Cleary fears stifling

ability to clean rucks is going to be important for us.”

The Blues sit third, one point behind the resurgent Chiefs, which leaves them needing to reverse their recent form to reach this year’s maiden final.

The Crusaders appear vulnerable after dropping two of their past three games, but with a finalround bye they will throw everything into ensuring they guarantee their place in the finale this week.

“There’s a desperation in every team and there’s no doubt there’s desperation with us,” said Macdonald.

“We want to put that performance on. We’re still scoring four tries per game which is an improvement on last year yet we’re still not getting home in some of these close games which is disappointing. It’s the small things we’ve got to get right now.

“They’ll be having the same conversations we’re having. It’s the nature of this competition — there’s five really good teams and not much separates them.

“We’ve still got an opportunity in this competition. If you’re going to win it you’re going to have to beat the Crusaders. We feel like we’re ready to go down and put in a good performance.”

League: Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has gone to the NRL over fears the Panthers’ attack is at risk of being stifled by rivals deliberately infringing in the ruck early in sets. The Panthers have gone seven from seven with a 24-6 win over Newcastle. But Cleary isn’t all impressed. He has voiced his fears to the NRL over teams deliberately slowing the play-the-ball, conceding set restarts to slow the game down.