Nathan Cleary cops truth bomb from Johnathan Thurston as NRL star cleared of serious damage
Thurston has warned Cleary that he will be heavily targeted when he returns to action.
NRL legend Johnathan Thurston has warned Nathan Cleary that teams will look to target and expose him if he is rushed back into action before his shoulder is right to go. The Panthers provided a positive update on Cleary's injury on Friday, revealing the gun halfback won't require surgery despite dislocating his shoulder on Thursday night.
Cleary was forced to leave the field in the second half of Penrith's 24-22 loss to the Melbourne Storm and underwent scans on Friday to assess the extent of the damage. Fortunately, the scans only revealed minor damage, and Cleary won't need surgery to fix the issue.
The Panthers No.7 suffered a dislocation after being hit in a solid tackle by Storm prop Josh King. It's the other shoulder to the one he damaged in 2021 when he had a stint on the sidelines before playing through the pain to win the grand final.
The latest injury could see Cleary miss as few as just two games and could be ready for the start of the NRL finals in three weeks. But on Friday, the Panthers were more conservative with their timeframe, saying the plan is to have him ready to play at some stage in the finals as they seek a fourth-straight NRL title.
However, Thurston believes playing Cleary in the finals could actually hurt the Panthers' chances despite him being arguably the best halfback in the game. The Queensland great said anyone carrying a shoulder issue becomes an easy target in the defensive line and NRL rivals would be looking to go after him.
"Shoulders are difficult to play with when they're busted ... you can't be playing with a busted shoulder in that position," Thurston told Nine. "You get targeted. Every side will be sending their back rowers, and their forwards at him to test it.
"That's just the nature of the beast when you're playing, (and he's) the best player in the comp. When you are carrying that slight injury, if you're back for the prelim or one of those finals games, they will be coming after him."
Nathan Cleary may play Cooper Cronk-type role in NRL finals
In the five matches since Cleary's return from a hamstring injury, the star halfback has won three of them basically on his own back. Cleary kicked a two-point field goal to win the game against the Dolphins, scored a try to topple the Knights and nailed a kick to win the game against the Eels.
It is that impact that makes Cleary irreplaceable when it comes to icing games and the Panthers may get Cleary to watch tape of Cooper Cronk in the Roosters' 2018 grand final win to model his game on when he returns from the shoulder injury.
Cronk produced what was widely labelled as the greatest ‘non-performance’ of all time to lead the Roosters to premiership glory over the Storm in 2018. With a broken scapula (shoulder blade) making tackling and being tackled almightily tricky and painful, Cronk didn’t run the ball a single time and made just a handful of tackles in the Roosters' 21-6 triumph.
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But his guidance and leadership on the pitch were priceless as he helped the Roosters capture a memorable win. Before the game, there was plenty of talk that Melbourne would relentlessly target him in the defensive line and would also rush up to put pressure on him.
So in response, Cronk pulled the strings and set up plays in a way where he was basically the on-field coach. Cleary's injury is nowhere near as severe and if he is brought back into the side in the finals he will likely be able to be more involved than the NRL great. But it is a performance that can provide Panthers fans with plenty of hope that even with their superstar wounded they can still do the unprecedented four-peat.
with AAP
