Origin Washup: Nathan Cleary accepts criticism that he ‘hasn’t owned Origin’

Nathan Cleary has proven himself to be the best player on the planet for the past five years – but he’s made a shock admission about his Origin legacy.

Nathan Cleary concedes criticism of his State of Origin performances is justified and that he’s yet to properly own a series for the Blues after NSW handed back the shield with a meek showing in front of their home fans on Wednesday night.

The Penrith halfback is the best player in the world and is on track to have one of the greatest individual careers of all time, with Cleary already winning four titles in a row where he was judged the most valuable player on two occasions.

But while his club form has been unrivalled, Cleary’s Origin record is now 8-9 after he lost his third decider.

The Cleary discourse has always ranged from him being the GOAT to others pushing back because he hasn’t dominated rep footy, and the man himself concedes the criticism is warranted.

The Maroons didn’t give Nathan Cleary any time or space to create in attack. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“At the end of the day, I haven’t (owned Origin),” he said in the sheds.

“I’m the harshest marker of myself anyway so I don’t really think what other people say is out of line because I think that of myself anyway.

“At the end of the day, you feel like you’ve let down the boys that you play with in the state, and that’s what hurts the most. I let down myself and my own high standards. It’s frustrating.”

The champion playmaker spent 20 minutes with his parents in the sheds discussing what went wrong on a night where the Maroons ambushed the Blues again to race out to a 20-0 halftime lead.

Cleary looked dejected and addressed his emotions in a raw interview where he praised Queensland’s defence for throwing him off his game as they’ve done in previous deciders.

Cleary was equally shattered after the 2022 decider. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“I feel terrible. It’s so frustrating,” he lamented after he didn’t set up any tries in the 24-12 loss.

“It feels like I’ve been here before and then it’s happened again. It sucks.

“I’ll definitely reflect, and that’s sort of already happening in my brain at the moment as I try to work out what happened.

“It’s so frustrating because I probably didn’t adjust quickly enough to their rushing defence, and that played into their hands.

“They were scrambling and saving tries, and we probably conceded them too easily.

“I don’t want to say too much right now (about what I could have done) because I’m not 100 per cent sure, but I think I could have controlled it a little more and not played into that aggressive defence as much, which gave them confidence.”

This game was supposed to be Cleary’s final frontier, but he’ll have to wait another year to tick it off his bucket list.

“That’s sort of sinking in now,” he said.

“It’s much like a grand final. It’s the biggest game of all, and if you lose, you have to wait another year to get back there.

“It’s about growing from it and not kicking stones. The frustrating thing about rugby league is that you feel like you learnt lessons before, but there are always new lessons to learn.

“No two rugby league games are ever the same so it’s constantly evolving and you’ve got to evolve your game.”

Tom Dearden only had good things to say about Cleary after getting the better of him on Wednesday night. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Rival halfback Tom Dearden was the best player on the field in the decider and deservedly won the Wally Lewis Medal, with the Cowboys star full of praise for Cleary afterwards.

“He’s a great player and you don’t take anything away from his game tonight,” he said.

“We played really well and got our game on, and that’s what allowed us to control the game and win in the end.

“Cleary is a special player and you’ve got to make sure you’re at your best to beat a team with a guy like Nathan playing for them.”

BULLISH DALEY DEMANDS SECOND CHANCE

By Martin Gabor

A defiant Laurie Daley says he should “definitely” remain NSW coach in 2026 and has received support from his players who say they are the ones to blame after the Blues coughed up a 1-0 series lead to hand the shield back to Queensland.

Daley led the team from 2013-17 and returned this year after Michael Maguire guided the team to Origin glory 12 months ago with an epic win at Suncorp Stadium in game three.

The Blues were expected to build on that success under Daley who finally got the chance to coach a team that wasn’t stacked with future Immortals.

Laurie Daley has shut down suggestions he shouldn’t coach the Blues next year. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

The series started perfectly with a win in Brisbane, but things didn’t go to plan after that with NSW blown away in the first half in each of the final two matches to lose the series despite being short-priced favourites to retain the shield.

Daley has now lost all four deciders as Blues coach, with his decision to not select Terrell May or Keaon Koloamatangi sure to come under the microscope after they were well beaten through the middle.

“Most definitely,” he replied after the game when asked if he should remain NSW coach.

“I think what we’ve been building (gives me the confidence that we can win). While I was disappointed with the result, I think the players had a really good campaign but we just didn’t nail the moments so we have to be better at that.”

Liam Martin says his hand is fine despite fears he’d done some damage during the game. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Blues enforcer Liam Martin was adamant that Daley wasn’t at fault for what went down at Accor Stadium and said the players had to cop the blame.

“We let him down,” he said.

“(Isaah Yeo) addressed it before and said we were so disappointed as a playing group because ‘Loz’ and everyone involved deserved so much more from us.

“They left no stone unturned in their preparation and what they gave us during the week. They did everything they needed to do, but we just didn’t perform out there.

“If there’s any criticism, criticise us as the playing group, not Loz. He couldn’t have done much more.”

Laurie Daley has copped much of the heat in the wake of the defeat. Picture: Getty

Star halfback Nathan Cleary was also quick to defend Daley, with questions to be asked about their attack which didn’t seem to have other options after the Maroons rattled them early.

“He wasn’t the reason that we lost tonight. It was us as players,” he said.

“He committed a lot to the preparation and I thought the preparation was really good.”

Meanwhile, Martin expects to be fine for Penrith’s game against the Eels on Sunday despite hurting his hand in the first half when he was tackled by Kurt Capewell.

“It’s come good. There was a bit of carry on but it’s feeling all right now,” he said, with the edge forward requiring assistance from the team’s medical staff.

“I had contact straight on it and it didn’t feel good for a few minutes, but as the game went on, it got better.”

Originally published as Origin Washup: Nathan Cleary accepts criticism that he ‘hasn’t owned Origin’