NRL Finals 2021: Panthers Brian To’o, Viliame Kikau return, Moses Leota ruled out for prelim final
Some serious artillery will return from injury for the Panthers to take on Melbourne in their preliminary final, but their forward pack has been reshuffled after a late withdrawal.
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Penrith forward Moses Leota has been ruled out of Saturday’s preliminary final clash against Melbourne.
Leota has failed to overcome a calf injury. It was the same injury the prop picked up during a Captain’s Run session before their week-one clash against South Sydney.
Leota returned in last Saturday’s elimination final win against Parramatta but will now miss the showdown against the Storm. Liam Martin will replace Leota in the starting side, with Spencer Leniu joining the bench.
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Earlier, coach Ivan Cleary confirmed blockbusting winger Brian To’o will return from a foot injury after he missed last weekend’s clash against the Eels.
The Panthers coach also said damaging forward Viliame Kikau (ankle) would be fit to play.
To’o has been sidelined and restricted at training with a foot injury, but Clearly said the powerful ball-carrier was ready after missing last week’s semi final against Parramatta.
“Bizza’s done well and he (Kikau) looks good too,’’ Cleary said. “He (To’o) looks completely different this week, it’s certainly good to have him back in there.’’
To’o’s inclusion is a huge boost for Penrith, who are coming up against a full-strength and well rested Storm outfit.
Powerhouse forward Viliame Kikau has been nursing a gash to his knee, which was sustained against Parramatta last weekend.
Key man and halfback Nathan Cleary, who is also carrying a shoulder complaint, has taken part in all of the side’s sessions this week.
Utility forward Scott Sorensen, who dislocated his wrist in round 25 against the Eels, said while contact sessions were important, the Panthers have been prioritising recovery in a bid to be as fit as possible for the Storm clash.
“A lot of people talk about the physicality and the back to back games but it doesn't really matter who you come up against. It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be tough, that’s the game we play now,” Sorensen said.
“But we do things like massages, ice baths, hot spas, those types of things … it all adds up.
“It takes a little bit more TLC and taking it a bit easier closer to the game.
“But you have to be smart about it, you’ve got to understand that amount or volume or work that needs to be done so we’re ready to go on Saturday.”
PANTHER’S $500K PUNT PAYS OFF
It was the all-or-nothing play that landed Kurt Capewell a dream $1.5 million contract to return home to Brisbane.
In a move typical of a player that has never been gifted a thing, The Daily Telegraph can reveal Penrith backrower Capewell gambled his career by knocking back a $1m deal to join Brisbane which was tabled last year.
Dismissing the offer and instructing his agent to put a hold on negotiations so he could prove his worth, Capewell backed himself in a move that could have proved disastrous had he been injured.
But in a rags to riches story for the player that was offered a minimum wage deal to stay at the Sharks just two years ago, Capewell’s gamble netted him a $500,000 windfall when the Broncos upped their offer to almost $1.5m over three years.
Ahead of Penrith’s clash with Melbourne on Saturday at what will be his new home ground of Suncorp Stadium, Capewell is calling on Queensland to brush the Storm and support the Panthers in their all-or-nothing bid to make the NRL grand final.
“Get on our backs,” Capewell said.
“There are a lot of Penrith supporters in Brisbane and all over Queensland so it would be good to put in a good performance for them this weekend. I guess (I am flying the flag for Queensland) kind of. I don’t think about it too much be cause I am flying the flag for Penrith at the moment and I am just focused on doing my job and making some memories with these boys.”
Born and bred in Queensland, Capewell is hoping Brisbane’s army of rugby league fans will join his family and help Penrith get over the top of Melbourne.
The Storm have been long considered a Queensland satellite because of links to Brisbane feeder clubs and a long history of providing the Maroons with champion players like Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.
“I have a brother that lives in Brisbane so it would be good to see him after the game and I am sure he will bring his kids along as well,” Capewell said. “My father won’t be there because he has gone on a fishing trip but I’ll still have good support.”
The former Shark is desperate to leave Penrith with a premiership after going so close last year.
“It (last year) is on everyone’s mind,” Capewell said.
“But there is one thing about this group and that is that they are task orientated and they are focused on the job at hand so we will prepare like any other week and we will give it our best. For me anything other than a grand final win will be a disappointment.”
But the Panthers will have to beat the team that broke their hearts last year just to make the grand final.
“The storm have been in a lot of big games and have been on the right side of a lot of results, Capewell said.
“It is something that is new for us but we have had that finals experience last year and a fair few have gone on to play Origin and get that big game experience. I think our team will be a bit better equipped. We are in a pretty good spot going into this week’s game.”
LUAI: BANNED PANTHERS TRAINER ‘DID THE RIGHT THING’
Penrith players have defended ‘gutted’ trainer Pete Green and believe he did the right thing to stop last week’s elimination final against Parramatta for the injured Mitch Kenny.
The Panthers were hit with a $25,000 fine and Green has been provisionally suspended for the rest of the season after the NRL ruled play was incorrectly stopped in 76th minute of Saturday’s 8-6 win over the Eels.
Under the rules, a head trainer can only stop play after making an initial assessment that circumstances require a doctor to enter the field of play.
The breach alleges Green, an orange shirt trainer, did not make an initial assessment of Kenny’s injury and asked the touch judge to stop the match from the sideline. The Eels were on the attack at that point of the game.
Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai said Green did the right thing to stop the match given the severity of Kenny’s ankle injury has ruled the utility forward out of Saturday’s preliminary final against Melbourne.
“Big Greeny, he’d be gutted at that [decision]. He does a great job for us,” Luai said.
“He had obviously seen one of our players went down … we love Greeny and we are getting around him.
“He [Kenny] did get injured unfortunately and it just shows, to me, that Greeny did the right thing because he is no chance of playing this week. It was an injury where he is going to miss out on a preliminary match.”
Forward Kurt Capewell echoed Luai’s sentiments and also said Green did not stop the match to help the Panthers gain an unfair advantage at a crucial stage of the game.
“He is all about the welfare of the player and you could see that on the weekend,” Capewell said.
The NRL also issued a warning to the club’s blue shirt trainer, Hayden Knowles, for his role in the stoppage.
The club will be allowed to use another staff member in the orange trainer role for the remainder of the season to ensure the welfare of players.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has named powerhouse forward Viliame Kikau (cut knee) and fullback Dylan Edwards (foot) to face the Storm but blockbusting winger Brian To’o (ankle) did not make the 17.
A battered and bruised Penrith went behind closed doors on the Sunshine Coast for the side’s first field session of the week.
To’o and halfback Nathan Cleary, who is nursing a shoulder injury, completed the session. To’o will be given until Captain Run’s to prove his fitness.
“Everyone trained today. Kiks (Kikau) is still sooking about his cut a bit but he will be sweet this weekend,” Luai said.
“[To’o] is looking good, he was training today with us. It’s a big ups for us and Bizza [To’o] as well. Hopefully he gets through the next couple of sessions throughout the week and he’s sweet to play.
“Nath doesn’t complain about his shoulder, so no one knows if he is sore or not. He does every training session, that just shows what kind of player he is.”
Panther’s greatest fear not Storm related
—Fatima Kdouh
Penrith’s pack is ready to safeguard Nathan Cleary from Melbourne big man Christian Welch, but one Panther reckons the halfback won’t need his protection.
A specialist at crunching playmakers, Welch will be out to limit Cleary’s impact and test the Penrith star’s troublesome right shoulder on Saturday night.
The prop put a target on Cleary in last year’s grand final and gave the playmaker little room to take control of the match.
But Panthers forward Liam Martin believes that whatever Melbourne throw at Cleary, it will be no match for the 23-year-old’s toughness.
“We have to do our roles as best as we can for him. I think he is a pretty tough guy,” Martin said. “I think anything they throw at him, we’ll try and do our best for him.
“Definitely (his toughness underestimated). He always jokes that he is tougher than me. I think it’s a quality that doesn’t get noticed in him.
“I’m sure it’s not a comfortable (injury) but he hasn’t mentioned it at all at training. He is hiding pretty well.”
Cleary suffered a labrum tear after partially dislocating his right shoulder in Origin. He has survived two brutal clashes against South Sydney and Parramatta.
He sent a scare through the Penrith camp when he clutched at his shoulder in the second half against the Eels but fought on bravely.
The halfback isn’t the only battered and bruised Panther. Viliame Kikau didn’t take part in the side’s pool recovery session on the Sunshine Coast as the backrower is nursing a nasty gash to the knee. He also has a low grade ankle sprain.
Mitch Kenny was on crutches after suffering an ankle injury and fullback Dylan Edwards was limping across the pool deck.
Blockbusting winger Brian To’o is still only a 50-50 chance of playing.
To’o’s ankle wasn’t the winger’s biggest obstacle in getting through Monday’s pool recovery.
“He was pretty scared this morning when he found out we were doing swimming, because he can’t swim,” centre Stephen Crichton laughed.
“He’s a massive boost. He helps us with the ball, he takes a lot of pressure off the forwards getting back behind the ball. Having Bizza there, he takes all the tough carries and he is the one with the running metres. It would be good to have him back this week.
“Kiks is all right I think. He needed some stitched after the game for a gash on his leg. But he’s pretty sweet. He just can’t get in the water and get it wet.
“I saw him (Kenny) this morning and he was limping, I’m not sure if he will play.”
Crichton praised the club’s coaching stuff for helping to keep the side as ‘fresh’ as possible ahead of the preliminary final against a well rested and fit Storm.
“We’ve got a pretty good coaching staff here. They gave us a couple of days off last week, which really helped,” Crichton said.
“They are good with the training load they give us, with things like this, taking out to the pool. We get two massages a day. The boys will be going into the game pretty fresh as if we had the week off.”
Panthers ask Storm to lap up milk deal
Penrith players are hoping the Melbourne Storm will be part of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ not to milk penalties in Saturday night’s preliminary blockbuster at Suncorp Stadium.
Parramatta winger Blake Ferguson was heavily criticised in last weekend’s clash against the Panthers after appearing to fake a neck injury from a Mitch Kenny tackle.
Ferguson was awarded a penalty but bounced to his feet after Kenny exchanged words with the winger.
Panthers forward Liam Martin wants Saturday’s grand final replay to be played in the spirit of sportsmanship and not gamesmanship.
“Obviously, you’d like to that (there’d be an agreement) because you don’t want to see it in the game,” Martin said.
“It comes down to the heat of the moment, as it happens that individual sort of has that responsibility.
But Martin conceded the chance to give your side any kind of positional advantage was becoming too hard to refuse for some players.
“Field position is such a massive part of the game now, if you get a penalty you can earn your team 10 minutes of good field position, as if an individual won’t do it,” Martin said.
Centre Stephen Crichton backed Martin’s sentiments and said the decision to lay down was up to each individual player and their integrity.
“It’s a big call but I think the game is trying to look after our players as well and their safety. It goes both ways, I guess, the NRL is trying to protect us just as much and I think it’s up to the players if they stay down or if it really serious (injury),” Crichton said.
Even after two physical games against South Sydney and Parramatta to open Penrith’s finals campaign, Martin believes his side is primed for ‘retribution’ this weekend after last year’s 26-20 grand final loss to Melbourne.
“It’s not revenge. retribution for the last year and to try and turn it around. We missed a good opportunity last year and I hope we make up for it this year,” Martin said.
Crichton said the Panthers have been preparing for the chance to take down coach Craig Bellamy and his men in the finals from the moment the full-time whistle was blown in the 2020 grand final.
“Heaps aye … from the grand final the boys have been all year, from pre-season up until now,” Crichton said about Penrith’s motivation leading into Saturday’s clash.
“We know our systems can hold up in the big dance and especially in the big games like this.
“We put our best foot forward last week. It wasn’t a big score line but the boys dug deep and stuck in there until the end.
Cleary slams milking trend
Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary has called on the NRL to “eliminate” players milking penalties after Parramatta winger Blake Ferguson appeared to fake a crusher injury.
Ferguson stayed down clutching at his neck after a tackle by Panthers utility Mitch Kenny and was awarded a penalty.
But the veteran back made a miracle recovery and jumped to his feet in the 45th minute after Kenny had some choice words for Ferguson’s decision to stay down.
The encounter led to an all-in push and shove during a fiery battle of the west in Mackay.
“I won’t repeat it … it wasn’t anything too bad,” Cleary said about the words that caused Ferguson to spring from the ground.
The Panthers were leading 8-6 when Ferguson received the penalty.
Cleary warned the NRL that unless a tougher stance was taken on players trying to milk penalties, it would continue.
“It’s a trend in the game,” Cleary said. “It’s just the way it is. “I think in saying that, ultimately it would be nice for it to be eliminated, but if it keeps going like that, everyone is going to do it.
“You want to win, and getting penalties help you win.
“It’s just the way it is at the moment.
“It’s a contact sport, you end up in awkward positions.
“It’s not just this year those tackles have happened, it’s just that there is more of a light on it now.”
Cleary said players were always looking for an edge.
“It’s just from watching footy,” Cleary said. “If you watch it every week, if someone goes down and they know they get put in an awkward position, they hold their neck and more often than not it’s a penalty.
“Again, it comes back to wanting to win the game and those things help.”
Penrith’s gritty win has earned it a preliminary showdown against Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
Cleary said the toughness of the Eels clash had his side primed to avenge last year’s grand final loss to the Melbourne Storm.
“It always is [heated], the battle of the west, Penrith against Parramatta,’ he said.
“It’s been a rivalry for a long time now, even more so that it was an elimination final.
“It was one of those games, really grinding footy.
“A lot of defence-based stuff, probably what people aren’t used to at the moment. It’s been attack-based. It was that grind defence style and we back ourselves in that.”
Panthers Casualty Ward: X-factor confirmed, big gun out?
A brutal week two finals encounter against Parramatta has left Penrith coach Ivan Cleary searching for ‘fresh bodies’ ahead of Saturday’s preliminary clash against Melbourne.
Fijian powerhouse Viliame Kikau and utility forward Mitch Kenny are sweating on scans after suffering ankle injuries on Saturday night.
Kikau also suffered a gash to his knee but is a chance to take the field against the Storm, while Kenny is looking less likely.
“He [Kikau] got a really big gash on his leg and he rolled his ankle. Hopefully it’s just a lateral sprain and not a syndesmosis, which I don’t think it is,” Cleary said.
“Mitch Kenny looks like he has done something pretty serious too. There are a couple of guys [injured], we’ll be trying to find some fresh bodies for next week.”
Halfback Nathan Cleary got through another full 80 minutes relatively unscathed. But the No. 7 clutched at his right shoulder at different stages in Saturday night’s win.
Coach Cleary said the playmaker was not playing with discomfort but the injury was being ‘managed’.
Nathan echoed his father’s sentiments when asked about the state of the shoulder after consecutive physical matches to open Penrith’s finals campaign.
“The shoulder is all right,” Nathan said.
The 23-year-old also hobbled into Saturday’s post match press conference.
“It’s just bumps and bruises from a pretty tough game,” Nathan said when asked if he had picked up a leg injury.
In a much-needed boost, Penrith are likely to welcome back blockbusting winger Brian To’o against a rested and full strength Storm this weekend.
To’o was a late scratching against the Eels with a minor ankle injury.
Nathan said To’o wanted to take the field against the Eels but medical staff did not want to risk the key outside back before he was fully fit.
“Even though he wasn’t playing he still brought the energy and positivity to the group,” Nathan said.
“We’d love to have Brian out there but if he is not right, he’s not right. He’ll be doing everything he can to play against Melbourne and I’m very hopeful he will be.”
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