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Andrew Johns has called on Nathan Cleary to scale back his play and dumb down the Penrith Panthers’ attack until his teammates get up to speed with NRL level. The Panthers slumped to a fourth-straight loss in Round 5, sending them crashing to 15th on the ladder with a 1-4 record.
Cleary had his hands all over the Panthers’ attack last Friday night against the Cowboys, touching the ball a mountain of times. But they only managed three tries in a 22-18 loss.
Their attack doesn’t seem to the be the problem, with Ivan Cleary’s side scoring an average of 24 points per game. They lost games to the Roosters and Storm in which they scored 32 and 24 points respectively
However they’ve only scored 18 in each of their previous two losses, and NRL Immortal Johns believes Cleary needs to slow things down and get on his teammates’ level – rather than the other way around. Legendary halfback Johns believes Cleary is expecting too much of his fellow backs and needs to realise that people like Jarome Luai aren’t there anymore.
The challenge for Nathan is the younger players don’t see the game like him,” Johns said on Channel 9’s coverage. “He’s still seeing the game like when he’s had all the superstars in those key positions.
“He has to come back (to their level) for a while until these younger players get used to the speed of the game, handling pressure, playing under fatigue. Because they’re not up to his fitness level or his mental strength … they don’t see the game like him. So he’s got to pull it back.”
Blaize Talagi to come into calculations for Dolphins game
Jack Cole is still finding his feet an NRL level and has performed commendably as Luai’s replacement at five-eighth. But the youngster will miss Thursday night’s game against the Dolphins due to concussion, which might force the coach’s hand with Blaize Talagi.
so far in 2025, and has only played one NRL game this year. He was forced to fill-in in the halves when Cleary was concussed against Melbourne in Round 3, and performed well alongside Cole.
But Ivan Cleary went with Trent Toelau as his starting halfback against Souths the following week, leaving Talagi out once again. But with Cole sidelined and Toelau now injured, Ivan will have to decide whether Talagi or Brad Schneider plays No.6 alongside Nathan against the Dolphins.
