Ivan Cleary has delivered a cagey response when asked why Sunia Turuva was dropped from Thursday night's clash against the Melbourne Storm.
The Penrith Panthers' head coach made the surprise decision an hour out from kick-off, with Dylan Edwards making his return at fullback after spending recent weeks on the sidelines with an injury picked up during the deciding match of this year's State of Origin series.
Edwards' return was likely to be a straight swap for fill-in Daine Laurie, but instead, Cleary elected to move Laurie to the wing and drop the Fijian flyer to 18th-man responsibilities.
It was unclear in the pre-game if Turuva was suffering from a niggle or any other issues, however, the coach indicated that wasn't the case post-game, with Turuva dropped for the sake of the team.
"I just thought it was the best thing for the team," Cleary said when asked during the post-match press conference.
It's the second time this season Turuva has been dropped, with the star missing a game earlier in the came just days after his signing with the Wests Tigers from the start of next season was made official.
The head coach seemed to indicate this was down to form though, saying "exactly" when asked if he would continue to assess whether Turuva would return on a week-to-week basis, not providing any guarantee of his return.
Laurie had a strong game in Thursday evening's loss to the Storm but doesn't bring what Turuva does to the side.
The former Wests Tigers man is expected to be available for next weekend though after passing a head injury assessment during the second half of the clash against Melbourne.
That will leave Cleary with a difficult decision for next weekend's game against the Canberra Raiders, although Laurie may yet be required at five-eighth, with Jarome Luai likely moving to halfback after Nathan Cleary failed to finish the game on Thursday with a shoulder injury.
