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Nine minutes into Sunday’s NRL grand final, Nathan Cleary injured his left knee and suffered a suspected ligament tear.
But with the three-peat and a chance to make NRL history on the line, the Panthers halfback was determined to stay on the field.
Nathan Cleary played 70 minutes of Sunday’s final with a suspected PCL tear.Credit: Getty Images
“I remember feeling at the time [that] it felt a bit weird. I didn’t take the conversion not long after that,” Cleary said.
“We just sort of [kept] getting it checked out. And then I could feel it through the game, but I wasn’t too sore. Adrenaline pumping. But then the next day afterwards, it was a struggle to walk around.”
The suspected tear in his posterior cruciate ligament – one the of the ligaments that connect the thighbone to the shinbone – was the result of a tackle from Broncos prop Payne Haas, who was later charged by the match review committee for dangerous contact but escaped with a fine.
“It wasn’t anything crazy. I felt it a little bit at the start, it just felt a bit weird. I got it checked at halftime, but the physio was pretty confident that it was nothing too serious. He gave me a lot of positivity. I just had to go on,” Cleary said.
Luckily, he did. With 24 minutes left in the game, the Panthers were trailing by 16 points after an Ezra Mam hat-trick. But Cleary dragged his team from the precipice to prevail 26-24 and claim a third straight premiership.
But just days after he was named in the Kangaroos squad for the upcoming Pacific Championships, Cleary withdrew from the team, with scans expected to reveal damage to his PCL.
“It’s pretty disappointing. I would have loved to play again. But the last couple of days have been pretty sore,” Cleary said.
“I probably wouldn’t have been able to play the first couple of games anyway.”
Panthers celebrate with the trophy after beating the Broncos for the 2023 NRL premiership.Credit: Getty Images
He now joins teammate Jarome Luai, who is having surgery after aggravating the shoulder injury that sidelined him for four weeks, in the off-season casualty ward.
“Obviously, Romey’s [Luai] probably going to get surgery which is unfortunate for him. But it’s been a pretty big year and coming off a World Cup and that, so looking forward to it [time off].”
The reality of the three-peat is yet to sink in for the Panthers skipper.
“It’s been a lot of fun, just getting to reminisce on what happened. It’s just been good to spend time with the boys. It’s been pretty well-behaved as well, so it’s been nice compared to the last few years,” Cleary said.
“As we’ve been out it’s been on TV a fair bit, just sort of seeing the highlights. And it’s pretty cool to reminisce on it and reflect. It’s been cool to watch it with the boys as well.”
From one legendary halfback to another, Cleary said Broncos skipper Adam Reynolds reached out after the final.
“I spoke to Adam Reynolds, who sent me a message after the game, and I just congratulated him on the year he had. I have a lot of admiration for ‘Reyno’. So that was cool,” Cleary said.
“I don’t know him I’m overly well, but I’ve met him a couple of times, and he’s a legend of a bloke and a great footy player too. He actually apologised for not mentioning us in his post-match speech. I said it’s 100 per cent fine. Then he just said congratulations.”
Brad Fittler and Nathan Cleary during the Blues Origin camp this year.Credit: Brook Mitchell
Cleary, the NSW State of Origin halfback, said he was shocked that Blues coach Brad Fittler had decided to walk away from the role.
“It was pretty surprising, to be honest. I was just in amongst getting ready for the grand final and stuff like that, I haven’t been able to process that too much either,” Cleary said.
“I’ll probably reach out to him over the next couple of days and say thank you for what he’s done for my game. He has shown a lot of faith in me when I was young and coming through. I have a lot of respect for him.”
Although his father Ivan has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Fittler, Nathan believes he won’t apply for the role.
“I don’t think Dad would do that. I don’t know [who replaces Fittler]. We’ll see what happens.”
Panthers and NSW playmaker Luai was similarly shocked at the news.
“That was a bit of a surprise [Fittler’s resignation]. I thought he would have went around the globe one more time,” Luai said.
“But he has a family and there has obviously been a lot of pressure on him in the past few years. But he knew what the right call was.”
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