Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020
A frosty Ivan Cleary post match press conference followed the Penrith Panthers' shock 26 to 12 defeat against the North Queensland Cowboys on Saturday. This result marked a second consecutive upset loss for the reigning champions after falling to the Gold Coast Titans in Round 16.
The veteran coach appeared visibly frustrated during the media briefing at Queensland Country Bank Stadium. He gave short, icy answers as the home side celebrated a monumental victory.
This result impacted the ladder standings significantly, as seen in the Jason Taumalolo 300th Game Victory Inspires North Queensland Cowboys Upset.
When asked for his thoughts on the contest, Ivan Cleary offered a terse opening response. “I don’t have many really, it wasn’t great,” he replied.
Injury Blow and Player Reactions
The coach confirmed that back-rower Isaah Papali'i failed his head injury assessment after a heavy knock. When asked if the forward would miss Round 18, Ivan Cleary answered with a single word: “correct”.
Reporters then turned their questions to star halfback Nathan Cleary to explain the poor performance. The playmaker blamed a lack of concentration and poor ball control for the loss.
Tactical Analysis
“Yeah, it’s just probably lack of concentration, just overplaying a little bit as well,” Nathan Cleary said. “It was disappointing because I thought once we went down to 12, that’s probably our best period, which is saying a lot.”
“Yeah, we just lacked a bit of that hard edge and direct mentality and yeah, it hurt us in the end for sure.” The star also noted that fundamental skill errors killed their field position.
“We’re just killing ourselves, trying to force it a bit and yeah, those errors just gave us no field position, no rhythm,” Nathan Cleary explained. Fans can follow live ladder updates on the official National Rugby League website.
“Probably just fundamental skill really. A lot of the time was yeah, poor passes, poor catches, again trying to force it a bit,” Nathan Cleary added.
“I think yeah, just a bit of a hard edge mentality probably. Probably lacked that across the board and you just can’t do that in NRL and particularly against a strong side like the Cowboys are.”
