Scans have confirmed that Panthers half Nathan Cleary will miss up to 10 weeks with knee injury

PENRITH’S premiership hopes have suffered a massive hit and potential NSW Origin plans are in disarray after scans confirmed the extent of the knee injury suffered by star half Nathan Cleary on Friday night.

Nathan Cleary suffered a grade three medial ligament knee injury in Friday night’s loss to the Bulldogs. Photo: Dan Himbrechts

PENRITH’S premiership campaign has suffered a devastating blow with scans on Saturday confirming that star halfback Nathan Cleary will miss up to 10 weeks with a knee injury, ruling him out of contention for selection for New South Wales for Origin I.

In a seemingly innocuous incident involving Bulldogs prop Aaron Woods, Cleary was taken to the ground after kicking but failed to return for the second half as Canterbury held on to win 20-18 at ANZ Stadium.

There were initial fears that Cleary could have suffered an ACL tear and while the medial ligament injury is far less serious, the grade three nature of the tear means he will be out of action for more than two months.

His injury blow comes less than a week after the club lost props Sam McKendry and Tim Browne to long-term injuries, while winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak is out for six weeks.

— with AAP

Originally published as Scans have confirmed that Panthers half Nathan Cleary will miss up to 10 weeks with knee injury