Brad Fittler and his NSW Blues have a problem — Nathan Cleary says he’s not a five-eighth.
If Brad Fittler is planning to switch Nathan Cleary to five-eighth he’s yet to tell the young Panther, who told The Daily Telegraph “I’ve always been a halfback.”
Brad Fittler and his NSW Blues have a problem — Nathan Cleary says he’s not a five-eighth.
Cleary is set to be named in the No. 6 jumper alongside Newcastle’s Mitchell Pearce at halfback for Origin II in Perth on June 23.
But when asked earlier this week that he looked more like a five-eighth than a halfback, the Panthers playmaker bristled at the suggestion.
“Oh I’m not too sure — I’ve always played halfback so I wouldn’t really know,” Cleary said.
Cleary made his NRL debut as a five-eighth playing for Penrith in 2016 but hasn’t played in that position since.
The prospect of the Blues selecting two controlling halfbacks in Cleary and Pearce has been criticised by a host of respected ex-players but the 21-year-old Penrith star believes the roles are interchangeable in the modern game.
“With the footy we’re playing at the moment, I don’t think there is a massive difference between halfback and five-eighth,” Cleary added.
“Jimmy (Maloney) and I kind of play similarly.”
Former Blues and premiership-winning Cronulla hooker Michael Ennis, however, believes a Pearce and Cleary combination is destined to fail.
“It’s absolutely crazy,” Ennis said during Fox Sports’ post-match coverage of Thursday night footy.
“If Mitchell is in the side I have no problem with that. I think he completely deserves his opportunity.
“He is the form halfback for NSW, but the way he is playing he needs to play that same way for NSW, which is on the ball.
“Where does Nathan Cleary go when that happens? Isn’t that his job? He’s a halfback.
“No, if we are going to play Mitchell Pearce we need someone who is a runner.
“That has either got to be for me Jack Wighton or someone who has played the runner outside Pearce and that is James Maloney, who handles the big stage.
“It cannot be Pearce and Nathan Cleary. They are both halfbacks — we cannot play left and right and win this game.”
Prior to the Pearce and Cleary news, Matt Johns expressed similar thoughts about playing two halfbacks.
Johns said it would be problematic to have two organisers in the halves.
“The five-five split is restrictive,” Johns said on The Matty Johns Podcast Show. “It’s restrictive because there’s no continuity in a set of six. At times when you hit an edge and then you link and hit the other edge, because you’re playing with two halfbacks, you’re playing reset football.
“Teams defend the five-five really well. They love it.”
If Johns was a NSW selector he would pick Pearce at halfback to partner Blues’ Origin I debutant Cody Walker at five-eighth.
“The beauty with Mitchell at the moment at Newcastle is that he’s playing full field,” he said.
“He’s playing both sides of the ruck, his six plays second fiddle and reacts off what Mitchell does.”
Pearce is all but locked in to end his 703-day Origin exile but his Newcastle coach Nathan Brown has urged Blues selectors not to pick the Knights playmaker if he isn’t given complete control of the team.
“If they want a dominate half, I would suggest that Pearcey would be the person you’d want — but only if you let him be a dominant half,” Brown said after the Knights’ win over South Sydney in round 13.
“I look at Mitch as a player who has to do play on play. If your style of footy is go and stand on one side of the field and not double up on plays, they may as well let Pearcey sit in the lounge room.
“If they want a partner who is going to dominate the ball and then say ‘feed Cody Walker’, I’d say Pearcey’s your man.”
Cleary wasn’t sure who would be the Blues halves for Game 2 when asked earlier this week, although he was happy to endorse Pearce.
“I don’t know — we will have to wait and see,” he said.
“Everyone has got an opinion. There are a lot of halves playing well.
“But Mitch Pearce is playing well and if they were to pick him then it definitely wouldn’t be frowned upon.”
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