Panthers stars Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai have urged the NRL referees to give the fans what they want and keep penalties to a minimum in the countdown to the biggest match of the year.
Just a month after Penrith coach Ivan Cleary went public with his frustrations after a match against the Rabbitohs featured 21 penalties and two set re-starts, the finals series has returned to long periods of ball in play, including the frenetic Sharks-Cowboys clash last Friday night.
Referee Ashley Klein blew just four penalties and there wasn’t a single six-again for a ruck infringement – a situation that pleased Nathan Cleary and Luai watching from home as they scouted their preliminary final rivals.
Cronulla exploited a fatigued Cowboys side to blast to a 24-0 half-time lead before holding off a fightback in the second half.
The Panthers are just 160 minutes away from a historic fourth straight title and, renowned as the fittest team in the competition, loom as the biggest beneficiary of limited stoppages. They overturned a 16-point deficit in the final 17 minutes to beat the Broncos in last year’s grand final.
“I think we like that kind of footy, but I think most teams would say they like it as well,” Nathan Cleary said.
“As a fan, I definitely prefer watching games with [fewer] penalties and less set re-starts. You tend to see that a bit more when it comes to this time of the season and there are games like Origin.
“There’s no wonder they’re the best games to watch because it lets it flow a bit. I enjoy those types of games. You really see the fatigue come into those games and it opens it up for guys like me and Romey [Luai] and the spine players to have more control over it.
“Hopefully, it’s like that for the rest of the season.”
Asked for his own opinion on the reduction of penalties, Luai said: “It’s been awesome to watch.
“I think there were only two or three penalties blown in that [Sharks-Cowboys] game and that’s what the fans want. We love that game. That’s when the game is at its hardest.
“We back ourselves and the work [we’ve done]. That’s why we value the preparation we’ve done so highly. If it does come, we will be ready for it.”
Cleary trained without incident on Monday as he tries to steer the Panthers to a fifth straight grand final appearance, nursing a shoulder which is likely to need surgery at the end of the season.
Back-rower Scott Sorensen is racing to prove his fitness as he battles a hamstring problem, but otherwise the Panthers have a clean bill of health for the preliminary final against the Sharks at Accor Stadium on Saturday night.
Cronulla will be high on confidence having won their first finals game since 2018, but will start rank outsiders against the Panthers and Cleary, who has helped Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes with a house visit earlier this year.
“If anyone asks me for advice, I would give it to them,” Cleary said. “I like that feeling of passing on my own knowledge and own experiences. I try to help them in any way, let alone when it’s a mate like Nicho. He’s a good person, and I’m happy to help when I can.
“I think he’s got a lot of good people around him too. Rugby league, at the end of the day, is built off mateship and that sort of camaraderie, whether they’re on your team or not. You can all have shared experiences.
“If you do the right things and have got the right people around you, I think you come out the other side better for it.”
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