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Nathan Cleary sends NRL fans bonkers after epic act in 'rusty' Panthers return

The halfback had a mixed performance upon his return to the NRL.

riley morgan
Sports Reporter
·4-min read

Nathan Cleary has returned for the Penrith Panthers after 10 weeks out and immediately showed what the reigning premiers were missing after setting up a try in the first few moments. Cleary made his return for the Panthers for the first time since he re-injured his hamstring against the Bulldogs in round 10.

Fans have been waiting for Cleary to return after missing State of Origin and he did so without a number of representative players alongside him. Coach Ivan Cleary opted to rest Brian To'o, Liam Martin, Isaah Yeo and Jarome Luai after they all took part in the Blues' series win on Wednesday. Blues player-of-the-match Dylan Edwards hurt his knee in Origin Game 3 and is set to miss two to three weeks for the reigning champions.

Nathan Cleary (pictured) may have been 'rusty' in his return, but showed a moment of magic. (Images: Getty Images/Fox Sports)
Nathan Cleary (pictured) may have been 'rusty' in his return, but showed a moment of magic. (Images: Getty Images/Fox Sports)

And Cleary was called upon to lead the team in his first game back. And that is exactly what he did as it only took him three minutes to set up Sunia Turuva for the first try of the game. After breaking the line and bouncing out of a number of tackles, Cleary got the Panthers in good field position.

Then in a sweeping move, Cleary received the ball and was nearly wrapped up in a tackle. But the Panthers halfback managed to free an arm and threw a one-handed cut out pass to Turuva who finished in the corner. And naturally it didn't take fas long to praise the master halfback for orchestrating the Panthers' first try.

While Cleary was causing havoc in attack, Dolphins fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow 'The Hammer' left him behind in defence when he scored his team's second. After 22 minutes in the contest, Tabuai-Fidow breezed past the Penrith halfback to put his team in the lead to shock NRL fans.

The Hammer also attacked the Panthers' right edge for the first try as Cleary watched him tear through the line.And many fans pointed out the halfback appeared 'rusty' in defence. The Dolphins were leading a depleted Panthers team 18-12 at half-time.

Cleary strained his hamstring in Round 3, and only played one full game before hurting it again in Round 10. The Panthers have decided to play it very safe with their star halfback, however he's set to return to the No.7 role to partner Brad Schneider in the halves.

Nathan Cleary before a game.
Nathan Cleary (pictured) returned against the Dolphins.

Regular No.6 Jarome Luai was named among the reserves along with To'o and Martin. But Ivan Cleary opted to rest tehm alongside Origin stars Yeo and Edwards. The Panthers fullback copped a brutal setback after Origin when it was deemed he may have torn his PCL. However, scans confirmed Edwards didn't tear his PCL, but most likely suffered a sprain.

Edwards could be eyeing a return against the Eels, which would see him link-up with halfback Cleary for the first time since round 10. Dane Laurie lined-up as No.1 in the absence of Edwards.