“I’m just keen to get back. Hopefully I’m back. If everything goes to plan I’ll be playing Friday. It feels good at the moment and I’ve done all the training.”
Cleary and his teammates gave every indication he would return for round one. It later emerged his replacement, Sean O’Sullivan, had been told before the club’s second trial he would be playing the opening rounds.
“There were no setbacks, it was just a confidence thing, and I wanted to be able to put myself out on the field and be totally confident I can tackle and tackle the way I want to,” Cleary said.
“I wanted to be physical enough to play up to that first-grade standard. Having ‘Sully’ there helped, he’s a great player and gave me the confidence to have a few more weeks off to get it right.
“During that finals series last year there were a couple [of scares] in games and at training, but it feels a lot stronger than it does at the end of last year, which is a positive.”
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Penrith play Canterbury in round five and on paper it looked an easier game for Cleary to return.
“But there are no NRL games where you can ease yourself back into it – every team is coming for us at the moment,” he said. “I feel like I’m ready now, so why not return against Souths.”
Penrith remain the only team unbeaten after three rounds, even though their last two performances have been “ugly wins”. Coach Ivan Cleary even appeared flat after the weekend victory over the Knights, and conceded his side would need to lift against a Souths team coming off a morale-boosting win over the Roosters.
“Souths were really good the other night, that second half of that Melbourne game they clicked into form, then they carried that over to the Roosters,” Nathan said.
“Latrell [Mitchell] has a knack of knowing when to pop up and being dangerous. He’s a great player and it’s hard to take him out of the game [with kicks]. He is good on both sides and I’ll have to do my job defensively.”
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Returning Cleary plays down Walker rivalry in grand final rematch
Source: Philippines Alive
