The Penrith halfback’s premiership heroics reach a new level with confirmation he did it on ‘one leg’.
The superstar Penrith halfback dragged his side from the brink of disaster, masterminding the greatest comeback in NRL grand final history as the Panthers — losing 8-24 with only 15 minutes left — won by two points, 26-24, againstIt’s a feat that needs no enhancement to go down as one of the greatest in the game’s history — but it just got one, with news emerging that Cleary did it all on one leg.
Panthers medical staff were assessing a knee injury that happened in the 10th minute of the game when Broncos wrecking ball Payne Haas executed a hip drop tackle on Cleary, for which he has been fined.Despite the injury, the eventual Clive Churchill medallist played out the last 70 minutes of the game and put on a virtuoso performance that will be talked about for decades to come.
His match-winning performance was already arguably the greatest in grand final history, but the injury elevates it from freakish to a borderline physical impossibility.The Panthers will be unsure on the severity or nature of the injury until he gets scans, on which Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga is sweating.
“Daly’s had an unbelievable year, but Nathan is at another level and he showed that on Sunday,” Meninga said.There was no room in Meninga’s squad for Dally M medallist Kalyn Ponga, Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards or Brisbane whiz Reece Walsh, with James Tedesco retaining the captaincy.
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