By Michael Chammas, Billie Eder and Adrian Proszenko
Clive Churchill Medal winner Liam Martin is expected to be ruled out of Australia’s Pacific Championships campaign due to injury and teammate Nathan Cleary might not be available for the Panthers’ Las Vegas season opener against Cronulla.
Australian coach Mal Meninga named Martin in his 21-man squad on Monday, however, the back-rower is expected to rule himself out of the tournament.
Martin has been battling shoulder and rib cartilage issues and isn’t in the physical state required to compete for the Kangaroos.
There was better news for Martin’s teammate Isaah Yeo, who was named captain of the Kangaroos. He found out about the honour while watching the team announcement on television.
“I was ironing my shirt, getting ready for our [presentation night] festivities, and I wondered if they had named the team and the press conference was on,” Yeo said at Penrith’s premiership fan day on Wednesday.
Pain and pleasure: Liam Martin with his Clive Churchill MedalCredit: Getty
“I saw it then. I’m sure I will talk to [coach] Mal [Meninga] over the next day or two. He’s pretty good with that, off the back of the win just allowing us to celebrate with the group.”
Canberra back-rower Hudson Young was named in the preliminary squad but missed out on selection when the team was reduced to 21 on Monday. Young, who played Origin this year, is the frontrunner to replace Martin.
Meanwhile, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said at Penrith’s presentation night on Tuesday that son Nathan isn’t certain to take to the field against Cronulla in Las Vegas as the No.7 requires surgery on the shoulder injury he carried through the finals.
“There is a chance [Nathan misses Vegas],” Cleary said.
“Hopefully, he’ll be there, and knowing that he’ll be doing everything he possibly can to get there. It’s obviously a pretty cool experience that everyone’s looking forward to.”
The Panthers-Sharks contest is one of four rugby league matches to open the 2025 season, along with the Raiders against the Warriors, the Wigan Warriors against the Warrington Wolves and the Australian Jillaroos against England’s women’s team.
Cleary said the reality of the 2024 premiership was yet to sink in, but attention would soon turn to 2025.
“I watched the game back today, this morning, it hasn’t [sunk in], I don’t really want it to either. It’s a good feeling, it’s a surreal feeling, still just I guess wrapping up everything that happened and the game itself, it was just an epic game,” Cleary said.
“I had to do some [2025 planning] today actually, just in and around things like player surgeries and then start looking at return dates. So, hopefully after this week, we can get away and recharge the batteries a bit. It all comes around pretty quick, but really I just want to embrace the season we’ve had, enjoy tonight and just make some more memories.”
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