Inside Knowledge: Cleary ready for Barrett Bulldogs battle

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THERE will be a subplot or two swirling around Bankwest Stadium on Saturday when Canterbury host Penrith.

Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett will hope to use some inside knowledge to his advantage as he aims to kick-start his tenure against the club he spent last season with as assistant coach.

However, it's not something Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary has spent - or will spend - a lot of time worrying about.

"It's a good challenge to come up against. I'm looking forward to it and it's something you've got to deal with," Cleary said.

"The way football is these days with everything on TV I think a lot of teams know a lot about the way you play anyway.

"Baz maybe more so than others, but it poses a challenge for myself and the rest of the boys playing."

Cleary admitted the best way to overcome the "Barrett factor" was to focus on themselves and how to improve on their 24-0 opening round victory over North Queensland.

"We played some pretty good footy at the weekend, but we left some points out there and missed a few opportunities, but we did create which was pleasing," he said.

Barrett will take an interest in the Panthers' decision to name Matt Burton on an extended bench with the recently turned 21-year-old at the centre of a contract tug-of-war between the two clubs.

Despite having signed at Belmore for 2022, Cleary is adamant Burton's preference is to play out the season.

Penrith appear determined to keep him at the foot of the mountains until the end of 2021 as injury cover for their backline. 

"He's not the one saying these things (in the media); his attitude has been outstanding so Burto is a knockabout kind of guy who doesn't say too much," the halfback said.

"He puts his head down, works hard and wants to get better so that's what I love about Burto and why he will be such a good player in the future.

"He's definitely not kicking stones or anything like that. He's been training really well and is a very valuable asset to the Penrith Panthers."

Cleary will also look to maintain his 100 percent winning record after he won both the toss and the match as captain last weekend. 

"We've got a system going where if you win one then you keep going and if you lose then it swaps," he said of his co-captaincy duties with Isaah Yeo.

"So I got the first win so we keep it going."

This article originally appears in The Front Row: Volume 2 Issue 2.