‘Highly likely he’ll have surgery’: Mal Meninga set to lose another star with Nathan Cleary unlikely to be fit for Pacific Championships

The Kangaroos look set to be without another superstar for the Pacific Championships, with a key player likely to need surgery at the end of the season.

Nathan Cleary will miss this year’s Pacific Championships if the Panthers decide he needs shoulder surgery. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

Nathan Cleary looks set to miss the upcoming Pacific Championships, with the superstar halfback expected to have surgery on his troublesome shoulder.

Cleary missed last year’s Pacific Championships due to a knee injury he suffered in the epic grand final comeback win, and it looks like he’ll again be forced to sit out the end-of-season Tests because of the shoulder injury that plagued him heading into the finals.

The halfback missed three games because of the shoulder injury he suffered in round 24, while the Panthers star has also been plagued by two separate hamstring tears that ruled him out of this year’s State of Origin series.

If he is ruled out, then Cleary won’t have represented his country since the Kangaroos won the 2022 World Cup, with Manly’s Daly Cherry-Evans the logical choice to play halfback in the first game against Tonga on October 18.

Nathan Cleary has only played five Tests for Australia, with a shoulder injury set to keep him out of this year’s Tests.

“It’d be highly likely he’ll have surgery, I’d say. But again, we’ll just get through what we need to do and weigh up the risks and options,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said.

Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards is also in the mix for the Australian fullback spot, with confirmation on Tuesday that Newcastle’s Kalyn Ponga had made himself unavailable.

Edwards will battle with incumbent James Tedesco for the No.1 jersey having replaced the Roosters veteran in the NSW side, but he too is dealing with a knee injury that he suffered in the State of Origin series decider.

“He’s getting better all the time,” Cleary said.

“He had a PCL injury which takes a while to get used to. He was playing with it and training with it. It was more just that he wasn’t able to do the things he wanted to like with top speed. He wasn’t far off it.

“Every player’s the same. They want to play (their best), it can be a bit frustrating when they can’t, but he’s just gotten gradually better each and every week.

“He’s doing most things training now but I thought his last couple of games have been outstanding. He’s had a week off and he’ll be primed for Saturday.

“I honestly don’t know (if he’ll have surgery). I don’t think so, but I honestly don’t know.”

Scott Sorensen is racing the clock to be fit for Saturday’s preliminary final. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the Panthers could be without Scott Sorensen for Saturday’s clash with Cronulla as he fights to overcome a hamstring complaint.

The Panthers remain hopeful that Sorensen will return after he was ruled out of their week one win over the Roosters with a hamstring injury.

Sorensen was named on an extended bench but still has a few things he must tick off before he’s cleared to return, with Luke Garner set to start again in the back row if he’s ruled out.

“I don’t expect (him to play) as yet, but I’m hoping,” his coach said.

“The next couple of days are (important) and we’ll see how he goes, but he’s done everything so far. There have been no setbacks, so that’s been good.

“He’s had a pretty frustrating year. He’s very important for us and we’d love to have him out there, so we’ll see what we can do.

“He’s still going through various stages, but there’s a fair bit tonight that he’ll need to do.

“At this stage we feel like he can, but doing it is another thing. If he’s going to play. then he’s got to be able to play.”