{"id":133634,"date":"2021-09-24T02:54:56","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T02:54:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=133634"},"modified":"2021-09-24T05:57:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T05:57:45","slug":"cleary-lashes-completely-unfair-trainer-saga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=133634","title":{"rendered":"Cleary lashes 'completely unfair' trainer saga"},"content":{"rendered":"

A relaxed, yet clearly annoyed, Ivan Cleary has shrugged off questions about 'Trainergate' ahead of the Panthers' preliminary final clash with the Storm<\/a> tomorrow afternoon.<\/p>\n

When asked who would be replacing suspended trainer Peter Green<\/a> for the game against the Storm, Cleary chuckled.<\/p>\n

"Do you guys really care, honestly?" he replied.<\/p>\n

"We've patched our medical staff up, just like the rest of the team."<\/p>\n

Cleary was adamant that Penrith have not been bogged down by that controversy, which has dragged on through the week across both traditional and social media platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, his hackles were raised by some of the coverage, which has focused heavily on Green, having earlier this season been involved in another incident that drew a warning from the NRL.<\/p>\n

"It hasn't been disruptive at all," Cleary said.<\/p>\n

"We feel bad for both of our trainers involved, one of which was named and shamed which I just think is completely unfair."<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> The recent Storm blip everyone's forgotten<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Rabbitohs 'undersold' and Bennett doesn't get it<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the NRL announced Green been suspended for the remainder of the season, and the club had been fined $25,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"We kind of understand how [the NRL] came to that conclusion but at the end of the day, they were just doing their job," Cleary said.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

Although bench hooker Mitch Kenny will miss tomorrow's game, Cleary said both Brian To'o and Villiame Kikau, who remained under injury clouds, would play.<\/p>\n

"He [To'o] looks really good this week. Billy looks good too," Cleary said.<\/p>\n

\"Brian<\/p>\n

The Origin winger missed the win over the Eels with an ankle issue, but Cleary said that with bigger games on the horizon, it was more precautionary than anything else.<\/p>\n

"He could have played last week but we actually pulled him out," he said.<\/p>\n

"It's going to be a big benefit for him and he looks completely different this week."<\/p>\n

Melbourne will be fresh after a week off, following a comfortable win over Manly a fortnight ago<\/a>. Opinions have always been divided on whether that precious week off is actually beneficial for teams.<\/p>\n

\"Immortal<\/p>\n

"I guess we'll find out around 5.30 on Saturday," Cleary said when asked for his view.<\/p>\n

"It's the question that's asked every year that never properly gets answered, I don't think.<\/p>\n

"Both have their advantages, we certainly went into the first week of the finals with the desire and the intent to win that game."<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Broncos' big signing coup as 2022 squad builds<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Rabbitohs 'undersold' and Bennett doesn't get it<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The coach said his team were hardened physically and mentally and had no concerns relate to fatigue, despite the frantic pace that the team has played at year – particularly in defence.<\/p>\n

"I'm not worried about being tired, at all. There's been absolutely no signs of that in this team for two years," Cleary said.<\/p>\n

"They've gone through a couple of tough encounters for sure, yes we've had a few injuries, but there's no signs of tiredness. I do think we're battle-hardened."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A relaxed, yet clearly annoyed, Ivan Cleary has shrugged off questions about 'Trainergate' ahead of the Panthers' preliminary final clash with the Storm tomorrow afternoon. […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133636,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133634\/revisions\/133636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}