Cleary and Hughes take different paths to top

Nathan Cleary was born to play halfback but Jahrome Hughes has had to work at it. They will be key figures in the grand final.

Nathan Cleary has relished the extra responsibility at the Panthers this season Picture: Getty Images

Craig Gower takes a moment to think back to when he was 22, the same age Nathan Cleary will be when he takes charge of Penrith in his first NRL grand final on Sunday night.

“I was pretty erratic,” Gower said.

“I didn’t have the same patience and temperament he does. That may be down to his personality.

“He certainly plays above his years in the way he can manage a game and so forth. It is a credit to him.

“I would imagine his dad (coach Ivan Cleary) and Baz (assistant coach Trent Barrett) would have had something to do with that as well.

“I think he needed that extra responsibility. It shows he can blossom. He had the experienced guy inside him last year with James Maloney and maybe it was a little detrimental to him because he didn’t have to take the game by the scruff of the neck.”

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Forget the game, Cleary has grabbed this season by the scruff of the neck. He was unlucky not to win the Dally M Medal and he looms as the key player for Penrith on Sunday night as he and his father attempt to pull off a historic victory at ANZ Stadium.

He is a study in contrasts to the man he will oppose. While Cleary has seemingly been earmarked for stardom from the day he made his first grade debut – Ivan suggested this week that he had been preparing his whole life for this moment – Melbourne No 7 Jahrome Hughes wasn’t even the club’s No 1 playmaker for most of last season.

Cleary has been a coveted No 7 for some time. He was pursued by the Sydney Roosters, Melbourne and Brisbane. Hughes had a meandering existence before landing in Melbourne, spending time in Sydney, the Gold Coast and Townsville before he landed at the Storm.

The Sydney Roosters had the first crack in SG Ball.

“He had a nice silky touch,” former Roosters recruitment boss Peter O’Sullivan said.

“He wasn’t overly endowed with pace. He found shortcuts to get there. He backed himself and came up with big plays.

“He has always been good on the high-end plays.”

He played a game at the Gold Coast and a game in North Queensland before Melbourne came calling. He played fullback before he played halfback. At one point, the Storm were willing to consider allowing him to leave.

Hughes stayed the course and answered the Storm’s Cooper Cronk conundrum. Cronk, now retired and working with Fox League, has been quietly working behind the scenes with Hughes and the change in his game has noticeable.

Still, he has some catching up to do. Cleary has grown up being the centre of attention. He has owned every team he played in. He has the name and the game.

He can kick the ball with his eyes shut and that part of his game shapes as one of the genuine threats for the Storm at ANZ Stadium. He is blessed with confidence and experience because he has grown up running the show.

Hughes has been a work in progress but this season has been the high point through sheer hard work. The improvement in his kicking game is noticeable, having worked with Richmond development coach Craig McRae. 

Where Cleary and Hughes are simpatico is that they are popular figures in the group who are liked by their teammates. Cleary’s comfort level is helped by the fact he has played with a number of his teammates for years on end.

Those very same teammates probably cost him the Dally M Medal when they took votes off him over the closing weeks of the season.

“When you are playing consistently well at that unbelievable level, I think you have to do something extraordinary even though you are playing to an unbelievable level,” Gower said.
“If he is not out there controlling the game with his kicking game and poise, they are not playing to the level they should be.”

Gower and Cleary talk every now and then. Gower on occasions sends a text and messages of good luck. Just one halfback talking to another. Ask Gower whether Cleary will one day surpass his achievements, he is unequivocal.

“I think he will to be perfectly frank,” Gower said.
“He has all the attributes to do it.”