NRL 2024: Cronulla vs. Penrith, Siosifa Talakai’s inside knowledge of Penrith premiership traps

He was in the Penrith system – if only momentarily – and thanks to a sliding door moment Siosifa Talakai will face his old teammates in a do-or-die preliminary final on Saturday.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 11: Siosifa Talakai of the Sharks celebrates scoring a try during the round 10 NRL match between Melbourne Storm and Cronulla Sharks at AAMI Park on May 11, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

If not for a sliding doors moment, Siosifa Talakai could be wearing a different jersey on Saturday.

Cronulla’s rampaging centre started his career at South Sydney before it nearly came off the tracks.

What followed is a well-told tale of his declining motivation and sad slip into a depression, after which he left the club for Penrith in 2018.

It was at the foot of the mountains he found his feet again as a rugby league player, in 10 reserve grade games alongside Liam Martin, Brian To’o and Mitch Kenny before he signed with Newtown the season after.

The rest is history, where he went on to establish himself as a destructive centre at the Sharks and earn two NSW Origin jerseys in 2022, playing alongside Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai and Isaah Yeo.

Siosifa Talakai could’ve played NRL in Penrith colours. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

“Liam Martin is a mad dog,” he remembers.

They played eight games together in the Penrith pack in that reserve grade side in 2018.

He has seen their professionalism up close and knows exactly what it’s going to take to win on Saturday at Accor Stadium.

“Nathan was vocal and really clear (in NSW camp), especially at training,” he continues.

“It wasn’t chaotic, he was clear and calm. They know what to do and they communicate it throughout the whole team. They’re leaders.

“They’re just real cool, calm and collected as a group, no matter what the situation is.

“Rather than wait for the game to present itself they rather go after the game, and they just compete. On everything, big or small. They’re just competitors.

“Going into this week we’re just gonna have to out-compete them.

“And it’ll be tough because I know they’re not gonna go away and they’re just gonna stick to their game plan and it might be boring, but it’s real tough.”

Surviving the physical battle of the first quarter of the game is key.

It’s one of many traps the Sharks need to avoid.

Talakai is a South Sydney junior. Picture: John Appleyard

“In the first 20 minutes or so, they are just ruthless,” Talakai says.

“I feel like if you give them even just a sniff there, that momentum compiles and all of a sudden you’re on the back foot for 80 minutes because they don’t go away, they stick to process and it’s just pretty much like a well-oiled machine the way they go about their footy.

“It would make it really hard if we give them a sniff and they just keep rolling. But that’s the challenge ahead of us. You gotta be able to meet them and match it as well.”

That confidence is rife through the Sharks side this week after snapping a seven-game losing streak in finals with a win over North Queensland.

At some point the three-time premiers have to falter, so why not now?

“It felt good. We’re supposedly not good in finals, but here we are,” he says.

“I feel like we’ve been underdogs for a long time, you know. We have that belief and all the hard work that we put in from pre-season, even from the last couple of years.

“What better opportunity to reach our potential than to get a job done on the reigning premiers.”

Originally published as NRL 2024: Cronulla vs. Penrith, Siosifa Talakai’s inside knowledge of Penrith premiership traps