You could almost actually see the cogs spinning behind Nathan Clearyโs eyes as the dressing room cameras zoomed in on the Panthers playmaker.
Sat in the bowels of Commbank Stadium after being rumbled by the Roosters last Thursday night, Cleary stewed and stared into space.
One of the underrated aspects of this Penrith dynasty has been their ability to recalibrate when a rival finds a chink in their armour.
Two months before their 2024 grand final win over Melbourne, the Storm did a number on Brian Toโo โ scoring two tries from kicks aimed towards the pint-sized powerhouse in a late-season upset.
When the decider rolled around, the Panthers returned the favour, smothering the Stormโs two-metre wide men once theyโd landed, effectively nullifying their aerial threat.
Melbourne are the opponents once more this Thursday, and Cleary โ possessor of one of the most meticulous minds rugby league has known โ will have been replaying that Roosters loss for a week.
The Tricoloursโ breakthrough 12-6 win featured the same miserly goal line defence that was the hallmarks of premierships in 2018 and 2019 under Trent Robinson.
Penrith had no less than 48 tackles inside the Roostersโ 20-metre zone โ a full eight sets of six in prime attacking territory โ but without talismanic skipper Isaah Yeo, finished with just one try.
Cleary tried everything. His 84 handles of the ball were a decent increase on his average of 64 the past three years. Twenty-one runs at the line, with 11 of those ending in Cleary being dragged down by the defence, was too much for fellow champion No.7 Andrew Johns.
โI know he wants to work on his running game without Isaah Yeo there, but heโs got to pick his times better because heโs such a target,โ Johns said afterwards.
Without Yeo playing as an indomitable link man and run threat, the Roosters โ in particular Sam Walker and to a lesser extent, halves partner Daly Cherry-Evans โ regularly raced up on Cleary.
Not all of it was legal. The Roostersโ desperate goal line efforts had the same touch of dark arts as their 2018-19 titles.
Six times they were pinged by referee Adam Gee for being offside or infringing in the ruck within 10 metres of their tryline.
That doesnโt include the 30th-minute intercept Walker pinched by standing smack bang in the middle of Penrithโs offensive line before the ball had cleared the ruck, because Gee missed it.
But just as the Panthers have pushed the six-again envelope when opposition teams have been coming out of trouble, the Roosters found fortune doing the same on their own line.
And without Yeo adding depth to Penrithโs play, or the added ball-running threat of Blaize Talagi on the left edge, the Roosters zeroed in on Cleary.
Lindsay Smith eventually moved more and more into first receiver as the Panthers attack struggled to make inroads, and he ended up providing their only try with an out-of-the-box offload for Moses Leota.
The real fun of Thursdayโs clash against Melbourne is that it was the Storm who first went after Cleary like Berserkers.
With the greatness in his game truly emerging in 2020, Melbourne swarmed him in his first grand final and forced from Cleary one of the worst performances of his career.
Prop Christian Welch, leader of their kick pressure, repeated the tactic a month later in Queenslandโs upset Origin series win. He still thanks Herald scribe Roy Masters for pointing it out and bumping up the value of his next contract.
This yearโs Storm vintage โ particularly in defence on their edges โ is not what it once was. Neither are the Bulldogs, who Penrith host next week.
At their best, both have the defensive DNA to truly test Cleary, to rush and rumble him as the Panthers adapt to life without Yeo โ however long that lasts.
Any adjustment to Clearyโs game will surely be a subtle one. At first glance, a slight rebalancing of powers between the attacking quartet he shares with Dylan Edwards, Jack Cogger and now Smith might be all it takes.
After a few short turnarounds with travel days built in over the past few weeks, theyโll be better for a proper weekโs worth of field work.
Especially when those cogs behind Clearyโs eyes have been spinning all the while.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
Dan Walsh is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
About the Author
