Cleary insists all is not lost for last-placed Panthers

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary remains adamant his four-time champions are capable of regaining their bearings before all hope is lost, starting with a Magic Round win against Brisbane on Sunday.

“A lot of teams this year are still trying to find their way, us included,” Cleary said on Friday.

“We’re looking forward to finding our way. It’s a great opportunity against a good team on Sunday.”

The Panthers head to Suncorp Stadium after a start to their premiership defence that has delivered two wins from eight games, leaving them clinging to the bottom rung on the competition ladder.

Cleary’s men will need to create history to reach the finals. No team this century has qualified for the postseason after being placed last at this stage of a season.

Only three grand final-winning teams in the NRL era (since 1998) have missed out on the play-offs the following season: Canterbury (2004), Wests Tigers (2005) and Melbourne (2009), the latter after being stripped of two titles and competition points after a salary-cap scandal.

Penrith are fighting to stay in the race for the finals.Credit: Getty Images

“I don’t listen to the outside noise … we definitely trust our process,” Cleary said.

“Having said that, there’s always opportunities to evolve.”

The Panthers have drifted to $15 long shots to win a fifth straight premiership and are now paying $2.15 to make the final eight, but Cleary remains calm.

“I am confident because I know what we’re capable of,” he said.

“Again, this is a new team, and to this point, we’ve definitely shown glimpses, but you’ve got to do more than that to win NRL games consistently.

“I’m still confident that we can do that, starting this week.”

The Panthers will be without key forwards Mitch Kenny and Scott Sorensen through suspension, placing further strain on resources.

“It doesn’t really change the game plan too much,” he said.

“It’s obviously just part and parcel of a long season. You wish you had those guys, but it’s just not the way it’s turned out. At the end of the day, someone else will do the job.”

While Brisbane will be full of belief after a resounding 42-18 win last week that ended Canterbury’s unbeaten run, the Panthers have won their past four clashes with the Broncos, a run that included their 2023 grand final triumph.

As frustrated as Cleary has been with his team’s tardy start, he added: “There’s enough in there that gives us a lot of confidence, once we put it together.”

“Yeah, I think there’s some exciting times ahead for those guys.”

Cleary v Moses is a ‘good headache’ for NSW

Can Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses play in the same NSW team?

That question is likely to spark debate in the countdown to the State of Origin series opener on May 28, and as far as Parramatta coach Jason Ryles is concerned, it’s a conundrum Laurie Daley should welcome.

In his second stint in the NSW hot seat, the toughest decision Daley appears to be facing is the composition of his halves.

Logic suggests Cleary, widely acknowledged as the best player in the NRL, should be an automatic selection in the No.7 jersey after missing last year’s series through injury.

But, in Cleary’s absence, Moses helped NSW win the 2024 title and parlayed that into a successful Test debut for the Kangaroos last October.

After his first two Origin appearances ended in defeat, Moses has strung together three consecutive wins and proved himself at interstate level.

Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses.Credit: Getty

Whether Cleary and Moses could combine in the halves, given they are both dominant first receivers, is the dilemma Daley will ponder.

Alternatively, he might prefer a specialist five-eighth to play a supporting role to the main man.

Offered the chance on Thursday to spruik the claims of Moses, who made a welcome return from injury in Parramatta’s 38-22 win against Wests Tigers on Easter Monday, Ryles took a diplomatic stance.

Asked if Cleary and Moses could play together, the NRL’s newest coach replied: “I’m not sure if they can, or I’m not even really going to comment on whether they can, but it’s a good headache for the coach to have two players of that quality either fighting it out for that spot or potentially playing together.

“As a New South Welshman, I think it’s great … Mitchell, for me, in Origin, his game management, his kicking game is perfectly suited to it, but there’s another bloke, Nathan Cleary, who’s the same.

“So yeah, it’s a good headache for Laurie to have.”

Daley recently said on NRL360 that he thought Moses has “the ability to play five-eighth in Origin as well”, although he would need to weigh that up alongside Jarome Luai, who has helped NSW win two of the four series in which he has appeared, as well as playing next to Cleary in four grand final triumphs with Penrith.

Ryles admitted Moses’ return had provided the Eels with a massive boost, after he missed their first six games with a foot injury.

Eels coach Jason Ryles.Credit: Getty Images

“It’s really good for our confidence and our leadership, to be honest with you,” Ryles said.

If the Eels are without Moses during the Origin period, Ryles was confident back-ups Dean Hawkins and Ronald Volkman would be better for the experience they gained while Moses was sidelined earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, with the Eels resting during last weekend’s bye, Ryles was an interested observer as 18 players across the competition were sin-binned during a crackdown on high tackles.

The rookie coach felt there was no need to address the subject with his players before their Magic Round clash with Cronulla on Friday night.

“It’s just something that we always work on from day one of pre-season, our tackle height and just knowing where the game is and where it’s going,” he said.

“It’s not going away, so how hard they crack down is going to be subjective most weeks.

“But for us, it’s really important that we get our tackle height below the shoulders, which is what the rules are.”

Ryles was hopeful star off-season recruit Zac Lomax would return from a fractured foot in “the next two or three weeks”, a timeline that should have him in the mix for Origin I.

Dragons, Rabbitohs change halves combinations for Magic Round

Promising playmaker Lyhkan King-Togia has replaced axed halfback Lachlan Ilias, and it’s not the only change to the St George Illawarra line-up for this weekend.

Despite scoring a slashing try in the Anzac Day loss to the Roosters, Dragons winger Sione Finau is another casualty for Saturday’s Magic Round clash with Wests Tigers. Corey Allan, who made one State of Origin appearance for the Maroons in 2020, will make his Dragons debut after overcoming an ACL injury that wiped out his 2024 season.

King-Togia has made four NRL appearances and recently signed a contract extension that will result in him progressing to the club’s top-30 squads for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

Once the decision was made to drop Ilias, coach Shane Flanagan pondered whether to promote King-Togia or his NSW Cup halves partner, Jonah Glover. King-Togia won the race to partner Kyle Flanagan in the halves.

There’s been a shake-up in the South Sydney halves as well, with Jack Wighton to partner Bud Sullivan. English No.7 Lewis Dodd has been overlooked, limiting him to just 20 minutes of NRL game time since making his transfer from the Super League. Latrell Mitchell is unavailable due to suspension, with Jye Gray returning to the No.1 jersey.

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has made other changes, including shifting Euan Aitken from the back row to centre. Also, Tallis Duncan will start, and Lachlan Hubner (concussion) returns to a bench that includes new faces Fletcher Myers and Liam Le Blanc.

Lyhkan King-Togia has been called up to the NRL.

Josh Schuster is edging closer to making his Rabbitohs debut, but won’t be called up for the clash against the Knights.

Gold Coast coach Des Hasler has lost patience with David Fifita, dropping him to the reserves list for Sunday’s clash with Canterbury. Fifita, who was last year involved in a tug-of-war between the Titans and Roosters, now finds himself unable to crack the starting 17 in a blow to his bid for a Maroons jersey.

The Bulldogs, ravaged by a series of suspensions, have had to make changes of their own. Banned trio Josh Curran, Matt Burton and Sitili Tupouniua have been replaced, with Bailey Hayward named at five-eighth, Daniel Suluka-Fifita at prop and Kurtis Morrin and Blake Taaffe joining the interchange.

Cronulla welcomes back Kayal Iro and Braden Hamlin-Uele for Friday’s clash with Parramatta, while Newcastle forwards Jacob Saifiti and Adam Elliott have been named to return from calf injuries.

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