Here is the cusp of an elimination final, against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland, a destination unimaginable after a horror start to the campaign. Cleary describes the Bathurst disaster as the turning point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the line-in-the-sand moment; we were just so kind of disgusted with how it was going, we just had to be real with ourselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe boys, to their credit, kind of took over from there. We all had a chat. It\u2019s easy to say [it\u2019s] the old honesty session, but the reality was that\u2019s where we were.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t like where we were, and there\u2019s only one way to fix it up, and that\u2019s to go and do something about it. To the players\u2019 credit and staff, that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Success, particularly the unprecedented type the Panthers have enjoyed during their storied run, can breed complacency. For the opening half of the season, the club was resting on its laurels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we were doing that, subtly,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t say it was something that we\u2019re talking about all the time, but we were probably getting sucked into that vortex of self-pity and just validation of why it can\u2019t keep going.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I said, we turned things around, and fortunately, we got on a bit of a roll, and here we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It is a pointer to the depth of the roster that a player of Tom Jenkins\u2019 quality – he has scored 13 tries, averages 150 run metres, and made 21 appearances in his breakout NRL season – can\u2019t crack the best 17. They will travel across the Tasman as firm favourites against a Warriors outfit that has overcome its own struggles to make the finals, most notably injuries to stars Mitch Barnett and Luke Metcalf.<\/p>\n
On the eve of the post-season, the Panthers released a new slogan for their finals campaign: Never before.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a pointer to the challenge of winning a premiership from outside the top four, a feat never achieved in the NRL era. For a side that has already redefined what is possible when constrained by the salary cap, it\u2019s an opportunity to achieve yet another piece of history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat will be will be,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n