Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has left no doubt around who he believes should wear the NSW Blues No.1 jersey after Dylan Edwards‘ stunning form continued against the Raiders.
Edwards is currently locked in a battle for the fullback position with James Tedesco, who has also put the competition on notice.
Against the Raiders on Sunday afternoon, Edwards finished with 254 run metres and seven breaks while helping to setup his side’s defence to stop any late Raiders surge.
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His Panthers and NSW teammate Nathan Cleary was asked about Edwards in the post-match press conference and described him as “super reliable” and a “great teammate”.
Nathan and Ivan Cleary in the post-match press conference. NRL
His dad, Ivan, unprompted, added to that.
“Couldn’t agree more, I thought Dyl was outstanding today,” he said.
“When the ball’s in play, the fullback’s under pressure a lot and he never flinched once. He came up with some huge plays, ran the ball all day
“If we’re talking about taking Dyl Edwards out of the Origin team, then they must be doing well, I’ll just say that.”
Ivan Cleary smirks. NRL
Ivan smirked when he made the final comment, in a clear indication of what he thinks Blues coach Laurie Daley should do.
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When considering the form of Tedesco, Ivan went back to the time Edwards replaced him in the 2024 series.
“I said this a couple of weeks ago, Teddy’s playing incredible footy but he always has,” he said.
“There was a decision made for Dyl to come in and replace him. Since then he hasn’t done much wrong, he was part of the team that won the series in 2024.
“Last year he came in off the back of shoulder surgery, in fairness I probably pushed him too early and he struggled a bit. Still you wouldn’t say the series was lost because of him and he still ended up playing in a prelim and made the Australian team.
“This year he’s prepared like he probably has years ago and he’s been one of our best top three players every week.
“He presides over the best defensive team from five of the last six years, that’s probably something you wouldn’t notice.”
“Have I talked him up enough?” he added with a laugh.
Ivan went on to say the conundrum for Daley is a “good problem” but Edwards is right now close to career best form.