Source :- THE AGE NEWS
There were so many reasons to celebrate in the Penrith dressing room on Sunday night.
They just secured their fourth minor premiership in seven years courtesy of a 38-10 win against Wests Tigers.
Co-captain Isaah Yeo came back from a pec injury within four weeks. Mitch Kenny returned for the first time since badly damaging his ankle and leg in April.
Tom Jenkins bagged a double to finish level (30 tries) with South Sydney’s Alex Johnston for the Ken Irvine Medal. Had fullback Dylan Edwards not made a pre-match promise to his two young daughters he would bag his own double, Jenkins could have finished with a hat-trick and ultimately crowned the game’s best try-scorer this season.
Nathan Cleary was excellent, so was Liam Martin, Casey McLean and Luke Garner, who somehow kept a one-handed grip on the back of Tigers’ centre Solomone Saukuru’s jersey when he appeared certain to score a second-half try.
It was the kind of performance coach Ivan Cleary would have wanted to see leading into the finals.
Cleary was one of the happiest men inside the ground they have been forced to call home the past two seasons while their Penrith digs undergo a $309m redevelopment. That fact alone cannot be underestimated.
Unlike some of their September rivals, Penrith seem to be tracking upwards at the right time.
“We’ve had a really good six weeks of good hard footy against good teams, there were some good lessons there, and we finished strongly,” Cleary said.
“The weather is changing, it feels like semis. It’s a great time of year. I’m extremely grateful we’re still playing, and we get a good shot at another title.
“It’s a long year, when you lay out your plans for the year, you just hope you’re in this position we’re in, and we are.
“I feel like our habits throughout the year will keep us in good stead. Yes, it’s a new competition, but your habits, good and bad, will pop up under pressure.”
How loud was the roar when the JJ Giltinan Shield was wheeled out to the sideline with two minutes remaining?
The Panthers return to CommBank Stadium next Sunday afternoon and host the Sydney Roosters in a qualifying final. The Roosters defeated Penrith three weeks ago – and in many ways, the loss jolted the Panthers to life. The mountain men were stuck in third gear for too long.
As Cleary pointed out, “there were certainly a couple of things we needed to improve, but we’ve done a decent job since then”.
The Panthers, now deserved premiership favourites, led the Tigers 26-0 at half-time and you sensed the locals dreaded the half coming to an end.
The players were back-slapping each other with every effort in attack and defence.
If some of the tries were outstanding, so was some of the defence, including another couple of efforts to pick a few Tigers players up and drag them almost 10 metres into touch.
When Saukuru was shoved over the western touchline before the break, the Penrith players celebrated, with Edwards noticing Garner, who played a crucial role in the tackle, standing by himself, only to drag him into the celebration.
Yeo’s return was brave, but not once did Cleary worry about the lock forward.
“I trust him so much, and ultimately, it was his call,” Cleary said.
“I said during the week the preparation he’s had was very good and thorough, and he was more than happy to test it out.
“I was watching him a bit towards the end, we lost a bit of intensity and we were defending a fair bit. But he was quite amazing.”
Yeo was injected into the action in the 26th minute and received a decent cheer from the faithful. He was met by Terrell May, Samuela Fainu and Api Koroisau with his first hit-up, then had his right pec worked over – legally – by Jarome Luai the next carry.
To’o started the scoring after just seven minutes. McLean then ducked out of dummy-half to double the score on the other side of the field, before Jenkins scored the first of his two.
Phil Gould asked on the Nine commentary, “how did he keep his backside off the ground?“. Scientists will still be working that one out on Monday morning.
The Tigers aimed up in the second half when most inside the Parramatta venue expected the Panthers to post a few more tries, however they rested some of their stars.
Latu Fainu replaced Luai in the halves, and immediately caused headaches on the left edge with his pass selection and speed.
Luai was playing his last game for the Tigers before moving on to Parramatta before eventually landing at the PNG chiefs in 2028.
You can only imagine what was going through Luai’s head watching his old Penrith mates, whom he won four titles with. In a month’s time, they should probably make that five premierships.
Meanwhile, Tyrell Sloan’s “annoying” habit of practising two-point field goals has paid dividends, as the departing St George Illawarra star iced a 24-22 defeat of Parramatta that ends the Dragons’ poor season on a high.
Superstar Eels captain Mitch Moses missed a field goal with little more than six minutes to play in a clash of NRL battlers on Sunday afternoon.
On the ensuing seven-tackle set, England-bound Sloan stepped up from beyond the 40-metre line and nailed a beautiful strike that sent the Wollongong crowd crazy.
“He annoys me at training because when we’re going from drill to drill, if there’s a loose ball on the ground, he just picks it up and does long-range field goals all the time,” said Dragons coach Dean Young.
“It annoys me, but obviously practice pays off.”
with AAP
