There’s been plenty of talk about Penrith’s inexperienced left edge defence.
While admitting internal discussions have been had since the 46-26 win over the Bulldogs, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is backing Casey McLean, 19, and Blaize Talagi, 20, to get the job done against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
“I don’t think it’s a real scoop that our left edge gets targeted, it’s been happening for about 20 weeks in a row,” Clearly told the media in Sydney ahead of Sunday’s preliminary final.
“The good thing about those boys is they learn on the run and learn from each situation.”
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Rather than disappointed, Cleary was full of praise for his young duo and suggested they were a big part of the reason the Panthers went into the sheds against the Bulldogs with a commanding 36-8 half-time lead.
“I felt like our left edge was responsible for creating a lot of pressure in the first half, there’s also a bit of context I think, our intensity dropped a bit (in the second half) and theirs picked up, that was all part of it,” Cleary said.
“Putting two rookies next to each other probably wasn’t something in my mind early this season but the way it’s turned out, they’ve grown together Casey and Blaize.
“It’s no real scoop when you look at both of our edges in terms of experience, which edge you might attack, every team’s been doing that,” he said.
“But our boys have learnt through experience and they’re not afraid to make mistakes and learn from that.”
McLean and Talagi were targeted repeatedly against the Bulldogs and seem certain to be tested once again on Sunday with Kotoni Staggs and Reece Walsh no doubt preparing to send plenty of Broncos attack their way.