NRL Grand Final 2021 result: Nathan Cleary shoulder surgery news rocks Penrith title defence
The dust hasn’t even settled on Penrith’s epic grand final win, but the plans for their title defence have already been dealt an enormous blow.
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Penrith’s title defence has suffered a crushing blow with champion halfback Nathan Cleary facing up to six months on the sidelines and likely to miss the 2022 premiership opener.
The development comes as Penrith coach Ivan Cleary opened up about the “guilt” he felt returning to the Panthers from Wests Tigers and the pressures it imposed on his young playmaking son.
The newly-minted Clive Churchill Medallist is booked in for a shoulder reconstruction this week and faces the same length recovery that grounded Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston and Newcastle’s Queensland Origin ace Kalyn Ponga.
Cleary has shown incredible toughness, overcoming a twin shoulder dislocation and labral tear, first suffered in Origin II on June 27, to lead the Panthers to their gutsy 14-12 grand-final defeat of Souths on Sunday night.
But Penrith’s breakthrough title under Ivan Cleary will come at a cost, with the coach’s classy playmaking son almost certain to miss the start of their premiership defence in a blow to their quest for back-to-back crowns.
The best-case scenario would see Cleary return in four months, wiping out his entire pre-season and leaving him underdone for Penrith’s round-one clash next year.
At worst, Cleary could face the same exhaustive rehabilitation road as his Maroons Origin rival Ponga, who was sidelined for six months and returned in round five this year against the Titans.
The Panthers will become the hunted from the opening minutes next season and they can ill-afford to be without their chief commander Cleary as they look to become the first side in Penrith’s 55-year history to win consecutive premierships.
Panthers great Greg Alexander revealed Cleary’s shoulder tendon was “80 per cent torn”, but Penrith’s match-winning maestro attempted to play down the severity of his injury ahead of reconstructive surgery.
“It hasn’t been too painful compared to other guys in our team,” Cleary said.
“They were absolute warriors. They were dealing with a lot worse stuff than I have, so it made my job easier to do what I had to do to get it (his shoulder) right.
“When I first found out the prognosis of my shoulder, my physio called me straight away and said we will get you back.
“It’s a full credit to them and I can’t thank the physios enough for the work they put into me.
“They got me onto the field (for the grand final).”
Brisbane-based physiotherapist Brien Seeney, who runs the NRL Physio social-media account, believes Cleary is in danger of missing Penrith’s premiership opener next season.
“Kalyn Ponga underwent the same surgery during the 2021 pre-season and returned after six months,” Seeney said.
“With just over five months until round one, 2022, there is some doubt over Cleary’s availability for the first few games.
“Cleary will at least be facing a shoulder reconstruction with the Panthers confirming during the season he was dealing with cartilage damage.
“But with recent reports of ‘tissue off the bone’ it would appear he also requires a rotator cuff repair, which extends the expected recovery time slightly.
“Return to play can be quite varied, with the general range being four to six months, but most fall toward the six-month end of that range.”
Coach Cleary admits his controversial walkout on the Tigers to return to the Panthers in 2019, a decision largely motivated by re-uniting with his son, put added pressure on Nathan.
“We’ve always been able to still be father and son, that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to coach him in the first place. I felt our personalities would work,” Ivan said.
“We went through some hard times a few years ago where his form wasn’t where it could have been and I felt a bit guilty.
“I must say at this stage I couldn’t give a shit about next year, I’m sure I will, but I want to savour this (premiership win) as long as I can.”
THE FATHER-SON MOMENT THAT MELTED HEARTS
By Peter Badel and Michael Carayannis
A season full of drama had the ending it deserved.
Twelve months on from their own grand final heartache the Panthers broke the hearts of the South Sydney faithful to claim the club’s third premiership with a 14-12 victory and put to bed their big match demons.
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary – who combined with son Nathan for the win - ensured the venue would not be the only piece of history made on Sunday night.
It was another Covid-19 ravaged season, which saw the grand final played out of Sydney for the first time in history after the whole competition was moved to Queensland in July. The NRL only officially received the green light on Sunday morning for the grand final to go ahead by the Queensland government.
Contingency plans included delaying the grand final by a week and relocating it to Townsville. At 75 per cent capacity 39322 people watched on as the Panthers celebrated a grand final victory – 30 years after their first.
Cleary finally broke his premiership duck at his third attempt to become the most experienced coach to win their first premiership. In doing so he ended opposite Wayne Bennett’s hopes of becoming the first mentor to win a premiership with his third club.
Bennett walks away from South Sydney without a premiership and his future unknown. Joining him out of the club includes skipper Adam Reynolds who will join the Broncos next year.
Thousands of South Sydney supporters were unable to watch the match because of a power outage in the eastern suburbs of Kingsford, South Coogee, Coogee, Randwick and Maroubra. Perhaps it was for the best.
South Sydney superstar Cody Walker’s all or nothing play came up short late in the second half. After his first half heroics, Walker threw an intercept pass which allowed Penrith winger Stephen Crichton to race away untouched. Walker’s sensational season did not deserve to end like this.
The Rabbitohs continued to fight despite being exhausted. Try-scoring flyer Alex Johnston crossed in the corner with five minutes left on the clock.
The team trailed by two with Reynolds stepping up to try and land the sideline conversion at the venue he will call home last year. The ball just sailed to the right of the post and left the Rabbitohs chasing two points. They fell short.
The Panthers dominated early forcing three goal line drop outs. The last tackle after the third restart would prove South Sydney’s undoing.
Matt Burton was at the centre of a tug of war for his services earlier this year. The Bulldogs wanted him a year early but the Panthers held firm and made the Dubbo product see out the final year of his contract.
Instead of collecting a wooden spoon as a Bulldog, Burton scored the opening try of the grand final after 17 minutes.
The Rabbitohs survived an early scare when Dane Gagai and Jai Arrow were taken from the field inside the opening 20 minutes. Gagai passed his concussion test while Arrow spent five minutes on the sidelines after being collected high in his first run by Penrith back-rower Viliame Kikau, who was placed on report. Arrow was ruled out at halftime after experiencing delayed concussion symptoms.
Walker created a piece of brilliance in the first half. Immortal Andrew Johns labelled Walker’s effort as a “great grand final try” after the five-eighth stepped past four players and raced 35 metres to score. Reynolds’ boot drew the scores level after 23 minutes.
A Nathan Cleary penalty goal gave the Panthers a 8-6 lead to separate the two sides at halftime. That conversion would prove the difference.
IVAN CLEARY SHATTERS HORRIBLE HISTORY IN PANTHERS GF WIN
Ivan is no longer so terrible.
Maligned Penrith coach Ivan Cleary finally smashed his 10-year title hoodoo as the Panthers pounced on a Cody Walker brain explosion to sink South Sydney 14-12 and claim the club’s third premiership.
On a night of pulsating grand-final drama before 39,322 at Suncorp Stadium’s historic maiden decider, Penrith avenged their heartbreak of last year’s loss to Storm to celebrate two years of regular-season dominance.
This grinding, gripping Queensland decider exploded in the final quarter, with the Panthers appearing to have sealed a breakthrough title when Stephen Crichton latched onto a Cody Walker intercept for a 14-8 lead with 13 minutes to play.
But the Panthers sweated until the final seconds. Souths crossed via winger Alex Johnston with five minutes to play, but Adam Reynolds’ inability to land a sideline conversion broke Rabbitohs hearts and sent Penrith into premiership dreamland.
It was hard to miss the seductive narrative, and outcome, for respective coaches Cleary and Souths counterpart Wayne Bennett.
This will hurt Bennett. In his final game as Souths coach, the 71-year-old talisman suffered his second consecutive title loss in his record 10th grand-final appearance.
But Cleary has finally broken through. He was labelled the next Brian Smith, but in his 370th game as an NRL coach, Cleary has his maiden premiership ring. Third-time lucky.
It was a fitting result for the Panthers. They were the most consistent team for two seasons and emphatically buried the pain of last year’s 26-20 grand-final loss to Melbourne by holding out the gutsy Rabbitohs.
Penrith were always calm and controlled. Defence has been their bedrock for two years — and it delivered Penrith to their third premierships after triumphs in 1991 and 2003.
SIX AND OUT
Souths maestro Walker will forever rue his ultimate bitter-sweet performance.
His night began with a bang when the Rabbitohs’ five-eighth dangerman scored one of the great grand-final tries to ignite a thrilling Suncorp decider.
With Souths trailing 6-0 in the 21st minute and Penrith firmly in control, Walker produced a flash of instinctive brilliance, straightening the attack, fending off Nathan Cleary and streaking 25 metres to level scores at 6-all.
But with the game in the balance at 8-all in the 67th minute, Walker faced his death-or-glory moment. Seeing space, he went for broke, throwing a long ball, but was left heartbroken as
But with the game in the balance at 8-all in the 67th minute, Walker faced his death-or-glory moment. He went for broke, throwing a long ball, but was left heartbroken as Penrith winger Crichton swooped and raced away.
NO PANIC PANTHERS
From the opening minute, this was a different Penrith side to the Nervous Nellies ambushed by Melbourne in last year’s decider.
The Panthers never recovered in the 2020 grand final after trailing 22-0 at half-time against the Storm. This time, Penrith’s start was clinical, controlled and composed.
The Panthers completed at an excellent 90 per cent in the first half, with Matt Burton’s opening try in the 17th minute, spearing through off a Jarome Luai pass, sweet reward for Penrith’s sustained dominance in the opening quarter.
BRAVEHEART BUNNIES
South Sydney showed enormous defensive courage to trail by only a Nathan Cleary penalty goal at the break.
By rights, Penrith should have converted pressure into more points and led by at least 10 points. They had 58 per cent possession in the opening stanza, and enjoyed 13 tackles in the red zone to Souths’ zero.
The Rabbitohs’ resolve was underscored by Cameron Murray, the tireless lock racking up a staggering 30 tackles by half-time. He finished with 51. Murray was so brave he could barely walk after 60 minutes.
TAAFFE NIGHT OUT
Rookie Souths duo Blake Taaffe and Jaxson Paulo had mixed nights as Penrith peppered the inexperienced pair with high balls and bone-jarring defence.
In his maiden grand final and just his eighth NRL game, Taaffe twice spilled the ball, including a Cleary bomb in the 56th minute.
He atoned somewhat on the hour, saving a certain try when he dived on a loose ball in his in-goal after Penrith’s defence jolted the Steeden free from rookie Souths winger Paulo.
It was a night to forget for Paulo, who was also tackled into touch late in the game as the Panthers turned the screws.
By comparison, Penrith pair Dylan Edwards and Brian To’o were superb, amassing 452 metres between them as they kept testing the Rabbitohs line.
The Panthers are no longer in danger of being big-game chokers. Ivan Cleary and his classy son Nathan are forever immortalised as Penrith champions.
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Originally published as NRL Grand Final 2021 result: Nathan Cleary shoulder surgery news rocks Penrith title defence
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