‘Not that hard’ for Cleary to bounce back at Panthers
Jasper Bruce |
Nathan Cleary says it won’t be difficult to shake off State of Origin heartbreak once he returns for resurgent Penrith, who will rest players en masse after NSW’s shock loss in the decider.
Second-rower Liam Martin, Brian To’o and Dylan Edwards will all miss Sunday’s grudge match against Parramatta as the Panthers fight to consolidate their top-eight spot with a fifth-straight win.
Martin picked up a minor hand injury in the Blues’ 24-12 loss to Queensland on Wednesday night but scans cleared him of serious injury and he could return against South Sydney next week.
Cleary and fellow Panthers co-captain Isaah Yeo remain in the extended squad so could make a late dash into the gameday 17, with the Eels’ lone Origin player Zac Lomax to back up on the wing.
While most of his NSW teammates were sanguine after fulltime on Wednesday, a crestfallen Cleary spent more than 10 minutes being comforted by his parents as he came to terms with the series defeat.
But Cleary did not expect it would be difficult to dust himself off once he returned for the resurgent Panthers, whether against the Eels or Souths the following week.
“It’s not that hard. You just want to move on, really,” Cleary said.
“Obviously soak in this (Origin loss) and work out what happened and use that as fuel and growth.
“That’s what’s in front of me.”
Elsewhere, Eels coach Jason Ryles has been impressed by Tallyn Da Silva as the highly-rated 20-year-old prepares to play his first game since a mid-season move from Wests Tigers.
“He’s really hungry to learn, he’s really hungry to fit in as best he can and do whatever he can for the team. He’s been great so far,” said the Parramatta coach.
“We know that Tallyn’s not the finished product yet but he’s going to be a work in progress for us and someone that we want to keep here long-term.”
Da Silva shapes as the answer to the Eels’ long-term hooker problem, with the club struggling for stability at No.9 since Reed Mahoney left after the 2022 season.
Parramatta also have Joey Lussick and Brendan Hands on the books but Ryles will favour newly re-signed rookie Ryley Smith as Da Silva’s deputy once he returns from suspension next week.
“You need more than one quality hooker in your club and we’re lucky to have two at the moment,” Ryles said.
“We’ve got some guys there that are fighting it out there as well for that position but going forward Ryley and Tallyn are a really big part of where we want to get to.”
AAP
