Penrith coach Ivan Cleary expects Trent Hodkinson to be back firing at his best in Saturday’s NRL grand final qualifier, despite the Canterbury star’s recent injury woes.
Hodkinson has been battling to overcome a knee injury that he picked up before kicking the winning field goal in last week’s thrilling one-point win over Manly.
The NSW and Bulldogs halfback had not trained earlier in the week because of the problem, but ran strongly in Friday morning’s captain’s run.
“Most players I think this time of year are running around with injuries,” Cleary said.
“But come the big stage in the big games, everyone’s a 100 per cent.”
Hodkinson has already undergone two knee operations in recent years – a reconstruction in 2008 and stem cell surgery in 2012 – and is set to go under the knife again in the off-season.
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler was confident his first-choice goalkicker would be fit for the ANZ Stadium clash and dismissed suggestions his injury had been a distraction.
“Trent knows what he’s about – he’s a pretty experienced campaigner,” Hasler told Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast on Friday.
“It’s positive disruption if anything. Just getting you right, rest, rehabilitation and recovery.”
No coach knows more about injury disruptions than Cleary, who lost some big names at the back-end of the season yet still managed to guide the Panthers to their first preliminary final in a decade.
They have beaten the Bulldogs twice this year and had last week off, but are still rank outsiders to win the match for a chance to break their 11-year premiership drought.
“Any time someone writes you off or says you can’t, anyone worth their salt will find a little bit of motivation in that,” Cleary said.
“But it’s certainly not something we’ve focused on or spoken about. It just is how it is.”
Cleary said the two-week turnaround between finals matches has given his side more time to prepare and freshen up after playing 12 games straight.
“You start getting worn down after a while,” he said.
“We feel like we’re prepared – and I guess when you feel like that, you tend to be more relaxed.
“It’s just about the players going out there and settling the score I guess.”
The Panthers have only featured in the playoffs four times the past 12 years – half as many as the Bulldogs. And that’s something that Cleary is wary of.
“As a club, they’re used to this time of year,” he said.
“They’ve been very very successful, particularly through the 80s, and pretty much since then have always been there or there abouts.
“They are in the finals regularly, they’re considered to always be hard opponents.
“Hopefully we can climb to that kind of status the next few years.”
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