‘No one gave us a chance’: Dom Young disagrees with Ivan Cleary’s post-game comments

Ivan Cleary said that his team lost the game before it started, but Roosters winger Dom Young says his team deserves credit for rattling the champions.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary declared his side lost well before Friday’s game against the Roosters kicked off, but rival winger Dom Young strongly disagrees and says his side deserves credit for rattling the four-time premiers.

The 38-32 victory was one of the greatest upsets in NRL history given the Roosters conceded 50 points last week and were missing so many players, with skipper James Tedesco leading the way with three key try assists.

But as good as the Roosters were, the Panthers were well below their best as they missed 44 tackles and made 13 errors, with Cleary suggesting “the game was lost before we got here”.

The Panthers were nowhere near their best in the shock loss to the Roosters. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“I felt like we forced them into that,” Young said after he heard those comments.

“It’s easy for me to say that, but I thought our game plan was perfect and we were really putting them under pressure and forcing errors out of them, which wasn’t characteristic.

“It was due to us putting them in certain positions.”

The Roosters were ripped apart defensively in round one and still had their issues on Friday night, but they scrambled a lot better and were able to pressure Penrith’s halves, with several of their tries coming off kicks.

“It’s definitely the best win I’ve been a part of in a Roosters jersey, and it’s definitely up there in my career as well,” Young said.

“It was a special feeling getting back in the sheds with the boys. It’s a massive win for us and it’s a good bounce back after last week.

“Everyone had already written us off before the season, and then after round one it felt like no one gave us a chance against Penrith.

“It feels pretty good to answer back with a win like that.”

Dom Young scored what he thought was the sealer before the Roosters had to survive a late comeback. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The Englishman scored to give the Roosters a 14-point lead and thought ‘surely that’s it’, only for the Panthers to storm home as they always do.

But a team featuring a stack of inexperienced youngsters did enough to hold on and end their 10-game losing streak against the champions.

“It just goes to show what it means to pull on that Roosters jersey,” Young said after he bounced back from a tough game against Brisbane with a dominant performance in the air.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are or how many games you’ve played – it has a lot of weight to it.

“Any time you put it on, you expect to win.

“It’s been a long time coming against a team like Penrith. We haven’t beaten them for a while which people have made a big deal about… but they can’t say much now because it’s 1-0.”

Originally published as ‘No one gave us a chance’: Dom Young disagrees with Ivan Cleary’s post-game comments