Nathan Cleary in telling Panthers training move as details of ‘car injury’ emerge
The three-time premiership winner has been sidelined with an injury suffered in Penrith’s grand final triumph
The Penrith Panthers have talked up the condition of sidelined star Nathan Cleary after the three-time premiership winner returned to training on Thursday. Cleary and halves partner Jarome Luai were among the highest profile group of Panthers grand final heroes to make their returns, with Luai having undergone shoulder surgery after his side beat Brisbane to win its third straight NRL grand final.
Cleary’s masterclass in Penrith’s premiership triumph came after he suffered a serious knee injury early in the first half after a tackle from Broncos prop Payne Haas. It’s understood Cleary suffered a grade-three posterior cruciate ligament rupture, which Penrith’s physio likened to something often seen in a car crash which could have sidelined him for as much as two months if it happened in the regular season.
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“They call it the dashboard car injury, where if you have a head-on accident it can typically damage or rupture that ligament, such is the force involved,” Penrith physio Pete Green said. “Had it been during the season, and what time of year it was, he could have come back half-done in two or three weeks, or you come back properly in six to eight weeks.
“Considering he has travelled around a fair bit with little rehab, he was in remarkable shape.” Cleary missed the Kangaroos’ Pacific Championships Test series against Samoa and New Zealand and has had a bust off-season of travel which has included trips to New York and Bali, as well as a highly publicised visit to Perth to see his girlfriend Mary Fowler and watch the Matildas star play for Australia.
Penrith teammate Mavrik Geyer was also blown away by Cleary’s condition and in an ominous warning to rival clubs, suggested the 26-year-old was looking hungrier than ever for more premiership success in 2024. “He is looking good, and he already looks like he’s in for another great year — he looks like he’ll go until he’s 40,” Geyer said.
