“Tell the truth,” Ivan Cleary sidemouthed to his son late on Thursday night.

The dust had just about settled on Melbourne’s thrilling golden point win, though Nathan Cleary was still burning over the penalty that took away his match-winning field goal.

Nothing like having dad there to keep you honest in a parent-teacher interview.

With measured tones, extensive hand movements, logic and a breakdown of NRL rules, Nathan delivered the closest thing to a whinge or rant in his 10 years of first grade.

He finished on more or less the same note as Ivan, that Harry Grant “was too clever at both ends of the field” and Penrith weren’t good enough for a 10th straight win.

Truth is, there was plenty in Thursday’s gruelling hit-out against Melbourne to point to yet another grand final rendezvous. And the Panthers have yet another brick to add to the wall, slowly but surely being built around their premiership defence.

Colleagues Michael Chammas and Danny Weidler followed the breadcrumbs of Penrith’s growing siege mentality earlier this week on The Journos podcast - an accurate and slightly incredible prospect for a four-time defending champion side to be adopting a war footing.

Even in the early months of 2025, when Penrith were slowly slumping to outright last on the ladder, some players and staff members were keeping receipts. Particularly unflattering or what was perceived as unfair media coverage........

© The Sydney Morning Herald