Penrith coach Ivan Clearly admits he feared Michael Jennings would come back to haunt him after releasing him from the club and says he'll be out to stop the Sydney Roosters star centre in Saturday's finals clash.
Jennings signed a four-year deal with the reigning premiers last year after a spate of disciplinary issues and a high price tag led to Penrith cutting him loose.
The Panthers will get just their second taste of finals football in 11 years when they face the Roosters in their qualifying final at Allianz Stadium on Saturday.
And Cleary, who guided the side to a stunning return to form this season, says he knew the day would come when Jennings would be standing in their way.
"Yep, that definitely crossed my mind when I made that decision," he said.
"But we've moved on from that. Michael's done really well at the Roosters. He's played great footy, he's won a comp and I'm really happy for him. He's found a good home there.
"But he's definitely one man we have to stop tomorrow night."
Cleary says his relatively young and inexperienced side are embracing the underdog tag going into Saturday's encounter against the minor premiers who enter off the back of six straight victories.
But he knows his charges have what it takes to overcome them.
"We've been playing pretty close to semi-finals footy for the last month," he said.
"So while a lot of our guys haven't really played semis I think we're about as ready as we can be.
"But we are underdogs, we have been all season. But we believe in our own game and we know what works for us and what doesn't and what's worked for us this year will work for us again tomorrow night if we're able to deliver it."
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