With an almost full-strength line up for the first time all season, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has plenty to look forward to ahead of their preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm at Accor Stadium.
Confirming the returns of Jarome Luai and Izack Tago from their respective injuries, it leaves only Taylan May, who ruptured his ACL during the pre-season World Club Challenge, unavailable for Cleary to select due to injury.
It’s a remarkable stroke of luck for the Panthers, who have had the likes of Liam Martin, Nathan Cleary and Mitch Kenny amongst those that have spent time on the sidelines throughout the season. The coach attributed the increase in injuries to last year’s World Cup, however praised the players and staff for their ability to adapt to the situations as they came up.
“It’s something I’m really proud of,” Cleary said.
“The way our staff in particular have handled it, and the boys themselves.
“It’s been a long year, but hasn’t felt that long. I’m so grateful that we’re here, exactly where we want to be and playing in such a big game.”
All systems go for Jarome: Cleary
With Luai returning after dislocating his shoulder in Round 26, Cleary said that it had always been the plan for him to return this weekend.
After four weeks off, Luai is itching to get back out onto the field.
“Pretty much from the day it happened, it was all going to come down to the next scan the next day,” Cleary said.
“Once we got the scan, the news was pretty good.
“This game was always the one that the medical staff planned on him being back for. We just had to get to the game, which we’ve been able to do, so it’s all systems go.
“We’ve seen a lot of guys at this club do some pretty amazing things, so that’s sort of the way these guys like to do it, they like playing. As I said, from the first moment that we got the information, the medical staff were really confident, he was very confident and he’s just put his head down, worked hard and ticked every box this week, so looking forward to having him back in the team.
“He’s a big part of our team, not just the way he plays but the way he connects people around him, brings that urgency to our boys. Everyone’s pretty excited.”
In addition to Luai, Izack Tago also returns to the side after missing the qualifying final against the Warriors following an injury at training.
Tago has had multiple periods on the sideline in 2023 through injury, returning from a hamstring injury in round 27, before another pectoral complaint kept him out of the opening week of the finals.
Cleary confirmed that the injury was only minor and Tago is right to go for the grand final qualifier.
“He’s good,” Cleary said of Tago.
“His [injury] was relatively minor, he just did it during the week. If you do it during the week, it’s hard to play on the weekend. That was one of the beauties of getting the weekend off.
“He was always going to play in this game, but he gets extra training, so it’s been a good preparation for us.”
Even though the returns of Luai and Tago are providing a timely boost for the Panthers, Cleary still praised the efforts of the likes of Jack Cogger, Luke Garner and Tyrone Peachey, as well as the next-man-up mentality through the season.
“I think the main thing here is that we focus on how the players connect as opposed to each player personally what they do,” Cleary said.
“We’ve got great players and great people here and we value them all the same. It’s about how they connect together. That’s helped the players who have been out of the team.
“It’s constant work though. We don’t live in the past. It’s nice to have some experience and that you know how to get things done. But tomorrow’s a new day, a new game, with different circumstances.”
