Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has provided an injury update on the condition of back-rower Scott Sorensen.
Yet to play in the 2024 NRL Finals series due to battling a hamstring injury, the New Zealand international has been named among the reserves as he looks to make a late entry into the team.
Sorensen has been a key member of the club’s three grand final victories since joining the club after stints with the Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Raiders where he struggled to find consistent game-time on the field.
“He’s getting through everything he needs to at the moment,” Cleary said.
“We’ve still got a couple of sessions to go. We’ll give him every chance but we’re not going to take a risk there either. We’ll see how he goes.”
It is understood that Matthew Eisenhuth is likely to drop out of the team if Sorensen ends up playing, and Luke Garner will be pushed back to the interchange bench.
Although he has yet to feature in an NRL Grand Final with the Panthers over the past four years, Eisenhuth has been an integral part of the club’s success in the regular home-and-away season since arriving at the start of the 2021 season.
Eisenhuth spoke to Zero Tackle at length earlier this season on how hard it has been not to be named in the Grand Final teams in 2021, 2022, and 2023 against the Rabbitohs, Eels, and Brisbane Broncos.
While it was hard to miss out on the 2021 Grand Final in particular, he understands that his perspective has changed over the past four seasons.
“The first one – I was playing a lot that year – probably hurt the most but once you have a little bit of time to reflect on it, my perspective is that you don’t get to be a part of teams like this too often,” he added.
“After that one you sit back, reflect and since then we’ve gone on and won two more and I’ve played big parts in all three years.
“I don’t know how many NRL games I’ve played across those three years and we’ve won comps. As much as you’d want to be a part of them, I feel like I’ve played my part in helping the boys getting them there.
“I still party like I’ve played in it anyway. The memories will be there for a lifetime.
“I can tell my kids, my grandkids that I was part of something special so it’s something I’ll look back on at the end of my career and be pretty stocked that I was part of it.”
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