Penrith’s top four hopes have been dealt a major blow with playmaker James Maloney sidelined until the NRL finals with a knee injury.
The Panthers confirmed the NSW five-eighth had suffered a grade two medial ligament tear during Saturday’s get-out-of-jail win over the Gold Coast.
The club said he had been sidelined indefinitely and would not be back for the final three regular rounds of the premiership.
MORE TO COME…
Major Bumsore
Guest
Maybe , but I also think the Rabbits are still well n truly in the mix . Their coach is quite cagey, and I think he will have a few tricks up his sleeve come finals time. The Burgess offside in the defensive line , creating an obstruction for Reynolds caper will pop up again , I’d put money on it.
BA Sports
Roar Guru
And Egan improves their defence as well. He misses one in about every 26 tackles compared to Katoa who misses 1 in every 13. It is late to be changing the spine so drastically, but hey, they changed coach, so why not.. At least with Cleary, May and Egan, they have played plenty of Footy together.
Albo
Guest
Just rethinking that solution, I might suggest they move Peachy to 6 to play a Munster-type role, and bring in a proper fullback in Caleb Aekins. And whilst they are at it, they should bring in Wade Egan for Katoa at 9 to give them better dummy half service and variety in attack.
Albo
Guest
He sure needed a rest. And assuming someone like Tyrone May goes to 6 , this immediately improves the Panthers defence and reduces their intercept pass numbers whilst giving Cleary a chance to run the show. Silver lining methinks.
At work
Roar Rookie
Also great experience for Cleary, get's to take the reins while Jimmy is out. I think provided Maloney is back and fit for the finals the Panthers are still a chance to do something, as half the 8 are doing their best to slip out of contention.
At work
Roar Rookie
My tip is a Cronulla vs Roosters GF.
Nat
Roar Guru
This will be interesting for Cleary. Jimmy lead a depleated Panthers on a good run prior to SOO and now Cleary will have to lead them into the finals. They do have some quality young players but Jimmy has been fairly instrumental in getting them over the line in the last few weeks, I wonder if Cleary can do the same?
Major Bumsore
Guest
Panthers , Dragoons ,Broncos and Storm fans won’t be watching their team on grand final day.
kk
Guest
Wish you well for a full recovery, Jimmy.
Muzz
Guest
Great article, Steve..........................
Penrith Punter
Roar Guru
He definitely needed a rest... so it's good and bad news. Hopefully he is back fit for the finals though, can't win the comp without him.