'I've seen that before': Cleary kickstarts Panthers' season

“I’ve seen that before”.

Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards uttered those words to Nathan Cleary as he raced over to congratulate the playmaker for a brilliant individual try against the Broncos as the four-time premiers kickstarted their finals campaign in Magic Round.

Cleary revived memories of his match winning performance against Brisbane in the 2023 grand final as he produced a masterclass to propel Penrith to an emphatic 32-8 win at Suncorp Stadium.

And he scored a try just before halftime that was a virtual carbon copy of his try in the premiership decider, in which he received the ball on the left side of the ruck and stepped infield before beating his opposite number Adam Reynolds.

“As I scored Dyl actually came up to me and said, ‘oh, I've seen that before’. I don’t know, it's obviously in different circumstances, but there's similarities,” Cleary said.

Having a hand in each of Penrith’s four other tries and kicking a 40/20, Cleary’s return to his best gave team-mates confidence and would have pleased NSW Origin coach Laurie Daley.

With Cleary producing a masterclass, the NRL’s last placed side heading into Magic Round looked more like the Panthers that fans have become accustomed to watching since 2020.

“I felt good, obviously,” Cleary said. “I hadn't been playing the way I wanted and with the results it's been disappointing, but in saying that I thought us as a group, and myself individually, were doing all the right things.

“Our preparation was good, it just wasn't happening how we’d like, so I took confidence out of that.

“We came up here on a pretty big stage in a full stadium, and against a team that is a very good team, so we knew we had to show up and thankfully we did. In saying that, you can't fall in love with yourselves.”

Less than 48 hours after Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson delivered high praise for James Tedesco, Penrith’s Ivan Cleary sat in the same press conference room and marvelled at the performance of his superstar son.

Asked about comparisons between Nathan’s Magic Round try and his try in the grand final, Ivan said: “Watching it from the same position, it was exactly the same. So that was a good omen”.

“It was good to see him play well,” Ivan said. “I feel like he has been playing well anyway. As a team we haven’t been clicking together or functioning as well as we could, but we are still trying to find our way.”

Panthers co-captain Isaah Yeo said team-mates grew in confidence after Cleary kicked a 40/20 that led to rookie forward Luron Patea scoring to break an 8-8 deadlock in the 37th minute.

“It just helps in the moments, doesn’t it," Yeo said. “He has been playing well but obviously off the back of losses that’s probably where the question marks happen.

“He was a part of all the big moments tonight, which is nice. I thought defensively, his edge and he himself was really good. He is picking his moments, the 40/20 was big and his kicking game ...”

Edwards, the Kangaroos and Blues fullback, was also back to his best as he seeks to stave off a challenge from Tedesco for the NSW No.1 Origin jersey he wrested from the Roosters captain last year.

While Robinson was full of praise for Tedesco after the Roosters' defeat of the Dolphins on Friday night, Cleary backed his Panthers team-mate.

“I think Dyl showed last year just how good he is, and I thought he'd show it again tonight on a pretty big stage, as well,” Cleary said.

“We were just talking out there with some of the other boys and it just felt like he was everywhere tonight.

“There were times where [Adam] Reynolds or [Ben] Hunt put in early kicks and Dyl would just come out of nowhere and save the day, so I thought he was definitely at his best.”

Asked if the win against the Broncos would kick start Penrith’s bid for a fifth consecutive premiership, Nathan Cleary said: “It definitely could but it's about what we do with it now and, as I said, not falling in love with ourselves, but taking confidence from it”.

Penrith were under siege before Patea’s try after conceding three six agains, two goal line dropouts and a penalty in succession on their own line.

Reynolds kicked a 31st minute penalty goal but the Broncos did not score again.  

“In weeks previous teams attacking our line have scored pretty easily, so we definitely took confidence out of that and I think that set us up for the rest of the game," Nathan said.