Panthers coach Ivan Cleary says they can’t solely rely on his star halfback and son Nathan, who still has “a few hoops to jump through” before he’ll be declared fit to play the Roosters in their qualifying final.
The three-time reigning premiers looked anything but convincing on the eve of finals with a scrappy 18-12 win over the 14th-placed Titans on Saturday night.
Nathan is expected to return from a shoulder injury in time to face the Roosters at Penrith Park next weekend, with a spot in the preliminary final on the line.
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“It didn’t look like we wanted it to look like tonight but the main thing was to win the game and we did that,” Ivan said.
“We made way too many errors but we defended well enough for long periods tonight and hopefully that will keep us in good stead.
“Next week is such a great opportunity for us, when the season starts, it’s exactly where you want to be..We fought our way through a long, hard season with many situations and I feel really grateful we can play at home in front of our fans one last time and on such a big occasion.
“I feel like our defence has gotten better recently, which is really important. Finishing with the top (defence in the NRL) this year is really pleasing and something we’re really proud of because it’s necessary in big games.”
Ivan said Nathan still has to pass fit to line up next weekend, but emphasised turning around the attack wouldn’t just rest on the halfback.
“He’s got a few hoops to jump through, but we’re hopeful,” Ivan said of his son.
“(The attack) is his job but we’ve never put it all on one player in our team.
“We have a system… and there’s a few players tonight who need to do their job better and if we get everyone doing their job, we’re a chance.
Des proud Titans challenged Penrith | 03:34
“(The Roosters) have been really good all the way through the year, obviously they have a blue ribbon roster and they’ve got a couple of players missing but there are plenty of good players in that squad.
“Our defence has really improved in the past month or so but our attack tonight didn’t complement it so if we can get both together we’re going to be hard to beat.”
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