‘I don’t want to disrespect the Knights but...’: Cleary’s ruthless assessment after golden point win

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has ruthlessly responded to his team’s win over Newcastle, taking a swipe at the Knights in the process.

The Panthers were not impressed with their performance.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has ruthlessly called his side’s golden point win over the Knights on Saturday night their worst performance of the season.

Penrith were uncharacteristically sloppy in Newcastle, making 13 errors, conceding nine penalties and missing 18 tackles, while completing at just 71 per cent.

Cleary was told his son Nathan had described their performance as their worst in 2023 and he agreed.

“I don’t want to be disrespectful to the Knights but it probably was,” Ivan Cleary said.

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The Panthers were not impressed with their performance.

“We haven’t really played badly and the games we’ve lost it hasn’t been clicking but we haven’t played badly.

“But tonight, lots of stuff we did we’re not happy with but credit to the Knights because they put us under pressure and put us in that space.

“I wasn’t (confident we were going to win). We didn’t start well and they did, so they put us under pressure and they were on top in that first half.

“They opened the door a few times in that second half and we didn’t do much with it but just kept plugging away and that’s what I’m most happy with, we just kept on coming and in the end just got there.”

Penrith skipper Isaah Yeo echoed the sentiment and admitted his side were lucky to escape with the win.

“Just errors and compounding penalties and six agains put us on the back foot, so we didn’t have a lot of ball and when we got down there we were trying to score too quick and just looking for things that weren’t there,” Yeo said.

“Discipline was keeping them on top… but we were able to scratch out a win.”

ICEMAN CLEARY DOES IT AGAIN

Nathan Cleary has once again delivered a match-winning play to further solidify his status as the best rugby league player in the world.

Phil Gould says it ad nauseam: some players want the ball in their hands with the game on the line, and some players don’t.

Cleary doesn’t just want the ball in his hand, he demands it, and he’s proven once again that he relishes the high-pressure moments.

‘In position the iceman, head over the ball, cracks it straight underneath and drills it between the sticks,” Mick Ennis said.

“What a champion of our game, Nathan Cleary, with ice in his veins delivers and gets Penrith an incredible win here in Newcastle.”

Cooper Cronk, who booted his fair share of game winners during his decorated NRL career, said Cleary’s field goal was no fluke.

“He just keeps delivering, he missed a couple in regulation, but you’ve got to love that when a guy kicks it from 40, puts his finger up and says it’s my time,” Cronk said.

“That’s not luck, that is class, that is precision, that is a calm head in difficult times, that is tremendous.”

The Panthers weren’t at their best, making 13 errors, but Cleary said it was important to win ugly sometimes.

“I had to make up for the two before that, they were shanks so I owed it to the team and got in a good position with the wind, pretty happy with that,” Cleary said.

“They’re the kind of games you need to win, when they’re ugly so happy to get that one.”

GREATEST CAPTAIN’S CHALLENGE OF ALL TIME

It was likely the first time in NRL history a player has been recalled from the sin bin and it likely saved Penrith from losing the game.

Panthers forward Spencer Leniu was recalled from the sin bin in the 37th minute after “the best captain’s challenges of all time”.

Leniu was binned in the 37th minute for a professional foul, ruled to have taken out a kick chaser, only for the decision to be challenged and overturned.

Knights halfback Jackson Hastings put in a chip behind Penrith’s defence with Tyson Gamble chasing the ball.

Gamble hit the deck in his chase and referee Peter Gough immediately sent Leniu to the bin — and the bench prop was left absolutely stunned.

The 22-year-old protested with the referee and could be seen saying “what the f*** was that for?” to his teammates before the Panthers called for a captain’s challenge.

“It’s Sorensen, not Leniu. Leniu has done nothing wrong. Leniu doesn’t touch anyone, he collides with Sorensen,” Ennis said.

“Spencer Leniu turns to face the ball, the contact is incidental, the kick is then diffused in goal,” Bunker referee Ashley Klein said.

“That was the best captain’s challenge in the history of our game,” Cooper Cronk said.

KNIGHTS DELIVER ON THEIR PROMISE

The quotes that TV types are able to extract from sweaty, frothing NRL players as they trudge off the field at half-time are almost uniformly dull, with talk of ‘completions’ and ‘discipline’ and ‘the boys digging deep’.

They could all learn from Jackson Hastings.

On his way off the field at half-time, with his Knights leading premiers Penrith by 14-6, Hastings told TV man James Hooper: “This is why you play. This is why you play for Newcastle.

“They (the fans) have been doing this since however long they’ve been in the comp, since ’88. Good times, bad times.

“We just wanted to give them one good half.”

They did that. The home team was inspired by the bumper crowd of 26,084 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday night and the vociferous chants of “NEW-castle”.

The home team turned in a tireless defensive effort that continually turned away the star-studded Panthers.

Until they didn’t. And after duelling field goals in regular time, a feisty and hard-fought fixture was settled in extra time when Nathan Cleary landed a Golden Point.

- Matt Cleary, NCA Newswire

Originally published as ‘I don’t want to disrespect the Knights but...’: Cleary’s ruthless assessment after golden point win