A day in isolation with Panthers and Blues star Nathan Cleary
With the COVID-19 pandemic having shut down Australian sport, The Daily Telegraph kicks off a new series that goes inside the home gyms and makeshift backyard training fields of our most recognised athletes.
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Before he lifts weights now Nathan Cleary must first clear the garage.
Move his car, then shift to one corner that blue Victa lawnmower with grass stuck in thick clumps around each wheel.
Beside his dumbbells, sit five paint tins. Next to that, a small beer fridge.
“So it isn’t much of a gym,” Cleary said, almost apologetically. “But it’s enough.”
With Australian sport now effectively locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Daily Telegraph today begins its first instalment of a series dubbed: “A Day In Isolation With …”
For while sport around the world may have stopped, athletes like Cleary haven’t. Which is why over coming weeks — and potentially months — we’ll take you inside the garage gyms and backyard training fields of NRL stars, UFC fighters, even Olympians.
Makes for some adjusting. Especially for Cleary, the 22-year-old Penrith halfback who usually shifts weights inside that plush $22 million Panthers Academy with its lifting platforms, oversized kitchen and 12-man plunge pools.
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Given it opened in 2016, the same year as his top-grade debut, Cleary has spent his entire NRL career growing at a facility widely regarded as the best in Australian sport.
But now? Um, no.
With Panthers HQ officially shut down from today, Cleary is instead churning through gym lifts like Arnies, Skull Crushers and the ’ol Military Press next to timber piles and Roundup.
“I actually didn’t realise how dirty it was in here,” he joked when pushed on the state of his new gym.
“So I’ve used day one to clean everything out.”
Quizzed on how it felt to suddenly be removed from the routine of NRL life, Cleary conceded: “Oh, it was definitely weird to wake up this morning without anything really to do.
“But it’s good to get back to training like when you were a teenager coming through the grades. Humbling, too.
“That, and a good reminder how, no matter what, you have to find a way to get things done.”
Apart from being kitted out by Panthers staff with a barbell and 150kg in plates, Cleary has also been given an oversized net for passing and goalkicking practice.
“Although I think I’ll save the kicking for down at my local park when nobody’s around,” he said.
“I’m too worried about my footies disappearing over the fence.”
Elsewhere, the playmaker with five NSW Origin caps has managed to convince his two housemates to join him in training sessions for however long the coronavirus shutdown continues.
“And my mate Reece and I, we’ve actually got a bet on,” the Panthers No. 7 explained.
“He reckons he can put on 6kg of muscle in three weeks.
“So, I was happy to take that. He’s no chance.”
Cleary has plenty of reason to stay focused after adding 4kg of muscle over summer.
“But more than maintaining physique I just want to ensure that, whenever this season starts up again, I’m ready,” Cleary said.
Which is why on day one of isolation, Cleary was lifting.
Or at least right after he moved the car, shifted some paint tins, then pushed that Victa lawnmower into the corner.