the right time of the year,” Griffin said post-game.
“I don’t know how far this run will go, but from being involved in the club at the moment, there’s that improvement there every week which is what you work for.”
Griffin said he was most pleased with a defence that limited the Tigers, who have scored at least 20 points in seven of their past eight games, to just ten points.
It was the Tigers’ lowest score in almost three months.
“Even though we probably had the game in hand, our defensive effort was as close to an 80-minute one that we’ve had. We’re learning,” he said.
“A few weeks ago, we might’ve lost control of that last 20 minutes. Even though it got a bit scrappy, we held our composure with the ball, and defensively.”
Skipper Matt Moylan steered clear of talking up his team’s finals chances.
“We’re just improving each week,” he said.
“The last month of footy we’ve improved and it’s been good to see. A lot of the players have matured from the start of the year. There’s a few that are starting to come into their own and it’s good to see.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
It was a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury that kept star halfback Nathan Cleary out for a month, and his coach and dad Ivan…
It comes after the NRL promised a crackdown on dissent towards the referees this week.
The Panthers halfback left the field after feeling soreness after what looked like an innocuous kick just minutes before the break and will be…
There was more than just pride lost for Jacob Kiraz after the Panthers halfback landed on his ankles, needing medical treatment for a few…
Nathan Cleary has left Penrith's 16-10 win over the Bulldogs before half time with a suspected reoccurrence of his hamstring injury, throwing Michael Maguire's…
It was a smart goal line drop-out from Nathan Cleary who caught his former teammate inside the 10 metres, kicking it straight into him…