Fiji international Sunia Turuva is confident of being fit for Round 1 despite being forced off with an knee injury during Penrith's tense World Club Challenge loss to Wigan.
Turuva pulled up sore after trying to bat a ball in-field and limped off, his team mates looking for him as they created a couple of overlaps when the contest hung in the balance. Tyrone Peachey came off the bench.
“It’s alright,” Turuva told NRL.com after the 16-12 loss at DW Stadium. “I’ve just re-aggravated the knee there but it’s coming right so it should be good.
Man of the match Bevan French on Wigan's victory
“It just couldn’t recover in time [to go back on] but Peach came on and he did a fair job.”
The Panthers are away to Melbourne on March 8, Turuva saying: “I should be sweet, should be good.”
Coach Ivan Cleary explained: “He’s had that problem with his PCL across the pre-season. He’s just stirred that up, hopefully that’s the case.”
The coach also said, in the wake of calls for the WCC to go to a neutral venue, that it belongs in England.
“I thought it was pretty big tonight,” he said. “I thought it was outstanding, I thought it was great for the game. It feels like it was great for the Super League.
“We were happy to come here. I much prefer to come here and lose than not come here at all.
“And I think this is the place for this fixture: in England.”
Nathan Cleary Try
Asked if Las Vegas could be a future venue for the match, he said: “I’ll answer that question next week when everyone goes to Vegas.
“I think we’re the same as everyone. We’ll see what happens.”
Co-captain Nathan Cleary told Sky Sports: “We had opportunities. We didn’t ice them. I was part of a few of those.
“It’s frustrating. It hurts. What can you do? You’ve got to keep moving forwards. Wigan are a great side. They held in there.”
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