Winger Jacob Kiraz has revealed he is happy to keep playing with painkilling injections as a patched-up Canterbury turn to a barely tested halves combination of Lachlan Galvin and Toby Sexton to save their NRL season.<\/p>\n
Sitting last on the ladder after 12 rounds with just three on the board, the defeat to the Knights, who would eventually claim the wooden-spoon, was the point of no return for the Panthers.<\/p>\n
“We were all so embarrassed about ourselves after that game and we took it upon ourselves to make a change,” Panthers squad member Daine Laurie said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Cleary gathered his players together at their training ground the following week and told them in no uncertain terms what they were dishing up was not good enough.<\/p>\n
They proceeded to win nine straight matches, including a 48-12 away win over the Knights in round 23, before finishing the minor premiership in seventh place on the ladder.<\/p>\n
“He (Cleary) sat us down and had a good talk with us \u2014 that was our line in the sand,” Panthers back-rower Isaiah Papali’I said about the round-12 loss to the Knights.<\/p>\n
“As much as it hurt for us to hear it, we knew where he was coming from and we understood where we were at that point.<\/p>\n
“We had to go back to training hard, that’s what has worked here for so long and we had to have a little reminder of what it took to be successful, to find that hard nose about ourselves.”<\/p>\n
‘Brutal reality check’<\/p>\n
Paul Alamoti, described by Panthers co-captain Isaah Yeo this week as the club’s best player in the run to last year’s premiership, was axed following the defeat to the Knights.<\/p>\n
Alamoti won a recall to the wing at the expense of Tom Jenkins for this year’s finals series but the humbling defeat to Newcastle lives on in his memory.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Paul Alamoti (right) played a crucial role in the Panthers’ 2024 premiership win. (Getty Images: Matt King)<\/p>\n
“That was a brutal reality check for myself and the boys,” Alamoti said.<\/p>\n
“Especially for myself, that was a night to forget.<\/p>\n
“It was a blessing in disguise because that was our line in the sand. At that point, we sat dead last.<\/p>\n
“Now we’ve managed to get ourselves back to where we are today.”<\/p>\n
The Panthers play the Bulldogs at Stadium Australia on Sunday afternoon, with the winner to face the Brisbane Broncos in the preliminary finals.<\/p>\n
The Canberra Raiders host Cronulla in the opening semifinal on Friday night for the right to play the Melbourne Storm the following week.<\/p>\n
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