In his darkest moments of an adversity-ridden season, Nathan Cleary’s despair might have derailed the Panthers’ quest for a four-peat. But on the eve Penrith’s fifth-straight grand final, the halfback partly credits his resurgence to an unusual source: the recovery regimen administered by his groodle, Prince.
“He doesn’t say much, he just licks my face,” Cleary said with a smile on Tuesday. “He’s been keeping me company in the down times, he’s been great. It’s good to come home to someone that doesn’t care what you do, or what you’re playing, or the mood you’re in.”
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The prominence of the rust-coloured, floppy-eared golden retriever/poodle cross on the social media accounts of both Cleary and his girlfriend Mary Fowler prompted the lighthearted exchange on a busy Tuesday for the Panthers playmaker, which included a fan day at Penrith Stadium.
But the conversation also jolted a memory of his low point in a year marked with hamstring and shoulder injuries. “I was actually lucky, particularly with the shoulder one, I’d come home and just, my mind was all over the shop. But I had both Prince and my girlfriend here so they were great to pick my mood back up.”
The 26-year-old has played just 12 games this season, his lowest tally across nine seasons in the NRL. The knee injury he suffered in last season’s grand final impacted his off-season, and then a serious hamstring complaint meant he played just two games between rounds three and 20. His shoulder injury a month later kept him out for another three weeks, but he has returned and managed it during the finals.
Yet Cleary’s left shoulder remains one of the grand final’s major talking points. He was taken off in the final minutes in the preliminary final against Cronulla after appearing to aggravate it in a tackle, and respected NRL injury analyst Brian Seeney has described the problem – which makes a recurrence more likely – as a “ticking timebomb”.
The No 7 will have surgery to correct the issue in the off-season, but on Tuesday he said it he was “feeling good” and it was business as usual at training this week. “The thing that happened on the weekend was just, like, a little scare, but it feels fine and I pulled up sweet, so same preparation as the last couple of games, and [I’ll be] ready to go.”
The run of injuries has been a comedown for the game’s leading player after his masterclass in last season’s grand final. He missed the entire State of Origin series, and ahead of Wednesday’s Dally M awards, Melbourne’s halfback Jahrome Hughes has been heralded by some as the best in the competition this year.
“He’s definitely the best running halfback… I’ve seen really,” Cleary said. “He’s added a lot of other stuff to his game as well, just in terms of game management and ball playing. He’s actually been a pleasure to watch the whole year, he’s been on fire.”
Despite his stop-start season, Cleary too appears to be catching alight. He offered a glimpse of his powers in the preliminary final against the Sharks, first with a 40/20 then a try assist in a crucial two-minute period of the first half.
Cleary admits the series of injuries has been frustrating because he has not been on the field “as much as I’ve wanted to be”. But he is happy to be still competing in the first week of October and the injuries, he said, are “just a memory”.
“Now that we’re in grand final week and actually made it to the end, and being able to be a part of the biggest game of the year, I’m very grateful for that.”
