Cleary confident of Burton bounce back after field goal woes

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary expects rookie playmaker Matt Burton and the rest of his teammates to be better for their 90-minute epic draw against the Knights when they return to Campbelltown and host the Warriors on Friday night.

The five-day turnaround scheduled for Cleary's outfit did little to ease the recovery for the squad after Sunday's gruelling encounter, but the Panthers coach believes they'll improve with a better understanding around the six-again rule and with handling any future pressure.  

Burton, who will replace suspended halfback Nathan Cleary for at least another week, missed five field-goal attempts in the golden point thriller and won't have long before revisiting the same venue looking to make amends.

"Burto's not the first guy to miss a field goal, it's not an easy thing to do," Cleary said on Thursday.

"I thought he showed a lot of courage, we got ourselves in the right position, he got himself in the right position and just couldn't quite nail it.

"He's a young man who – in lower grades field goals aren't a big part of junior footy whereas in the NRL it is a big part. I was proud of how he kept stepping up.

"He'll be better for playing the one game with the rule changes and we'll all be better for that."

Cleary was hopeful the team would adapt and benefit from the six-again rule call after going the entire game without being awarded one last week.

"Your hooker, halves and fullback need to take those adjustments," Cleary said.

"It was the first game for two months and it was like playing your round one game without a trial game so everyone in the team will be better for the run."

Another youngster, Panthers centre Stephen Crichton, will again take on the goal-kicking duties after slotting three from three last week. He will start in the centres with Brent Naden sitting out.

"I've always had it in mind that he would come into the starting line-up particularly given the way he performed in the first two rounds coming off the bench," Cleary said of Crichton.

"He's in a position he's most accustomed to and provides a threat for us. We've got a lot of faith in Stephen being part of the backline for a long time now."

The Warriors will arrive to Sydney's south-west on a high after their 18-0 shut-out of the Dragons on the Central Coast last week.

After openly declaring he had a "soft spot" for the visitors following 10 years playing and coaching in New Zealand, Cleary admired their sacrifices from afar.

"It looks like their stint up in Tamworth has done them pretty good. They were very solid last week and won that game quite comfortably," he said.

"I certainly don't know what they've been going through but definitely a good sacrifice for the game.

"It was good to see them have a win last week but hopefully they're not looking forward to one this week."