NRL 2022: Nathan Cleary charged as Penrith Panthers defeat Brisbane Broncos

Panthers skipper Nathan Cleary has been hit with a dangerous contact charge for his ugly tackle on Brisbane’s Billy Walters on Friday night.

Nathan Cleary has escaped suspension for his ugly tackle on Broncos half Billy Walter.

The NRL match review committee has deemed that the Panthers star’s leg-twist tackle was worthy of a grade one dangerous contact charge which equates to a $1,000 fine with an early plea.

Cleary is free to play next weekend against the Raiders.

The chief playmaker found himself in hot water on Friday night when he attempted to tackle Walters one-on-one, using his leg as leverage to take the 28-year-old to the ground.

Walters bent awkwardly on his way down and the Penrith gun was quick to check on his halves counterpart before he got up to play the ball.

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Nathan Cleary’s tackle on Billy Walters. Picture: Channel 9

After the match, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary described the tackle as more of a “Cumberland throw”. “It looked a bit awkward, but sometimes it happens,” he said.

It was one of few marks in an otherwise typical Panthers second half.

Despite gaining big metres in each of their early sets, the Panthers were unable to penetrate a spirited Broncos defence.

Nathan Cleary was placed on report.

It was the Broncos who were first on the board, Adam Reynolds putting Kotoni Staggs over the line in the 10th minute.

That was as good as it got for the visitors. Once Jarome Luai opened the scoring for the Panthers in the 21st minute, the momentum was never returned.

Despite the 12-6 half time score, the Broncos never looked like knocking off the premiers in front of the 19,406-strong crowd. Five second-half Panthers tries saw them extend their BlueBet Stadium winning streak to 20 games.

STAGGS-ERING FIRST HALF

The Broncos’ strong early defence was key to their strong start. Several promising Panthers attacks were stifled by key tackles inside the 10. The Panthers gained big metres in each of their early sets, but were unable to cross.

Kotoni Staggs was the standout Bronco in the first half, making six tackle breaks and setting up Tesi Niu to score the first points of the game in the 10th minute. He looked to have scored one of his own in the 26th minute, but a bunker review determined he had lost the ball millimetres above the turf.

A hamstring injury to Niu sustained scoring his try saw Selwyn Cobbo get his chance at fullback. Nui would not return for the second half.

James Fisher-Harris was strong for the Panthers. Picture: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images

TWO IN THE BIN

Back-to-back set restarts early in the second half had the Broncos deep in Panther territory. But a 47th minute penalty saw Dylan Edwards and Keenan Palasia both sent to the sin-bin after both appeared to slap each other in the face.

With both teams a man down, it was the Panthers who forced their way through the tiring Broncos’ defence. Tries to Charlie Staines, Taylan May and Liam Martin in the next 11 minutes put any hope of a Broncos’ upset to bed.

NATHAN NOT IN THE CLEAR

Despite the dominating performance, the Panthers may have a small sweat next week, after skipper Nathan Cleary was put on report for a tackle on Billy Walters.

With the tackle all but completed upright, Cleary appeared to sling Walters to the ground, landing awkwardly.

Cleary may only be facing a grade 1 charge, and a week at best, but it was a stain the Panthers didn’t need on an otherwise stellar performance.

Originally published as NRL 2022: Nathan Cleary charged as Penrith Panthers defeat Brisbane Broncos