Nathan Cleary urges for calm over Penrith’s poor start to the season as the two-time Clive Churchill Medallist backs young prodigy to become a star

Nathan Cleary has urged for calm over Penrith’s indifferent start to the 2025 season and has insisted that there is a place in the side for emerging young five-eighth Blaize Talagi.

The 20-year-old star, who joined the Panthers in the off-season after being crowned the Eels rookie of the year, scoring 11 tries in 19 matches, has featured just once for the 1-3 Panthers at the start of 2025.

Ivan Cleary’s side landed the exciting young prospect on a three-year deal but the Penrith boss has snubbed calls from around the fan base, and NRL great Billy Slater, to play the youngster, with Brian To’o and Dylan Edwards both out of action.

And in the absence of Nathan Cleary this weekend, sidelined with a concussion he sustained in the Panthers’ defeat by Storm in Round 3, Talagi was also not picked to play by selectors during Penrith’s 28-18 loss by the Rabbitohs.

He has again been snubbed from the starting line-up for Jack Cole in the No 6 role.

But Nathan Cleary has now urged patience over his development.

‘The hard thing as a young half is picking up all the subtleties,’ Cleary said.

‘He’s really eager to learn and pick it up and I think it’s easy to forget how young he is and how raw he is.

‘Maybe it takes a little bit more time to develop, but his instincts and the way he plays the game, he definitely thinks of it like a spine player.

‘It’s just a bonus that he’s able to fill in these other positions because he’s just a natural footy player.’

Cleary likened the youngster’s development to that of Jarome Luai’s.

‘Sometimes with young halves, it just takes a little bit longer. And you get to your mid-to-late-20s and you really start hitting your straps.

‘(Blaize) is working really hard at the moment to fit into our systems … but he’s going really well and I think he’s going to be a great player for a long time.’

The four-time defending premiers are currently navigating their way through a turbulent start to the season, but for Cleary, it’s not time to sound the alarm just yet.

‘It’s easy to think over this period where we’ve had success, it’s just been smooth sailing,’ he added.

‘People think it’s been perfect. It really hasn’t. It’s been lots of ups and downs. We’ve had performances like we’ve had in the last few weeks, but we’ve sort of scraped away and won them in the past.

‘Maybe that’s been a little bit different, but I don’t think it’s panic stations.’