‘It killed’: Nathan Cleary admits agony of seven-hour panther tattoo

Premiership-winning Panther Nathan Cleary has revealed he spent a marathon seven hours in his tattoo artist’s chair to have his club’s mascot inked on his side.

He is a champion on the footy field yet NRL Premiership winner Nathan Cleary has admitted the pain of getting his first tattoo was almost a bit much for the sportsman.

The 24-year-old spent seven hours in the chair to have a permanent reminder of the Penrith Panthers’ 2021 winning season inked on his body.

“It was a special moment and I’d never had a tatt before,” Cleary told The Daily Telegraph.

“I had always wanted a tattoo and this was a good reason to do it. It is a moment in time that I can always remember.”

Premiership winner Nathan Cleary recently got his first tattoo. Picture: Instagram

The realistic panther took seven hours to complete. Picture: Instagram

Inked by tattoo artist Sharn Standen, the image of a large growling panther head with the words ‘Champs 21’ down his left torso has drawn much commentary since it made its debut on social media a week ago. While not listening to any of the negative comments, Cleary said the experience was an unexpectedly painful one.

“It killed,” he said of the tattoo from artist Sharn Standen. “I put up with it and got through it. There was about two hours in there that were tough but it was all right. It is hard to explain, it was a scratching feeling but it was probably more so uncomfortable from sitting there so long.”

Cleary spent Tuesday on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland to unveil the new Adidas tennis collection that launches at the Australian Open on Monday.

Nathan Cleary showed off his new tatt while changing at a promotional event on the Great Barrier Reef.

He is recovering from recent shoulder surgery and believes he will be fit to play in round one of the 2022 NRL season.

“It is a slow process but I’m ticking each box and it is coming along pretty well,” he said.

“I am back into most of the training now, just the contact side of things that I haven’t gotten into. I am starting to do a bit more weights to get the shoulder stronger than what it was.”

The son of Premiership winning coach Ivan Cleary said Penrith is gunning for another title this year.

“Once you get that taste of success, you don’t want to think about anything else so we are probably hungrier than ever,” he said.

“Within the group we are a young squad but everyone wants to strive for more, no one is content with where we are at and so it is exciting.”

Cleary joined fellow sports stars in modelling Adidas’ new recycled plastic range. Picture: Supplied

A life-size tennis court was set up on a barge off Townsville to launch the Adidas range as the clothing and shoes are made of recycled ocean plastic and was inspired by the reef.

“It is a whole different perspective as what we are used to as footy players but gives us reasons in everyday life to eliminate things that will create plastic waste,” Cleary said of what he had learnt.

“It just really opens your eyes to what is happening with the environment.”