29 passes, two kicks, six tries: The evolution behind Penrith’s perfect finals blitz

“It’s been weird the last few weeks, I’ve felt more nerves going into the games, not knowing how we’re going to go,” Nathan Cleary tells Matty Johns with headphones on, microphone in hand.

Jeez Nathan. Lucky for the rest of rugby league you’re still wondering about this Panthers premiership defence.

Genuinely blessed are we, with another Sunday afternoon affair for this Penrith attack, up against a Broncos outfit that has the firepower to match it.

Sunday’s six-try, 40-minute first-half blitz of what was statistically a Bulldogs’ defence that ranked as the best of 2025, was “at least six weeks in the making” according to Ivan Cleary.

The place Penrith’s youngsters like Blaize Talagi and Casey McLean have found within an intricate, all-conquering system was plain for all to see as Canterbury were skewered 38-6 by halftime.

“Blaize is the biggest addition to our spine, the x-factor and running game he brings, he just accelerates everything,” skipper Isaah Yeo says.

Talagi and McLean endured natural teething problems as a left-edge to start 2025, but their confidence is catching.

Penrith has always looked slick when in full swing, but rarely have they swung with abandon like the two plays that led to Brian To’o’s seventh minute try.

A right-side raid isolating Canterbury’s new left-edge defender Toby Sexton first gave Paul Alamoti room to move.

It was followed by a last-tackle, coast-to-coast switch that shifted the ball from one sideline to the other in five passes for To’o to dot down - in other words, an opening exchanges play more akin to the opposite end of the game when points are being chased.

“Our attack has come a long way I think, we’ve had to adapt because defences are so good these days and teams have learned how to defend us a little bit,” Talagi says.

“So we’ve got some new combinations and we’ve been working on timing those plays a fair bit.”

Hooker Mitch Kenny’s reliable and much-improved dummy-half service is key to an attack that still swings with Yeo playing a link man and Cleary the most commanding of on-ball halfbacks.

Yet with superb September conditions for throwing the ball around, Penrith did exactly that. To’o’s second try came via the perfectly timed decoys and dummies that have been the bedrock of four consecutive premierships.

But four-pointers either side to Alamoti, Cleary and Isaiah Papali’i featured more ad-lib play, offloads and off-the-cuff, seat of the pants stuff than Penrith have typically been known for.

In all, the Panthers’ six first-half tries on Sunday came from 29 passes and two kicks across their execution plays - with ball movement aplenty in the lead-up.

Not least perhaps, because Cameron Ciraldo has replicated the Panthers prize-winning defence at Canterbury. And offloads and off-the-cuff play have proven to be one of few means of consistently troubling Penrith.

“Every year things are always going to change a little bit, depending on the personnel… different guys come in with different strengths,” Kenny says.

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“We try to use that and as well as that, people get to know our game pretty well, so we’ve got to evolve, otherwise we won’t get any better.”

Kenny’s own strides are prominent - it’s hard to picture the tradesman No.9 grubbering on the last for Liam Henry’s try in seasons past.

And while Talagi has been Penrith’s fastest learner, and teammates like Yeo love the up-tempo running game he brings, the 20-year-old is actually trying to slow things down when he has ball-in-hand.

“Teams have been getting up on me, pressuring me in defence,” he says.

“So you can play with more depth, try not to play 100 miles an hour, because that’s when you can panic a little bit under pressure. It’s funny how it works, because naturally things will speed up anyway.

“You might not be scoring tries, but you can get the team going forward, making metres and little breaks, and the thing I’ve worked on is slowing down before that. Not forcing it as much I guess.”

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