NRL clubs looking to fight off Las Vegas 'hangover'
Ivan Cleary expects Penrith will be in for a "comedown" after their win in Las Vegas as the four NRL clubs guard against starting slowly on return to Australia.
It's back to reality for Cronulla, Canberra, the Warriors and the Panthers on Monday (AEDT) as the four clubs begin their journeys home from the NRL's second annual trip to Vegas.
The quartet of teams have this coming weekend to reminisce on their Stateside visit, which ended in victories for Penrith and Canberra.
FULL TIME 🐾#NRLVegas #NRLPanthersSharks pic.twitter.com/ImQZXqCS6s
— NRL (@NRL) March 2, 2025
As the four teams are overcoming jet-lag, the remaining round-one fixtures will play out in Australia from Thursday.
It was a slow start to the season for the four clubs that made the trip to Vegas last year: none posted a winning record across the four weeks that followed their matches in Sin City.
And the task of backing up could be more challenging this year.
While last year's Vegas visitors played one another in round two, the 2025 teams face sides that did not have to travel to the other side of the world to begin their NRL seasons.
The Panthers lost their first game on return from last year's World Club Challenge in England, and Cleary is bracing himself that his team could find itself with a "hangover" again in 2025.
"There'll definitely be a comedown, for sure," he said after the four-time reigning premiers beat Cronulla in Vegas.
"The Manchester trip last year, we felt that. The time difference is a lot more, so that's more difficult. I think naturally there's going to be (a comedown).
"It's just our job over the next couple of weeks to try and navigate through that."
Cleary was pleased the Panthers' next game was against the Sydney Roosters in Parramatta, where the Panthers will play the majority of home games this year while Penrith Park is refurbished.
"It's handy that we're playing our first game at CommBank next week against the Roosters, which will be a big occasion," he said.
The Sharks appear to have the toughest task ahead of them as the only one of the four Vegas teams to play away from home in round two.
Cronulla travel to Townsville to face North Queensland in one of the NRL's toughest away trips, and go on to visit Canberra, Perth, Newcastle and Brisbane before round 10.
Coach Craig Fitzgibbon said his staff would be working to guard against a post-Vegas hangover.
"We've got a plan in place for that, but we're obviously still just addressing what happened in the game before we get to the next game," he said.
"We've got a thorough plan, we have to because we're travelling a bit in the first six weeks."
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