Scott Sorenson is famously one of the toughest blokes in sport. This is interview question that broke him: ‘You got me’

Penrith second-row player Scott Sorensen was forced to hold back tears as he spoke about the impending departure of team-mate James Fisher-Harris as the Panthers chase a fourth straight championship title.

The Panthers reached their fifth consecutive home qualifying final with a narrow win over the Titans on Saturday night.

Superstar halfback Nathan Cleary is back for their next game, but the club are also preparing for the departures of James Fisher-Harris and Jarome Luai next season, leaving huge holes in their squad and in the hearts of the players.

The notoriously stoic Sorenson was asked about Fisher-Harris’ departure to the Warriors, and was surprised.

“Of all the players you’ve had to say goodbye to, is James Fisher-Harris the toughest?” 7NEWS NRL reporter Jelisa Apps asked Sorensen.

Sorensen suddenly had to hold back his tears.

“Yeah, I think so, yeah, absolutely,” he said, struggling with his emotions. “Yeah… oh, you’re getting me into trouble. Yeah, that’s it,” he said.

Sorenson then tried to pull himself together.

“They are excited and enthusiastic about the event this weekend and I am putting all our energy into it… (but) you got me, sorry,” he said again.

I think they’re great.

“The bond and brotherhood we have here is so special.”

The Panthers are second, with Nathan Cleary back from his shoulder injury, and will play their qualifying final against the Sydney Roosters at Penrith Park on Friday night.

“He is fit and it was always the intention to play him this week,” said coach Cleary.

“The stakes have increased and we always want to put together our best team and this week he is ready.”

However, Penrith cannot rely on the star player alone to solve the problems that have arisen during his absence, with the team looking exhausted and error-prone again on Saturday night.

Penrith never looked comfortable against the 14th-placed Titans, making 15 errors and trailing 6-4 at half-time despite a surprisingly strong first half from the visitors.

But it would be a brave commentator to write off the three-time reigning premier, especially now that they are certain to host the Roosters, who have not beaten Penrith since 2019.

Coach Cleary remains calm despite a difficult end to the regular season.

“It didn’t look the way we wanted it to, but the most important thing was that we won the game and we did that,” he said.

“I honestly feel like our defense has improved over the last month or so. What we didn’t have tonight was our offense to complement it.

“If we can combine both, we will be hard to beat.”