Origin Confidential: Nathan Cleary’s mystery injury leaves Penrith officials dumbfounded
Penrith officials were left dumbfounded by Nathan Cleary’s apparent leg injury which saw him relinquish goalkicking duties and contain his overall Perth performance. ORIGIN CONFIDENTIAL.
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The Blues lost a playmaker in the lead-up to the second game of the State of Origin series and for a long time, it looked like they were down another at Optus Stadium.
Nathan Cleary ran out at Optus Stadium with heavy strapping around his right thigh.
He handed over the goalkicking duties to Zac Lomax as well, a decision that came back to haunt the Blues as Lomax failed to hit the mark.
Cleary didn’t look himself in the first half. Penrith officials were equally dumbfounded by Cleary’s apparent injury when contacted by this masthead during the game.
There had been whispers that he was on a restricted load in the lead-up to the game. Footage appeared of him shadow kicking after training, a pointer towards a mystery injury.
His performance in the opening 40 minutes did little to suggest he wasn’t carrying a problem of some kind, a disallowed try one of the fleeting moments of brilliance from the Penrith No.7.
Cleary loosened up in the second half but it was his halves partner Jarome Luai who took control. For once, Cleary was happy to play Robin to Luai’s Batman.
The Blues needed Cleary at his brilliant best given the way Queensland flew out of the blocks. Instead he struggled although rebounded in the second half. He won’t play for the Panthers against the Warriors this week.
While Cleary struggled his game one halves partner Mitchell Moses couldn’t get through he lead-in to the game.
Parramatta officials have privately raised concerns regarding the training loads on Moses that led to the Eels playmaker suffering a calf injury while in camp with NSW.
Moses, the Eels captain, is set to miss up to six weeks after damaging his calf while with the Blues in the lead-up to the second Origin game in Perth.
The news was a sledgehammer blow to not just to NSW, but also Parramatta and their coach Jason Ryles as they look to climb up the ladder over the second half of the season.
They now face the prospect of being without their highest paid player for an extensive period after he was struck down while in camp with NSW, having joined the Blues in the Blue Mountains the day after playing 80 minutes in the Eels’ loss to the Bulldogs.
Eels officials are believed to be privately seething with the injury to their talismanic skipper, who already missed the start of the season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.
Moses returned from the foot problem in time to play for NSW in Origin I, but it is understood he has carried a calf problem in recent weeks, prompting the Eels to keep a close watch on his training loads.
Parramatta handed over control of the situation to the Blues when Moses went into camp with NSW and it is understood they told them Moses had been managed in recent weeks.
However, he was only with the team for a matter of days before he went down with a calf problem, undergoing scans which revealed he could spend up to six weeks on the sidelines.
It means Moses hasn’t just been sidelined for Parramatta and NSW, but will also miss the final game of the Origin series.
Parramatta, meanwhile, will play Joash Papalii and Dean Hawkins in the halves against the Gold Coast this weekend with Dylan Brown suspended.
CAPEWELL ANSWERS CRITICS
Everything Kurt Capewell touches this year is turning to gold including a pivotal last-ditched tackle to force a Payne Hass error when the Blues were storming home.
It may have been the most important tackle of Origin II. And it was credited to the man who has missed the most tackles in the NRL.
At 31 and overlooked for Origin I it seemed like Capewell’s Queensland career was over. But he answered Billy Slater’s SOS to produce arguably his best performance for the Maroons. Much was made of Capewell’s selection after he came into the Origin arena missing 75 tackles – 20 more than the next worst – in the NRL this year.
When that statistic was brought to Capewell’s attention in the lead-up to game two he just shrugged it off. And so he should’ve. He is a premiership winner who knows his game. What those statistics don’t measure are effort areas or kick-chase misses. His leadership has been faultless for the Warriors too this year as they make their way towards the top of the premiership ladder.
Capewell was outstanding for the NSW. He was locked in a confrontation with opposite Liam Martin and walked away with a points victory.
Capewell scored a try of his own in the first half and barring injury ensured his Origin career will tick over at least one more game.
HIGHLIGHT
Game three going to a decider. There is nothing better than the series being on the line. There was plenty of spice in this one. Liam Martin in everything. Expect the Penrith enforcer to dominate headlines heading into Origin III.
LOWLIGHT
The Blues’ first half. Nathan Cleary was a passenger, Jarome Luai struggled and the whole forward pack were blown off the park. They managed to rebound in the second half but they all missed their assignments in the opening 40.
STAGGS SET TO RE-SIGN
Brisbane are set to officially kick off their retention spree on Thursday with the re-signing of former NSW centre Kotoni Staggs.
Staggs, who played his one and only game for the Blues two years ago, is expected to ink a three-year-deal to stay at the Broncos.
Staggs is coming off one of his best performances of the season a fortnight ago in the Broncos’ big win over the Gold Coast Titans.
With Staggs now under lock and key and Adam Reynolds expected to follow suit, the Broncos can turn their attention to retaining Selwyn Cobbo.
ORIGIN’S R-RATED CLASSIFIEDS
Stop the presses: State of Origin has made the front page in Western Australia.
Well, sort of. The West Australian used it to promote an 8 v 12 AFL match on Thursday.
The one story they did run shares space on the page with the R-rated classifieds, and is almost comically boring, making no mention of the Billy Slater-Aaron Woods feud or the Spencer Leniu kick-off debate.
The Origin preview was buried after reports on such big-time sporting stories as the Bunbury races, HSBC Championships tennis and a third tier rugby union competition.
BEARS BOARD
ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys is expected to use this week in Perth to meet at least prospective candidates to be the inaugural chair of the Bears.
The commission has already appointed Anthony de Ceglie to be the Bears chief executive while Immortal Mal Meninga will be their maiden coach.
The next important pieces of the puzzle are the chair and the head of football. It is understood that under the agreement for the Perth Bears to enter the premiership in 2027, the inaugural chair has to be a WA local.
Hence the plans to carry out talks with potential chairs while key NRL and ARL Commission officials are in Perth for the second State of Origin game.
KARLOS’ NAKED ORIGIN BET
The interstate war of words between Triple M stablemates Aaron Woods and Gorden Tallis has continued with Woods firing back at Tallis.
The two came face-to-face last Wednesday on NRL 360 after Woods described Queensland coach Billy Slater as a “grub”. Tallis was critical of Woods during his Sunday show on Triple M where the former Maroons captain said Woods had been sacked from six clubs.
“He wasn’t that brave when he was a player, he’s braver on the mic,” Tallis said of Woods. Woods took exception to Tallis saying that his son had taken a recent photo with Slater.
“When your spokesman is Gorden Tallis that’s when you know you’re in trouble,” Woods said on his Triple M breakfast show on Wednesday morning alongside Beau Ryan and Cat Lynch.
“He said my son got a photo with Billy Slater. My son doesn’t know who Billy Slater is.
“If you’re going to get your information correct – maybe say the right stuff We don’t call him the raging bull in our house any more – it is the raging something else.”
Woods was talking with Channel 9 Today Show host Karl Stefanovic when he let fly at Tallis. Stefanovic and Woods have made a bet based around Origin II. The loser has to swim naked at Bondi Beach on Friday. Stefanovic tried to bait Woods but highlight Tallis’ comments before the former Kangaroos and NSW prop bit back.
SPOTTED
New Perth Bears coach Mal Meninga and chief executive Anthony De Ceglie, and WA premier Roger Cook was also in the stands at Optus Stadium
STARS’ WA STAY
Kalyn Ponga will remain in Perth after Origin II with his club side Newcastle playing the Dolphins in Western Australia on Saturday night. The timing of the Perth game is excellent for Ponga who does not have to rush home in order to get himself right to play for the Knights. He will rejoin his Newcastle teammates on Thursday. The Dolphins’ Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow will be doing the same.
Originally published as Origin Confidential: Nathan Cleary’s mystery injury leaves Penrith officials dumbfounded
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