Nathan Cleary delivers in golden point in Cameron Ciraldo’s debut to down Titans 17-16
NATHAN Cleary has delivered in golden point to guide the Panthers to a 17-16 victory over the Gold Coast in Cameron Ciraldo’s coaching debut.
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NATHAN Cleary has revealed how “lies” on social media personally impacted his family and forced him to overcome one of the toughest week’s of his career.
The 20-year-old Penrith halfback was a picture of relief after securing a dramatic golden-point field-goal victory over the Titans on the Gold Coast.
However, speaking after the incredible come-from-behind win, Cleary said he was forced to quit social media after being dragged into the coaching mess that has engulfed the Penrith club.
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“It was a massive bombshell, and everything kind of hit,’’ Cleary said of Anthony Griffin’s sacking.
“My wrong-doing was being on social media too much and I was reading too much rubbish.
“There was a lot of stuff out there at the time, I thought there were a lot of lies, but I didn’t want to delve into that too much.
“Halfway through the week I spoke to ‘Ciro’ [Penrith coach Cameron Ciraldo] and I made the decision I couldn’t look at social media too much.
“My mum [Bec] was doing it too much. It was hurting mum. We made the resolution to get off it and focus on this game.’’
Cleary said that once he made the decision to bunker down, his commitment was narrowed to only his coach and teammates.
“That’s my job. I owe it to Ciro and the team to get out there and play well,’’ Cleary said.
“As soon as I walked into training it felt like I was home. This is my second home. I love the boys out there. They made it easy for me to focus on my footy.’’
Cleary said he would maintain his stance of waiting until the end of the year, when he turns 21, to decide where his future lies.
“I’m honestly not thinking about it. I want to focus on playing footy,’’ Cleary said.
“My form has been up and down and I want to focus on getting it steady and on the rise.’’
Ciraldo said he was stunned with Cleary’s composure to ice the game, after missing a conversion attempt which sent the game into golden-point and given the pressure and spotlight surrounding the young half’s entire week.
“I’m so pleased for Nathan to win it for us after the week he’s had,’’ Ciraldo said.
“it was not of his own doing but the way he handled himself this week, I couldn’t be more proud of him.
“With the week we’ve had, it was a good way to finish it.
“There is genuine happinesss.
“I know how disappointed he (Cleary) would have been to miss that [conversion], he’s really hard on himself. When he got that field goal it was good for him.’’
“You’ve just got to pinch yourself and remember he’s 20.
“He made the decision to get off social media - what 20-year-old does that?
“Under that sort of pressure, just his maturity is way beyond his years.’’
While Ciraldo said the win wouldn’t hide a shocking 75-minutes of football, Cleary added there remained a confidence in the group that they could prove a handful in the finals.
“There is a belief in the group we can push for the title,’’ Cleary said.
“But we do know there is a lot of improvement and we can’t keep dishing up performances like this because it won’t cut it in the finals.’’
PENRITH 17 (W Blake N Cleary D Watene-Zelezniak tries N Cleary 2 goals N Cleary field goal) bt GOLD COAST 16 (A Don R James P Sami tries K Elgey A Taylor goals) in extra time at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Henry Perenara, Ziggy Przeklasa- Adamski. Crowd: 11,283
Originally published as Nathan Cleary delivers in golden point in Cameron Ciraldo’s debut to down Titans 17-16