Penrith are in the perfect position to achieve a three-peat in the next few months, and their upcoming post-Origin boost should have their NRL rivals feeling concerned.
After getting through another gruelling State of Origin period, the reigning premiers sit atop the NRL ladder and will welcome back a host of key names in the coming weeks, headlined by star halfback Nathan Cleary.
The side's performance on Sunday afternoon against a brave Dolphins outfit kept them in first place, with gun centre Izack Tago proving why he was in the mix for his own NSW Origin debut in recent weeks.
Speaking to the media post-game, Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary admitted he was pleased by the side's effort, with both Tago and rookie winger Tom Jenkins both crossing for two tries apiece.
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“I wasn’t surprised that they made us work for it – we knew that was the kind of game it was gonna be," he said.
"It wasn’t our greatest performance, but I thought we certainly showed a lot of the stuff that we value. I thought it was a really good win from a young team with inexperienced guys. It backed up the coach’s decisions to rest the Origin boys, so that’s what I was pretty happy with as well.
"Tags has been killing it lately and going really well, so I’m really happy for him. I thought Dylan Edwards has been tremendous today and in that whole time as well.
“I was really happy for ‘the milk’ [Jenkins] – he’s been really patient. He has been with us maybe three years and played really well at Cup level and today was his best game I thought by a fair way.
"He really took the opportunity and that’s what you want, with Izack Tago on the right side against The Hammer [Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow] and big [Valynce] Te Whare, that’s a bit of a handful there. I thought our boys did a really good job there."
Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary set to return in Round 21
With five wins from six games throughout the Origin period, Penrith will now head into the run home with a relatively full-strength squad at their disposal.
The impending return of Cleary in the No.7 jumper will be the biggest boost, with his father and coach revealing he was originally pencilled in for a comeback against the Dolphins.
“He’ll be right next week... we always slated this week for his return, but it was probably affected a little bit by the bye last week, where everyone was off and he couldn’t train with the rest of the team," he said.
"This week he actually did a lot of team training, probably almost too much, so we just decided it wasn’t worth the risk... next week he goes into a full week with no doubts.
“Our Origin boys are all pretty healthy, so hopefully they are all happy sitting back watching the game today from wherever they are.
"Obviously getting Nathan back next week is a big boost for us too, and we’ve got three home games in a row too.
“It’s sort of like the ‘phase two’ of our season when Origin starts and it’s the third year we’ve been doing it now. That affects a lot of things in and around your preparation and training.
"I think we got five out of six in that period and lost in golden point in the other one. I’m stoked with that, really happy – it’s good for us to kick on into the finals."
Penrith will play five of their remaining seven fixtures at BlueBet Stadium, with Cleary's return set for next Sunday's clash with Canterbury.
