Ivan Cleary isn’t massive on specializing in exterior motivators and doesn’t wish to begin now as Penrith attempt to kickstart their NRL season after an opening-round loss.
But the Panthers coach couldn’t ignore a none-too-subtle sledge from South Sydney star Latrell Mitchell forward of a Thursday night time blockbuster.
Mitchell declared there have been “cracks in the windscreen” following Penrith’s spherical 1 loss to the Broncos and a post-match blow-up between teammates Jarome Luai and Jaeman Salmon.
That stoush was performed down, however when added to the low season departures of a raft of stars, and a house loss to a Brisbane facet that didn’t make the finals final 12 months Souths, who took down Cronulla in spherical 1, have sensed a weak point to use.
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“I think there’s a few cracks in the windscreen,” Mitchell, who himself is underneath an harm cloud forward of the sport, advised Nine News.
“So I think we can exploit them and go from there.”
When contemplating Mitchell’s sledge on Wednesday morning, Cleary conceded it may very well be a think about his facet’s effort.
“I don’t think we need the extra motivation, but yeah, potentially, that could,” he mentioned.
“At the moment we are really just focusing on getting our own game right and going after the game and seeing it as a great opportunity to get our season going.
“Each season is full of challenges, whether you’re winning or you’re not.”
The premiership winner coach conceded the argument between Luai and Salmon “wasn’t a great look” however was addressed and put within the context it must be seen in by him and the gamers concerned.
“We had a chat – got them in the headmaster’s office – the situation was quite humorous… but we can all see how it wasn’t a great look,” Cleary mentioned.
“It was just a bit of frustration but nothing more than that. You want them to compete hard and that’s what they were doing.
Cleary dismissed suggestions his side was on the wane after back-to-back premierships, but they needed to be much better than they were against Brisbane last week.
“I don’t think so, we’ve have a good pre-season, but it’s been short,” he mentioned.
“We’ve done plenty of things right … we did last week, just not to the standard that we want.”
Despite issues over a knee difficulty, Mitchell mentioned he could be “all sweet” to play Penrith.
“It’s all precautionary, it’s all good, it’s all sweet, I finished the game and kicked a field goal so it must be all right,” Mitchell mentioned after finishing coaching on Tuesday.
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
