The Round 1 performances of five-eighth Jack Cole and second rower Liam Martin bode well for a Penrith outfit that has had some list turnover in the offseason.
Cole stepped in to the five-eighth position vacated by Jarome Luai and defended well while also setting up a try in a promising, tough performance.
“He's just the sort of kid that needs to play in these types of games to build his confidence and role in the team,” coach Ivan Cleary said during the post-game press conference.
“It's not easy for everyone to keep talking about who he's replacing.
“I thought he did a good job, he didn't overplay his hand and I thought in the second half on the left edge, especially with Daine (Laurie) going onto the wing and they were obviously targeting him.
“I thought he did a really good job on the run fixing a few things we needed to fix so it's a good experience for him.”
It was Cole's 11th game as he has been forced to bide his time for an extended period in a squad brimming with depth.
Despite having seen other emerging talent leave and get greater opportunities elsewhere, Cole has never considered leaving.
“I've been here since I was 15 and I've really loved here,” Cole said.
“They've looked after me and had my back a lot and given me a lot of opportunities as well.
“I think it's a loyalty thing, I love it here and I hope they love me being here too but I can't see myself being anywhere else.
“I haven't tried to put too much pressure on myself, obviously there's a lot of noise in the background about that and Jarome's a big hole obviously but I'm not trying to be what Jarome was.
“I like watching him play and picking little bits of his game out and put them into mine but I'm just trying to get better as a player and person and help the team out where I can.”
Liam Martin also earned praise from Cleary after laying 40 tackles in a dogged performance.
“'Marto' was unbelievable tonight,” the coach said.
“He's already a great player and always performs well in the big games but tonight for an edgebacker to play 80 minutes at the intensity he plays, I felt like he kept coming up with big plays when we needed them.”
