Rather than second-guess himself after copping criticism for failing to pass on a number of occasions this year, McLean knew the dummy was on this time and fooled the Eels defenders. Speaking on Tuesday, the teenager opened up about some words of wisdom he received from Cleary after his most recent axing.
“He just says it’s a journey. Not everything’s going to be highs, so you’ve got to ride the lows as well,” McLean said. “It’s just all learning; you can’t take things as negatives. You’ve got to take everything as a positive, find ways to improve, and move forward, and this (win over the Eels) showcases what happens, I suppose.”
Panthers’ honesty session that could lead to turnaround
McLean said the playing group had an honesty session when Cleary and others were absent for State of Origin 1. The Panthers were missing Cleary, Dylan Edwards, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, and Brian To’o when they were thrashed by the lowly Knights in Round 12.
But hooker Mitch Kenny and the remaining senior players convened the squad for some tough love before the Eels game. “All of us got together… and put the line in the sand, what needs to be better, especially standards-wise,” McLean revealed. “It was a player-driven thing. All the boys kind of knew what needed to happen.”
“Just flip that switch at training; just training habits and things like that led into what happened (against the Eels),” McLean said. Star halfback Cleary noticed the lift in intensity on his return from Origin duties.
“A few of the boys were talking about how hard the week at training had been,” he said. “Maybe that’s where we’d been lacking, just dropping our standards a little bit. I thought young guys like Casey were really good.”
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