‘They’re proud Penrith girls’: Fox sisters pop in to visit the Panthers as Ivan Cleary delivers bold pre-finals statement

Nathan Cleary was spotted at training on Monday morning, but he was overshadowed by a couple of famous sisters who brought some shiny new bling to Penrith.

The Panthers are running out of room for all the silverware they’ve accumulated over the past few years, but they had no problem creating a bit of space for a couple of gold medals after the Fox sisters popped in to chat with the premiers in a pre-finals boost.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the three-time defending champions, but Monday’s visit from Jess and Noemie Fox – both diehard Penrith supporters – put things in perspective just a few weeks after they dazzled at the Olympics.

The sisters have been through plenty over the years and were happy to share their stories with a team that is dealing with its own adversity just a couple of weeks out from the finals.

“They’re proud Penrith girls and they were so good to give up their time to come along and speak to our boys and share their experiences – not just through the most recent Olympics but also before that,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said.

“They brought along their gold medals which was cool, and it was amazing what they offered. Our boys got a lot out of it.

“I can’t tell you everything, but it was a lot about preparation which in Olympic sports is (important).

“Adversity is always in and around what we do as professional sportspeople, and we’re definitely in that little phase at the moment.

“We’re probably not playing as well as we’d like with everything to play for.

“It was good to hear other like-minded people – hopefully we can be as good as the girls are – and just about the ups and downs of professional sport and how you deal with it.”

The Panthers dropped to fourth spot on the ladder – the lowest they’ve been this season since round 7 – after they were stunned by Canberra on Saturday afternoon.

They remain without superstar halfback Nathan Cleary, who got through light duties on Monday morning but isn’t expected back until the first week of the finals, while young gun Jack Cole may have played his last game of the year after he was the victim of an ugly hip-drop tackle in reserve grade.

No team has finished fourth and gone on to win the title under the current finals format, with the last team to do it the 2009 Melbourne Storm side that had the premiership stripped for salary cap breaches.

The Wests Tigers of 2005 and the 2002 Roosters also achieved the feat, and there’s no doubt the Panthers have the talent and the belief to defy history if they finish fourth.

But with a favourable draw and players set to return in the coming weeks, they remain in the hunt to move up one or two spots if the Roosters or Sharks slip up.

Whatever happens, Cleary knows his side will have to improve if they are to fight their way through troubled waters and go all the way for the fourth year in a row.

“The regular season and where you finish, you end up where you deserve, and that’s what will happen,” he said.

“I totally believe we can win it, but we have to make a decision on whether we’re prepared to pay that price to win it. At the moment, there’s probably a question mark around it.

“On the weekend, we didn’t play anywhere near our best and were probably out-willed by the opposition.

“I know that we’ve got enough in the body of work from this season to be able to challenge (for the title). But there have been periods (in recent weeks) where it’s fair to question if we’re willing to pay the price.

“It’s not easy if you want to go the whole way, and you’ve got to pay a hefty price along the way.”