Ivan Cleary would have found himself very much in the critics' crosshairs had Penrith not mounted their epic second half comeback to beat South Sydney on Saturday night.Cleary took what some described as a big gamble by resting his entire team the week before the finals.Given that they got a week off for beating Parramatta two weeks ago in their opening semi, it meant the Panthers went into the Souths match with only two games in four weeks under their belts.They looked rusty and under-prepared early on Saturday night - and Souths laid the seeds for a massive ambush by racing to an 12-0 lead.But luckily for Cleary, his ploy proved a masterstroke.The Panthers, fresh from their two weekends off, roared home, scoring 32 unanswered points to finish convincing 32-12 winners.That strong performance would have filled the Panthers with confidence - and has them with all the momentum going into the premiership decider against arch rivals Parramatta.
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