โWeโve taken snippets from that prelim throughout our pre-season, but no specific focus on watching that game and trying to fuel that fire going into that game [round one].
โJust little focus areas. We didnโt finish the game well enough, and we were probably guilty of that a lot of the time throughout the season โ just staying in that game for the full 80 [minutes].
โThe Broncos, they were the best at it, finishing games and being able to come over the top of teams โฆ weโve addressed that.โ
So, what were the moments that mattered most, the ones Penrith so often nailed throughout their run to four straight titles?
Probably the three sets and 15 straight tackles the Panthers had hammering Brisbaneโs line with 16 minutes to play while holding an eight-point lead.
Both sides favoured their respective left edges last year, which proved among the NRLโs most dangerous: the Broncosโ 65 tries down that channel were the most scored by any team; Penrithโs 54 ranked third in the league.
But the Panthers found no joy hammering Brisbaneโs right side through Casey McLean and Blaize Talagi last September, and went that way too often.
That said, one of Nathan Clearyโs grubbers could easily have ricocheted Penrithโs way instead of Brisbaneโs. And it still took Payne Haasโ otherworldly feat of endurance โ while bleeding like a heavyweight champion โ to snuff out a particularly threatening 66th-minute kick.
Hindsightโs a wonderful thing, especially for sporting hacks. But if Penrith and Cleary had their time again, theyโd have taken the easy penalty shot at goal, and what could have been a 16-6 lead, when Ezra Mam conceded the most blatant of escort penalties in the 61st minute.
Cooper Cronk questioned the decision in commentary as, once again, a left-side shift broke down when Luke Garner couldnโt hang onto Clearyโs short ball.
And with Brisbane riding momentum like no one else in rugby league can, for once, Penrith were unable to pull the game out of the fire. Needing a two-point field goal to force the contest into golden point, the Panthersโ last set went awry.
Clearyโs scramble to get in position left him under pressure and eventually having to find Edwards for a Hail Mary shot โ the final play of Penrithโs season.
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When the champion No.7 botched a clutch field goal attempt in a rare mid-2022 loss to Parramatta, the Herald documented the week of extra practice Cleary spent on long-range drop punts on the training paddock.
With his hamstrings in mind, Cleary has dialled back his days of nigh-obsessive, endless repetitions.
But with an entire summer to consider not winning a premiership for once, and how different things could have been, Cleary snr can see where the Panthersโ heads are at.
โIt was a different feeling last year, for sure,โ he said.
โI feel like there was definitely some fire in that. It certainly looks that way.โ
