Penrith coach Ivan Cleary believes incoming assistant Trent Barrett will be the man to solve the attacking woes that plagued their frustrating NRL campaign.
The Panthers finished their year on a high after posting their biggest score of the season in their 54-10 thrashing of Newcastle on Sunday.
However the victory did little to quell Cleary’s disappointment in missing the finals in a season where they were widely tipped to challenge for the title.
Instead they spent most of the year trying to recover from a 2-8 start that resulted in the Panthers slumping all the way to last spot on the ladder.
“Some of the stuff we did in those first 20 (minutes) was as good as we’ve done in any game this year in terms of laying a foundation,” Cleary said.
“If we could’ve found that over the last few weeks, we would’ve done better.
“But I think we did run out of a bit of steam. The start of the year was clearly something, looking back on, was always going to be hard to come back from.”
Halfback Nathan Cleary was the star of the show, claiming four tries and kicking a perfect nine goals from as many attempts for a club-record 34-point haul.
It was a remarkable individual effort in an attack that ranked in the bottom four in points alongside Canterbury, North Queensland and Gold Coast.
That’s where Cleary is hoping Barrett can step in as their new attacking coach.
The former Manly mentor will be tasked with pushing Nathan to another level, particularly after the departure of veteran James Maloney to England.
Fellow youngster Jarome Luai is expected to partner Nathan in a spine likely to include Dylan Edwards and new recruit Apisai Koroisau.
“Trent’s obviously a very good coach. He’s very motivated, being out for a bit. Looking forward to seeing what he can bring to our young team,” Ivan said.
“And obviously with our young spine members, he’ll be a great mentor for those guys as well.”
While Nathan’s running game was on full show against the Knights, Ivan believed his son was still coming to grips with the speed of the contest.
