'Turned a corner': Ivan Cleary's bold declaration as Panthers return to top-eight
Ivan Cleary has declared his Panthers side have "turned a corner" after they climbed into the top eight for the first time this season.
Plum last less than a month ago, the Panthers were elevated to sixth on the live ladder after beating the Warriors 28-18 in Auckland for a third straight win.
And they did it without any of their Origin stars. The club elected against making Nathan Cleary, Brian To'o, Dylan Edwards, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo take the seven-hour plus journey from Perth.
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It was much of the same starting line up as the one that got pummeled 25-6 by the Knights in Bathurst ahead of Origin I, which dropped the four-time reigning premiers to the bottom of the ladder.
Blaize Talagi and his Panthers teammates celebrating after he scored in the second half. Getty
"It was a great win and a great performance, (but) I'd just like to look at is as a thing on its own," Cleary said after the match.
"There's just such a long way to go, we'll finish where we deserve. Our performances at the start of the year didn't deserve to win games and we weren't.
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"I think we've learned a few things and we've turned a corner in that sense in terms of how we prepare ourselves.
"We're playing a better brand of footy, so we're at least giving ourselves a chance."
Coach Ivan Cleary and acting Panthers skipper Mitch Kenny speaking to media after Penrith's win over the Warriors in Auckland. Nine
Thomas Jenkins put his side on the board first in the 17th minute, before the Warriors hit back to take a 6-4 lead three minutes later.
Scott Sorensen scored in the 38th minute to give his side an 8-6 lead into the break after stand-in kicker Paul Alamoti missed both conversion attempts.
The Warriors took the lead early in the second half, but as the injuries started to take a toll on the hosts, Sorensen scored a second before two more tries to Blaize Talagi and Alamoti iced it.
Moala Graham-Taufa – who had earlier been involved in a nasty friendly-fire head clash with Marata Niukore – scored a late consolation try for the hosts.
"We did enough to win," Cleary added.
"It was a performance we know deep down wasn't perfect, but we can be proud of what we did."
The Panthers host the ladder-leading Bulldogs at CommBank Stadium next week and then have the bye before Origin III.
