Panthers co-captain ‘a chance’ of playing next game
Jasper Bruce |
Penrith’s top-four push could receive a huge boost with Isaah Yeo revealing there is a chance he returns from a shoulder problem for the Panthers’ next game.
Yeo initially played through the pain of the injury suffered against Gold Coast in round 22 but left the field during the second half of the extra-time win.
He has not featured since, with Penrith tight-lipped on their superstar co-captain’s return date in the two weeks that have followed.
Hunting a fifth consecutive premiership, the Panthers fell from the top four with Thursday night’s loss to Melbourne and face fellow heavyweights Canberra and Canterbury in the next fortnight.
But lock forward Yeo says he could line up in Penrith’s mouth-watering clash with the ladder-leading Raiders on Friday night.
“I’m a chance of playing, I think. My shoulder’s coming along well,” he said on Fox League.
“These are the games you want to be playing at the moment. We’ve got a really tough run at the moment, which is good for us leading into the finals. They’re the ones you want to be out there for.
“I’m trying to get out there.”
Yeo, born and raised in Dubbo, has extra incentive to line up in Mudgee next week.
“It’s a bit of a home game for me too, mum and dad are out there at Mudgee, so that’d be nice, (there’s) a bit of pressure from them,” he said.
Penrith’s loss to the Storm snapped a nine-game winning streak and means the resurgent Panthers will rely on other results falling their way to clinch a top-four finish.
The clearest path for Penrith to rise higher than fifth on the ladder is for the fourth-placed Warriors to lose at least one game.
Yeo said the Panthers were remaining calm after the Melbourne loss, having rediscovered the confidence that eluded them on a poor start to the season.
“If you look at the first half of the season, it’s certainly a place where we were lacking,” he said.
“The way we’ve been preparing for games has been a lot better over this period, and then off the back of that you get results.
“I think it’s trusting that, not sort of panicking because you’ve dropped one there against Melbourne, but just getting back to what we know works, and that’s preparing really well.”
AAP
