Dylan Edwards outplayed Reece Walsh, who took his Australian Test fullback jumper off him, and explained the selfless motivation behind his red-hot start to the year for Penrith.
The four-time premiership winner was man-of-the-match in the Panthers’ 26-0 shutout of Brisbane on Friday after scoring a try, running 24 times for a stunning 260m and defending his tryline like his life depended on it at Suncorp Stadium.
Last year was not the top-shelf season that Edwards wanted to have – but his drivers are all team-based.
“No point to prove, I just want to play decent footy and be consistent for this team,” Edwards said.
“The guys in this team work really hard and I don’t want to be the one that lets them down.
“I finished the year sub-par and lost a bit of passion throughout last year as well, so I wanted to have a good pre-season and play well this year.
“A lot of us have a fair body of work behind us this pre-season, so that steels you and hardens you. It doesn’t guarantee a good year by any means, but it gives you a chance.”
Coach Ivan Cleary had a sense that Edwards would return to the form that led to him earning the Test No.1 jersey.
“Dyl has worked really hard and his pre-season has been really strong, and definitely better than last year for a bunch of different reasons,” he said.
“I think he is ready for a big year.”
Edwards has a sixth-sense rapport with lock Isaah Yeo and half Nathan Cleary and, while not perfect, their combination in attack against the Broncos was on another level.
“They’re world-class players and we’re close off the field as well,” Edwards said.
“That helps when you go out in the field and you’re in the heat of battle and you can sort of lean on each other and rely on each other.
Nathan Cleary said he “never doubted Dyl at all” and knew that he would find the kind of form that won him the Clive Churchill Medal in 2022 and drove Penrith’s premiership success.
“Everyone knows within the club just how much of a freak he is and how reliable he is,” Cleary said.
“I love having him as my fullback and every time I take the field with him I have the utmost trust he is going to be putting his body on the line and putting in 100 per cent effort.
“He did it again tonight and came up with some massive defensive plays.”
It was those defensive plays to deny the attacking arsenal of Brisbane a single point that gave Edwards immense satisfaction
“You take nil any time in this competition,” he said.
“It’s a hard thing to do and me being a fullback, I’m proud of it.
“I still have plenty to work on. It was far from the complete performance, but we came up here and we got a job done.”:
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