The Penrith Panthers halfback controlled the game against the Sharks and admitted there is more to come.
Nathan Cleary has sent a message to the rest of the competition after leading his side to a 26-6 win over the Sharks on Saturday suggesting he is only at 70 per cent to start the season. The Panthers and Sharks entered their NRL round two clash after impressive wins in round one.
All eyes were on the battle between Cleary and Nicho Hynes in round two, but it was the Penrith Panthers halfback who guided his team to a comfortable win to start the season 2-0. Cleary was dominant with the ball in hand recording 144 running metres and a linebreak against the Sharks
He also kicked for 669 metres as the Panthers dominated the contest in an impressive performance. Cleary’s 40/20 in the early stages of the game prompted a huge momentum swing towards his side with Brian To’o scoring one tackle later.
Although Cleary hinted he isn’t at his best to start the season and there is plenty more to come. Speaking after his performance, Cleary felt he was only at around 70 per cent as he finds his form.
He also tipped the team to start finding their form having praised their defence. “I feel, maybe like, 70 per cent, I reckon,” he told ABC Radio. “There’s still a long way to go…as a whole, our control was quite good. Our willingness in defence really set us up for good performances.”
Cleary later praised his team’s ‘scrambling defence’ that he feels saved tries against the Sharks. Coach Ivan Cleary also pinpointed the team’s effort in defence as the key to victory, which is solidifying their case as premiership favourites.
“I was really happy – I thought we worked for everything we got tonight and were defensively good again,” coach Cleary said. “Things have started well for us, things we’ve worked on in pre-season, things we value are showing up, and if that’s the case, we’ll give ourselves a good chance each week.”
Roosters to host Panthers at Allianz Stadium
Penrith’s impressive start to the season, with wins over the Broncos and Sharks, has sent a warning to the rest of the competition. They will face the Roosters this week after Daly Cherry-Evans led them to a win over the Rabbitohs on Friday night. The Roosters showed improvement with Cherry-Evans admitting he wanted to make it up to his new teammates after they were poor against the Warriors in round one.
I would say that I take a lot of pride in my performance still to this day,” Cherry-Evans said after the win against South Sydney. “So I was definitely disappointed on that plane ride home last week about how I performed and how I let my teammates down.”
The Panthers will travel to Allianz Stadium to take on the Roosters in another bid to show their premiership credentials. Liam Martin is expected to be back for the Panthers having missed the first two weeks with a calf strain.
