Penrith Panthers and Ivan Cleary have been slammed for their ‘lack of class and humility’ by NRL analyst Paul Kent.
Last year Panthers young gun Jaeman Salmon was the target of brutal comments from Raiders coach Ricky Stuart who labelled him a ‘weak-gutted dog’.
And it seems that the Penrith player wasn’t going to let that comment slide when the reigning Premiers went to Canberra on Friday night.
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Salmon scored in the 53-12 thumping and after putting the ball down for a try he screamed ‘weak-gutted dog’ towards the crowd.
It was a clear bit of revenge from the player who was calling back to the incident that got the Raiders coach suspended.
Panthers’ coach Cleary referenced the incident in the post-match press conference in which he described the fact that Salmon scored as ‘good karma’.
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Kent discussed the comments on NRL 360 in which he blasted what he perceived to be a disrespectful culture at the club.
Kent said: “It was a mug’s comment, to be honest.
“I don’t mind Jaeman Salmon saying what he said, if you want to return serve when someone has a shot at you, go for your life.
“But don’t walk around kicking stones and giving the sad face and telling everyone how hurt and upset you are and have everyone give you a hug because of how unfair it is and live on the sympathy of that for months and then you’re back in town and when you’re up 53-12 and you fire back at them.
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“It’s one or the other. That’s character.”
The comments from the Raiders coach came from a place in which he was supposedly defending his family following an incident involving a young Salmon back when he played junior football with Stuart’s son.
Kent went on to blast Cleary for not staying out of such a situation and maintained that the Penrtih team ‘lacked class’.
He continued: “As a coach, good on Ivan for standing by his players. As a father, who coaches his son ironically...but as a father, maybe he should have a little more understanding of where Ricky was coming from and just elected to say nothing.
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“I have a problem with this Penrith team in that, as we’ve seen again, they just lack class. They win grand finals and rub their opponents noses in it. They give a big up yours to anybody that gives them any criticism.
“Don’t sit there and say how sad you are about it and then return serve and say the exact same thing six months later when you’ve got your tail up.”
Kent later referenced an incident involving Jarome Luai making a ‘mug’s speech’ at teammate Brian To’o’s wedding.
He added: “They are not being educated to show any humility or class.”
Featured Image Credit: NRL/Supplied.Topics: NRL, Rugby League, Australia, Canberra Raiders
