Penrith’s Cleary confident ankle injury isn’t serious

© James Gourley/AAP PHOTOS Panthers’ Nathan Cleary says he is not concerned after tweaking his ankle against South Sydney.

Penrith’s dual premiership-winning halves pairing Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai will have scans on foot injuries suffered in the win over South Sydney, with the Panthers confident neither will miss time on the field.

The club told AAP Cleary and Luai would be seen by doctors on Friday as a precaution, rather than out of serious concern for either player’s fitness.

Five-eighth Luai left BlueBet Stadium in a moonboot after injuring his left foot on Thursday night, while Cleary tweaked his ankle attempting to tackle South Sydney’s Alex Johnston in the 38th minute.

Both men were able to finish the game but Cleary did not attempt to convert the try Penrith scored on the halftime siren, instead handing the kicking tee to Stephen Crichton and hobbling up the tunnel.

He had his ankle strapped during the break and after the game told reporters he did not harbour any concerns ahead of the Panthers’ bye week.

“It’s fine,” Cleary said. “I just got it caught in an awkward position just before halftime.

“It felt a little bit weird for a little while but I finished the game. It feels good now.”

In his post-match press conference, coach Ivan Cleary intimated other players had also pulled up sore in the 16-10 win but the Panthers confirmed to AAP only Cleary and Luai would be sent for scans.

The Panthers meet local rivals Parramatta for their next game, a grand-final rematch, on March 23.

Penrith’s win over South Sydney eased pressure built by losses in the World Club Challenge and round one. 

Cleary said the Panthers had not been fazed by the two defeats, which exposed the cost of losing Viliame Kikau and Api Koroisau to rival clubs.

“It’d probably been a while, especially for some of these young guys, since they’ve lost two games in a row if you include the World Club Challenge,” the 25-year-old said.

“We did a lot of good things, particularly in round one, and we knew that so we just needed to put it together. It’s not going to be perfect early in the year. It wasn’t perfect tonight.

“(We gave up) penalties at the wrong time, errors when we’re attacking, especially on their line, which sort of relieves pressure.

“But it’s a pretty new team, there are a lot of new combinations particularly in important positions. We’re constantly building but it’s going well.”