Penrith recruit Blaize Talagi has copped a brutal new snub from coach Ivan Cleary after once again being overlooked in the starting side. And the Panthers coach has swung the axe for Thursday night's game against Souths, with Kiwi Test star Casey McLean dropped from the 17 altogether, for the clash at Accor Stadium. The Panthers have shifted Paul Alamoti onto the wing to replace McLean, with young gun Tom Jenkins rewarded for last week's performance against the Storm by being named in the centres. Daine Laurie returns at fullback in the continued absence of injured No.1 Dylan Edwards after being a late scratching from last week's brutal grand final replay against Melbourne due to a quad injury. Co-captain Nathan Cleary was knocked out in the opening stages of the six-point defeat to Melbourne and is subsequently ruled out of the Rabbitohs match, with father Ivan handing Trent Toelau a shock call-up to wear the No.7 jersey in place of the champion halfback. Talagi was expected to partner Jack Cole in Nathan's absence but will have to be content with an interchange role after being named in the No.14 jersey. It's the latest snub for Penrith's high-profile recruit, who was brought to the club from Parramatta in the off-season, and was expected to be Jarome Luai's successor at five-eighth. Instead, coach Cleary has preferred Cole at No.6 to start the year, with Talagi having to bide his time in NSW Cup for the first two rounds. Talagi got his first chance to impress after featuring on Penrith's interchange last week, and will once again have to be content with a similar role on Thursday night after being overlooked for the unheralded Toelau. "We've got a lot of time for Blaize," Panthers coach Cleary said. "He wouldn't be here if we didn't see a lot of future in him. He's certainly got that NRL quality about him, but there's still a long way to go as well." Toelau has never started before in the NRL, with his previous 12 games coming off the bench.
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