He was in a better mood than after Penrith's Round 11 loss to the New Zealand Warriors, but it didn't stop coach Ivan Cleary from raising eyebrows in the press conference after the Panthers' loss to the North Queensland Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
In a contest at the foot of the mountains where both sides rested their State of Origin contingent of players, the Panthers ultimately fell short in a 16-6 loss.
In Round 11, Cleary uttered just 48 words following the club's loss to the Warriors.
This time, he suggested his side's loss was like baking a cake without applying the icing.
“We didn't start too well... the first long range intercept and they scored off the back of that,” Cleary said during his post-match press conference.
“The rest of the night I felt like we were building towards something but never kind of... it was like baking a cake but having no icing.”
The coach, who now has his team sitting in second spot on the table at the end of Round 17, four points behind the Melbourne Storm but still comfortably inside the top four, admitted resting his Origin players did have an adverse impact on the club's attack.
“It's definitely part of it, the connection wasn't quite there tonight. Especially around the way we finished sets,” Cleary said.
“If you aren't really taking opportunities at the right time that's a part of that. Credit to the Cowboys, they hung in there.... particularly when it's 12-6 and you feel like you're in a good space to do something.”
The win for Todd Payten's side leaves them just inside the top eight, with a congested field fighting for a finals spot also featuring the likes of the Canterbury Bulldogs, the Dolphins, St George Illawarra Dragons, Manly Sea Eagles, Brisbane Broncos, Newcastle Knights and Canberra Raiders between fifth and twelfth, with all of those clubs split by just two competition points.
