Nathan Cleary hops the fence, jumps into crowd for classy post-game act

Nathan Cleary was all class as he jumped a fence to get into the crowd after Penrith beat the Titans on the Gold Coast on Friday night.

Penrith has been accused of arrogance in recent times but Nathan Cleary was all class on Friday night.

Fresh from an 18-4 win over the Titans, the Panthers halfback — still in his full playing kit — jumped into the crowd to greet a young fan and pose for photos.

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Footage shared to social media shows Cleary making his way to the boy, as a woman is heard in the background saying: “You’re so nice, Nathan. This is wonderful.”

Last week Panthers fans came under fire for mocking the Raiders’ iconic Viking Clap during what turned out to be a comfortable win, and there were also questions about some players’ egos during last year’s run to the premiership.

But even Penrith’s critics would acknowledge Cleary’s post-game act was straight out of the top draw.

The Panthers remain unbeaten in 2022 after yet another win, this time by 14 points over Gold Coast, but the reigning premiers weren’t exactly at their best.

“It was a win for our culture. We definitely weren’t at our best,” coach Ivan Cleary said.

“We take pleasure in winning … any way. It is not always pretty and you are not always going to be at your best.

“It was a five-day turnaround and we haven’t travelled much. It is still a young team so that was going to be a little bit of a concern, so they would have learned a bit.

“We’ve got Parramatta next week. They are going really well and we are going to have to be better.”

Nathan Cleary was all class.

The Titans, meanwhile, slumped to their sixth loss of the year as million-dollar man David Fifita — who surprisingly, started on the bench — limped off with a knee injury after just 39 minutes of game time.

“We needed impact from him. He’s not a standard player, he can offer big impact. I’d rather his 60 minutes be full of quality, rather than try and push him to 80 for the sake of it,” coach Justin Holbrook said of the decision not to start Fifita.

“The fact he got injured and couldn’t play a part makes it even harder.

“It’s disappointing, we worked really hard to give ourselves a chance to win the game. We’re relieving pressure too easily. There is a lot to like … but not the result.

“We know we’ve got to get on a run and I’m confident we can do it.”

Originally published as Nathan Cleary hops the fence, jumps into crowd for classy post-game act