\u2018Matty & Cronk\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cThe fact that it is predictable, teams can still not stop it. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Cody Walker and Alex Johnston were carving up, I could have told you exactly what was happening in their play. Two across the field, one-out runners coming back for Cody and Alex Johnston still scored five tries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not what you do. It\u2019s how you do things.\u201d<\/p>\n
And at the moment, as Matty Johns put it, \u201ceveryone is in their right spots\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSuddenly, their attack is really synchronised again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Penrith down Souths to continue streak | 02:40<\/p>\n
Looking specifically at the development of Penrith\u2019s three new faces on the left edge, McLean in particular has come a long way since the start of the season when he was struggling to draw and pass, while the increased physicality of defending in the NRL was also a challenge.<\/p>\n
He was dropped from the first-grade side after the Round 8 loss to Manly in what the 19-year-old described as a much-needed \u201creset\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think I was kind of too overwhelmed with what was happening and stuff… it kind of let me create my own path and just go the way that I wanted to go,\u201d McLean said. <\/p>\n
That included a standout game against the Bulldogs and former Panther Stephen Crichton, who was expected to teach his much younger opposite number a lesson but was instead kept quiet in an 8-6 Penrith win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was going to be a tough challenge going against Critta,\u201d McLean said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s kind of set a basis for all centres around the league… he\u2019s obviously in the position he is in for a reason. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo I just wanted to live up to that expectation, holding a good matchup against him, which I think I\u2019ve done, but honestly there\u2019s still a lot more to grow in my game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Casey McLean and Tom Jenkins have become a lethal combination. (Photo by Darrian Traynor\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
That game showed just how far McLean and Jenkins had come as a defensive combination, perfectly picking their moments to jam in and wrap up Crichton. <\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t moments where one came in and the other stayed back. The trust, as McLean said earlier, was there.<\/p>\n
Jenkins, meanwhile, has been a revelation after managing just six games in his two years with Penrith\u2019s NRL squad between 2022 and 2023. <\/p>\n
That prompted the versatile outside back to look elsewhere, landing at Newcastle where he played only five games before returning home to emerge as a key piece of Penrith\u2019s backline. <\/p>\n
While Turuva and Brian To\u2019o always pumped out the metres for the Panthers, they sorely lacked a true aerial threat and were often targeted by opposition teams accordingly.<\/p>\n
But now in Jenkins, Penrith has its own target for Cleary. A well-kept secret in some regards.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe always has been (great in the air),\u201d Tago said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think when he was here last time he didn\u2019t play a lot of NRL so everyone else didn\u2019t see it but we knew it and now that he\u2019s back we\u2019re starting to find him a lot more often and he\u2019s a dangerous threat there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jenkins is a much-needed aerial threat. (Photo by Darrian Traynor\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
As for Talagi, he only got his first start in the 30-12 loss to the Dolphins and in some ways is in a similar situation to the one Cleary found himself in his early years at Penrith.<\/p>\n
Of course, Cleary isn\u2019t in the final years of his career like James Maloney was, but the challenge for Talagi has been not just picking his moments to chime in but even commanding the ball at times while playing next to the league\u2019s best halfback.<\/p>\n
Panthers great Mark Geyer said back in 2020 that Cleary at times \u201cshowed too much respect\u201d to Maloney and while Talagi won\u2019t be moving out of his halves partner\u2019s shadow any time soon, he has grown in confidence as the season has progressed. <\/p>\n
That has been evident in the way he is engaging the line more and throwing passes like the no-look one that put Jenkins over against the Tigers last week. <\/p>\n
Although coach Cleary told reporters earlier in the year that one thing he noticed in the 20-year-old when recruiting him was that he was \u201cnot afraid of the moment\u201d.<\/p>\n
Blaize Talagi has come a long way. (Photo by Phil Walter\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it was a real growing season for him and so much (room) to grow in the years to come, which is exciting,\u201d Cleary said at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe definitely puts himself out there. He\u2019s not afraid of the moment. He\u2019s a tough kid and he\u2019s really happy and willing to learn. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows he\u2019s not going to get it all right, it doesn\u2019t worry him. We obviously saw a lot in him and thought he could do well in our system.\u201d<\/p>\n
While there was a point in time when it made sense for Penrith to move on from Maloney and let Cleary take over, this is obviously far removed from that situation. <\/p>\n
Plus, Cronk said he can even see the impact of Cleary\u2019s mentorship in the way Talagi\u2019s ball-playing and running game has evolved this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing things that I can see in his performances have been coached by Nathan,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n
So, the development of Penrith\u2019s younger and more inexperienced players has certainly coincided with its recent run of form. But what else has changed on a broader scale?<\/p>\n
Cleary chats unlocking Blaize | 01:39<\/p>\n
\u2018WASN\u2019T HAPPENING 12 WEEKS AGO\u2019: A TRANSFORMATION IN NUMBERS <\/p>\n
After that 36-2 loss to the Panthers last week, Benji Marshall admitted the Tigers were taught a lesson. <\/p>\n
\u201cOn game management, field position and kicking,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing with Penrith is they don\u2019t beat themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which was true on Saturday night. The Panthers completed 37 of their 42 sets and only conceded two penalties. But earlier in the year it was a different story. <\/p>\n
Take the 28-18 loss to the Rabbitohs, which saw the defending premiers fall behind 28-0 at halftime. They completed at just 50 per cent in the first half and conceded five penalties.<\/p>\n
After that Round 12 loss to the Knights, Penrith\u2019s 78.6 per cent completion rate ranked 11th-worst in the league and their 11.1 errors per game were the 14th most. <\/p>\n
They were only conceding 5.7 penalties, which was the seventh-best mark in the league, but the bigger issue was the area Penrith was giving them up in.<\/p>\n
The Panthers struggled earlier in the year.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
Far too often, the Panthers were gifting the opposition cheap field position either in the form of yardage penalties or errors deep inside their own half. <\/p>\n
It continually tested a defensive line which, with new combinations, was just not capable of absorbing the same kind of pressure as Penrith\u2019s premiership-winning teams of the past. <\/p>\n
Eighteen of Penrith\u2019s 46 tries conceded up until that point came directly off penalties, which ranked tied third-worst in the league along with Parramatta. <\/p>\n
Now, while the cheap errors and penalties were causing all kinds of problems, it is not as if discipline hadn\u2019t been an issue for previous Panthers teams. <\/p>\n
The ball-handling has been largely perfect, with Penrith ranking first or second in completion rate in three of its four premiership-winning seasons.<\/p>\n
But they conceded on average the fourth-most penalties last year and the eighth-most in 2022.<\/p>\n
Opposition teams were enjoying the same sort of field position, they just weren\u2019t as efficient in converting those opportunities into tries. <\/p>\n
That, of course, points to those new edge combinations being a work in progress but in reality, Penrith\u2019s split of tries up until Round 12 was split pretty evenly across the board with 20 on the left and 19 on the right. <\/p>\n
“I’d be happy to make the top 8!” | 06:21<\/p>\n
So that seems to suggest that the level of effort and scramble that was previously the cornerstone of the Panthers\u2019 success had taken a serious dip. <\/p>\n
Defence is about attitude and maybe playing away from their home at Penrith and at Commbank Stadium, where crowd numbers were down and the atmosphere was nowhere near as daunting as it was at a sold-out BlueBet stadium, was a factor.<\/p>\n
After all, Penrith\u2019s recent run of form has coincided with grudge games against its three Western Sydney rivals. <\/p>\n
Whatever the reason may be, the defensive turnaround has allowed the Panthers to get back into the grinding style of football that won them four-straight premierships.<\/p>\n
The Tigers were the latest victim of it, with Marshall telling reporters in his post-game press conference that his team were \u201cstrangled to death\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were outstanding,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just kept putting pressure on us, hence why they\u2019ve won four competitions in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Panthers have turned their season around.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
But earlier in the year when they were falling behind quickly like they did against the Knights, Rabbitohs and Dolphins, it forced the Panthers to go away from what worked. The fact they went from throwing the most general passes in play between Rounds 1 and 12 (125.2) to throwing the eighth-most (107) proves it. <\/p>\n
They started chasing points, abandoning the far more simple and direct approach that had won them so many games in the first place. <\/p>\n
And one thing that has perhaps been underrated in their run since 2020 is the fact the Panthers have done it without the top-end speed that some of the league\u2019s other best attacking teams have. <\/p>\n
There is no Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Kaeo Weekes or Alofiana Khan-Pereira. No easy button to press when they needed to chase points. <\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t necessarily matter when the Panthers were ahead but those moments were few and far between in the opening half of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Now the Panthers are generating their own speed. Not with pure pace out wide but at the play-the-ball, rolling up the field and scoring tries like the one McLean did against the Tigers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat play-the-ball speed wasn\u2019t happening 12 weeks ago,\u201d Cronk said.<\/p>\n
“We got strangled!” – Benji on Panthers | 04:08<\/p>\n
THE SAME INGREDIENTS ARE THERE… BUT IS THERE ENOUGH GAS IN THE TANK?<\/p>\n
Of course, as much as plenty has changed for the Panthers in the two months since that loss in Bathurst, there are other things that have stayed the same. <\/p>\n
Like Dylan Edwards consistently bouncing off tackles. Fifteen times it was in the win over the Rabbitohs. You can add seven more in against the Tigers, along with 273 run metres.<\/p>\n
Edwards battled his way through a groin injury earlier in the year but now, over four months removed from the worst of it, Cronk said Penrith\u2019s fullback \u201clooks fitter\u201d and is moving \u201cso much better\u201d than he was in the first half of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re a gun halfback, if you know what you\u2019re going to get from your fullback it makes your job so much easier,\u201d the Hall of Fame halfback added.<\/p>\n
It also makes your job so much easier when you have a lock forward who is more like a third playmaker in the red zone. <\/p>\n
That is the gravitational pull that comes with the subtle ball-playing of Isaah Yeo. The way he manipulates the defensive line with just one flick of a wrist, opening up the space and time for Cleary to do the rest. <\/p>\n
And going back to Edwards, he isn\u2019t the only one in Penrith\u2019s back five pumping out the metres every week. Brian To\u2019o is obviously a tackle-busting machine but Jenkins, McLean and Izack Tago all topped 100 metres in last week\u2019s win over the Tigers as well.<\/p>\n
Dylan Edwards is Mr. Reliable. Picture: NRL Photos\/Gregg PorteousSource: The Daily Telegraph<\/p>\n
It is like a fighter and their jab. They won\u2019t get the finish right away but throw enough, bend the line enough times, drag enough defenders with you, and the opposition will eventually wear down. <\/p>\n
Mix in the occasional left hook or straight hand upstairs in the form of a charging run from Luron Patea off the bench and suddenly you\u2019re just 30 metres out, and then the knockout punch comes in the form of a perfectly-timed kick like the one Cleary delivered for Tago on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
It is the beauty of playing behind such a well-oiled machine like the one Ivan Cleary is running at Penrith. Cronk had a similar experience at Melbourne playing with Cameron Smith.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the same,\u201d the four-time premiership winner said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really have to worry about plays one to three because I knew it was under control with Cameron. He would take us to the field position. He could do whatever he wants to get there, and I could start looking at the outside defence… so I had an idea what my kick option was going to be, and then when I get the ball, I\u2019m in the best spot for the backrower or Billy to be around. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo there\u2019s a freedom in allowing people to do their job and when they do it at the highest level like Dylan Edwards, as a halfback it helps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo. (Photo by Cameron Spencer\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Whether it, along with the development of new faces like Talagi, Jenkins and McLean, will be enough to see Penrith win a fifth-straight premiership remains to be seen. <\/p>\n
The fact the Panthers are in such a strong position to contend for another title despite not having the same points buffer during the Origin period is incredible in itself.<\/p>\n
Yeo admitted earlier in the month that it was \u201cridiculous\u201d that the Panthers suddenly found themselves on the edge of the top four given where they started.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say you were confident and still believed somewhat you could achieve (it) through the season when you\u2019re sitting in last place, but I still felt like we had that in us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like we were having to learn things on the run that we hadn\u2019t had to learn over previous seasons. Whether that was being down on confidence or new boys coming into the system, it was always going to take time \u2014 which it does every season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards, meanwhile, said the \u201cadversity\u201d the team went through would only help the club\u2019s younger players like McLean and Talagi in what will \u201chopefully be really long careers\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey learned some tough lessons early,\u201d the Panthers fullback said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey sort of had to ride that wave and come out the other side, and they\u2019re still learning but they\u2019re playing really good footy at the moment and working hard towards it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question, of course, is whether the Panthers will have it in them for one final push come September, with Cronk admitting the \u201cenergy tank could be zapped at any stage\u201d.<\/p>\n
But if they do, considering the way they started and the position coach Cleary found himself in after that Knights game, Johns went as far as to say it may be his \u201ccrowning glory\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It certainly felt like the end. Like this champion team, once an impenetrable fortress, was on its last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-31264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}