The Panthers will meet Rugby Football League officials in Manchester to determine whether the dramatic crackdown on head contact in the British game will apply to the World Club Challenge against Wigan.
Faced with becoming uninsurable and a class action by the former players, the game in the UK has decided to forge its own path regarding brain health.
Four players were sent off in the opening round of Super League last weekend, three for head contact. Wigan half Harry Smith (spear tackle) escaped suspension, instead copping a £250 fine.
Next year, all tackling in the professional game will have to be at arm-pit height or below, marking a significant contrast between the way the sport is played in Britain and elsewhere.
RFL officials are expected to visit Penrith's Manchester hotel before the weekend's WCC for talks, co-captain Nathan Cleary telling jetwinvip.com: “There’s still a few [rules] we need to tidy up on, we were just asking about a couple today.
“We obviously know it’s going to be different. Again, it’s difficult because at the end of the day it sort of comes down to the adjudication of the ref and how they’re going to ref it.
"Some things you’ll just know on the day, particularly in terms of time in the ruck, flopping in and all that sort of stuff.
“I saw there were so many send-offs in the Super League at the weekend. It was almost like us in 2021, there was that crackdown in Magic Round. There was heaps of people getting sin binned and all that.
“We’ll just be telling the boys ‘don’t hit anyone in the head’! We don’t want to be losing anyone. You shouldn’t be doing that anyway. I think we’ll be alright”
The match will be played under international rules, meaning no two-point field goals and a six-again for ruck infringements no matter where they are on the field.
The World Cup in England in 2022 had captain’s challenges while Super League does not; this is likely to be a point of conversation between the Panthers and the RFL.
Co-captain Isaah Yeo said he did not expect the edict on high shots to carry over from Super League.
“I think we go off international rules there,” he said. “It felt like you can get away with a bit more in the ruck and slow it down a little bit going off last year's World Club Challenge.
“They probably put the whistle away too. They want to make it a good spectacle. It’s a bit like a finals game as well.
“I feel like there won’t be too much that’s different. In Super League they’re really cracking down on stuff to do with the head. That’s probably a good thing.”
The Panthers held a media session at their hotel on Monday evening. Cleary and his father, coach Ivan Cleary, will join Wigan’s Matty Peet and Liam Farrell at the official pre-match media conference on Tuesday night.
Five-eighth Jack Cole was popular with reporters. An Orange product with just one first grade game to his name, 20-year-old Cole likely gets to audition for the No.6 jersey that will be vacated when Jarome Luai joins Wests Tigers in 2025.
“We find out on Thursday what the team is … until then I’m not really buying into it,” said Cole.
“I’m sort of biding my time. They’re the best team to play in the NRL. They’ve won three comps in a row. Not many teams do that.
"I’m just trying to learn off the boys, understand I’m still young, develop my game. I know my time will come eventually.”
