‘I wouldn’t trade him for anyone’: Nathan Cleary in awe of ‘freak’ teammate

Nathan Cleary has played with the best of the best throughout his career, but there’s one guy he wouldn’t trade for anyone else after his grand final heroics.

Dylan Edwards is finally getting the attention he deserves. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Nathan Cleary could only roll his eyes as he listened to Dylan Edwards bat away praise in the aftermath of Sunday’s second premiership win in as many years.

Edwards had just won the Clive Churchill Medal after he capped a dream season with another perfect display at the back to lead Penrith to a 28-12 win over Parramatta.

But instead of talking himself up, Edwards quickly deflected the attention back to his team as he always does, too humble to accept the plaudits.

Dylan Edwards and Nathan Cleary embrace after the grand final. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

“He’s just a freak of a player and everyone loves him. He’s so humble and he never lets anyone down,” Cleary told the NCA NewsWire a bit later in the sheds.

“I couldn’t think of a more deserving guy to win it after the year that he’s had. He’s soared to new heights and he was amazing.

“He works his arse off. I think he’s quite similar to Teddy (James Tedesco) in that they’re always there when you need them.

“Playing with Dyl, it’s hard to say that you’d trade him for anyone.”

Edwards’ humility isn’t faked and it matches perfectly with his unassuming play on the field. He racked up another 227m, a couple of try assists and one of the great grand final tackles on Bailey Simonsson.

Dylan Edwards had 22 runs and was the busiest player on the field. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“I feel uncomfortable talking about myself,” he said.

“There aren’t any egos in this side, and if you are, you’d be walked out the door pretty quickly.

“This medal isn’t about me. This is the product of what the team did, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

As for the tackle that’s been compared to Scott Sattler’s epic moment from the 2003 decider?

“I still think his is better,” Edwards said.

“He was a lock forward on a winger and he had to cover a lot of ground to make that tackle in a much tighter game. This is a tackle I’m supposed to make as a fullback.”

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is usually reserved in the box no matter what’s happening on the field, but in that moment he let loose knowing that his fullback had done something special to seal back-to-back premierships.

Edwards’ tackle will be spoken about for years to come. Picture; Jason McCawley/Getty Images

“I was just carrying on,” he said.

“I saw that and I was like ‘oh no, that’s awful’.

“It was a little moment when we were up and they were starting to throw some good stuff at us throwing caution to the wind. I just didn’t want us to give them a sniff, and old mate at the back has been doing it all year.

“It was a great moment.”