Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has described the first half against the Rabbitohs as “comical” and said he “can’t remember” a 40 minutes like that from his side “ever.”
But the four-time premiership-winning coach put his hand up to cop the blame for what was the Panthers’ third-straight loss.
The reigning premiers were blown off the park by the Bunnies, who scored four unanswered tries to go into the break up 28-0.
Although Penrith fought back in the second half to narrow the final scoreline to 28-18, their uncharacteristic start was the story of Thursday night’s game.
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The Panthers completed at 50 per cent, only had 28 per cent of possession, had six errors and conceded five linebreaks in the first half.
When asked if he can remember the last time his side produced a half of footy like that, the coach said: “Can’t remember one ever… no I can’t.”
Cleary also added, “I was trying to work out what I was going to say at half time,” during the ambush.
The result marks three straight losses for the Panthers for the first time since 2019 — they’ve also had noticeably slow starts in their last two games.
While Cleary can’t pinpoint what may be contributing to their slow starts he said: “that’s a good way to lose a game — if you start badly.”
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Cleary conceded the Panthers are lacking “rhythm” at the moment but put the onus on himself.
“It was just one of those games where we made errors, couldn’t defend them, then compounded them, found new ways to make them and came home and won the second half,” he said.
“We just haven’t got any rhythm in the way we’re playing. It’s still early — four weeks in — but until we find some I’ll give you a better understanding of what’s happening.
“I have to take responsibility for how we’re playing. Spirit is still there which is good but we just haven’t got any rhythm in our games yet for whatever reason.
“But we’re going to need to find it pretty soon. Once we get that we’ll have a better idea of how we’re going.”
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It was an unhappy night overall for the team with Scott Sorensen (head knock), Trent Toelau (knee) and Brian To’o (hamstring) all failing to finish the game.
Penrith also had a Moses Leota try controversially disallowed, however Cleary refused to blame the result on that.
“I honestly thought it was a try and it would’ve been very handy but maybe that was just the night,” he said.
“At the end of the day we cost ourselves too many points in the first half… and you just got to get those calls and get those things right in the second half.
“That definitely killed our momentum a bit but at the end of the day we’re responsible, I’m responsible for the performance. The first half was just comical at some points.”
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Granted the Panthers have lost a stack of talent this season in Jarome Luai, Sunia Turuva and James Fisher-Harris, while Nathan Cleary (head knock) and Dylan Edwards (groin) missed the Round 4 clash.
But Cleary declared their start to the year has “got nothing to do with the players out” and remains “optimistic” that the Panthers will get back to their usual gritty style of footy soon.
“We’ve had four completely different games so it’s been hard to get a handle on what’s going on,” he said.
“In the past that’s been our strength, we played consistent football week-in, week-out.
“Admittedly at the start of each year you’re not always at your best and this is just one of those years.
“We definitely haven’t found anywhere near our best footy but we’ve shown glimpses of it. I’m very optimistic in that sense
“You haven’t seen the real us yet. Once we do you can start making judgments.”
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