Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai says he steered away from his strengths which lead to a post-Origin slump in form, after a scintillating start to the season.
After lighting up the NRL in the early stages of the year, leading to his Origin selection, Luai recorded four try assists in his last 11 games as he attempted to fill half-back partner Nathan Cleary’s boots when the NSW No.7 was ruled out for six weeks through injury in July and August.
Luai admitted that his form dropped because he tried to emulate Cleary’s game too much, rather than just play his own game.
“I went away from what I was good at and tried to be good at what [Nathan] was good at,” Luai told the Sydney Morning Herald. “When Nath was away [injured), I fell away from what I do well.
“It was probably two weeks ago, Ivan pulled me aside and he just stripped it back for me and just said run hard and tackle hard; remembering what got me here and what got me to having a good start to the year.
“I was so confident when I came back from injury, I was on top of the world and then I had a few bad games and then I was up and down which I haven’t really felt yet in the NRL; It’s just always been up.
“So it’s been a good experience for me. It’s probably helped me mature as well. I’m now at that age where I can sort of step into that leadership role; I’m young, but I’m one of the older guys now, so I need to step into that role too.”
The Panthers head into tonight’s game against Parramatta in Mackay off the back of a 10-16 loss against the Rabbitohs, while the Eels arrive with confidence following a solid 28-20 defeat of the Knights in their first week of finals.
Blues coach Brad Fittler believes the Panthers showed signs of vulnerability in their loss to Souths.
“The thing they showed last week was they were a little bit vulnerable,” Fittler told Wide World of Sports’ Freddy And The Eighth.
“It was the first time I’ve really seen Penrith like that.
“For whatever reason the game got to them, their discipline was poor towards the end of the game. Their fitness is normally better than any other team.
“That was a huge concern for me.”
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