Nathan Cleary TikTok video contradicts NRL star’s story over isolation breach
After avoiding police action over social distancing protocols, Nathan Cleary has spoken for the first time about why he didn’t inform the NRL of dance videos he made with girls in his home.
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Nathan Cleary says he “messed up” by dancing with a group of women inside his home and disobeying social distancing protocols, but didn’t tell the NRL about the existence of videos because “they didn’t ask me about them”.
Police will not take action against the Penrith Panthers star because the incident took place inside his own home, but the 22-year-old is bracing for heftier fines from the NRL after the emergence of two videos of him dancing with the women.
The Panthers halfback told the Daily Telegraph he regretted filming the two now-deleted TikTok videos with two women in the sitting room of this Penrith home in Sydney’s west.
He earlier told the integrity unit he was unaware photographs had been taken of him during an uninvited, impromptu stop-in on Anzac Day last Saturday which landed him a $4000 NRL-imposed fine.
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“I messed up, I spoke to the integrity unit about what happened but they didn’t ask me about the TikTok videos, they just asked me about the pictures and I’ve already told them about that,” Cleary said on Wednesday afternoon through the crack of his front door.
“I wish I hadn’t done the video, just got carried away in the moment. I was stupid. I messed up.”
“It’s hard for everyone because it’s something no one has had to go through before, but that’s definitely no excuse for what’s happened.
“I regret doing the video. If they fine me more I’ll deal with that at the time. I’m just going to wait and see what happens when I speak to the integrity unit.”
After The Daily Telegraph showed the NRL the two videos on Wednesday morning, the governing body said it would review the footage.
However, Cleary has been cleared by police because, as the occupier of the home, he was not deemed to have broken COVID-19 rules. The women who visited the home Cleary shares with fellow Penrith player Tyrone May, may face fines of $1000.
While Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo Carr were each fined $20,000 ($50,000 with 60 per cent suspended) and issued with a one-game suspended sentence, Cleary was only hit with a $4000 punishment ($10,000 with 60 per cent suspended) and a one-game suspended ban.
In explaining the large discrepancy between the punishments on Tuesday, acting NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said it was deemed Cleary’s interaction with the women was unexpected, as opposed to the planned camping trip embarked on by Mitchell and Addo-Carr.
In regards to photographs that emerged on Tuesday showing Cleary sitting on the lounge as the women sat on his lap, the Panthers star said “in the time they were here there was a photo that was taken that I had no idea about until this morning.”
However, these videos clearly show Cleary participating in TikTok posts for the popular social media platform.
On Tuesday, Cleary said he was sorry and “stuffed up”.
“My sister’s friends and girls I have grown up with were drinking down the road on the street,” he told Nine News.
“They came by and popped in and said they were just waiting for an Uber before they went to someone else’s house.”
He said the girls would have been drinking in his home for about 10 minutes.
The NSW Origin star sent his teammates an apology and had to tell his coach and father Ivan Cleary.
SEE THE VIDEO: Nathan Cleary at home in isolation
“I explained the situation to him and he said you shouldn’t have done that,” he told Nine News.
“It was very hard, I had a sick feeling in my stomach the whole time. Not only is he my coach but my dad at the same time.”
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys had already had enough on Tuesday, declaring about the punishments that “the next one will be harsher”.
“We’ve given them the benefit of the doubt in this instance. Out of every negative is a positive and the positive here is that every player is on notice.
“Their actions are extremely important during this pandemic crisis.”
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Commentator and former Penrith football boss Phil Gould had called on Addo-Carr, Mitchell and Cleary to be banned for the remainder of the NRL season.
Only a day after declaring Mitchell and Addo-Carr should be outed for the rest of the year after breaking COVID-19 regulations, the former Panthers GM suggested the same should now happen with Cleary, the 22-year-old playmaker he helped bring into both the NRL and NSW Origin side.
Gould took to Twitter on Monday to write: “No excuse. Serious breach. Granted Nathan says the incident was not planned, which obviously differs from the Josh/Latrell situation, however, players need to be vigilant. They need to protect themselves, their teammates, and the game. For mine, blanket penalties should apply.”
Asked in a later tweet if Cleary should also be banned for a year, Gould replied: “Absolutely. It’s irresponsible”.