The pass that confirmed Nathan Cleary’s week from hell

Nathan Cleary thought he might pull on his Blue jersey as the Dally M winner and premiership halfback. Neither eventuated.

A shell-shocked Nathan Cleary after the Panthers fell short against the Storm

Penrith trailed only 10-0 when Nathan Cleary wobbled to his left and hesitated and threw a shocker of a floating pass that found the arms of Melbourne flyer Suliasi Vunivalu, who hit the deck but found his feet swiftly enough to travel 80m and score with a swan dive that killed off the Panthers and confirmed Cleary’s week from hell.

The 22-year-old was at Winx-like odds to win the Dally M Award before Jack Wighton did what Happy Clapper never could, springing an upset victory the Panthers’ halfback vowed would not adversely affect him in the grand final.

It must have been deflating for the 22-year-old but he copped it on his substantial chin. Only after the looping pass that gave Vunivalu his uninterrupted passage did Cleary look aggrieved. Panthers’ godfather Phil Gould called it “a 12-point turnaround” as Cleary cussed and threw his gaze to the heavens. It was their worst ball he had thrown all year.

The Storm led 16-0 after captain Cameron Smith, laughing so hard he might burst, basking in the most golden silence he had ever heard after the crowd of 40,000, dominated by Panthers fans, had razzed him and the Storm from kick-off, landed the conversion.

Smith scooted over for his own try and punched the ball like he was giving a knuckle sandwich to his army of critics. Every time the Storm scored, on all four occasions, Cleary looked increasingly shell-shocked. Disappointment turned to despair turned to disbelief. It was a devastating defeat.

Storm flyer Ryan Papenhuyzen zipped around Cleary for the second-half try that officially put the Panthers to sleep. Not that Cleary would be banking on a comfortable night’s slumber. Papenhuyzen did everything Clearly had hoped to do. Every step he took was the right one. He scored a blistering try. He batted a ball back into play with a high leap and an AFL-style punch while airborne over the sideline. Papenhuyzen will enter NSW Origin camp on an unfathomable high.

Cleary thought he might pull on his Blue jersey as the Dally M winner and premiership halfback. Neither eventuated. His confidence has taken a massive hit. Grand final blunders like his intercept pass are not quickly forgotten.

Cleary scored with three seconds to go. He skipped the conversion. It was 26-20. One tackle to go to golden point. Surely not. The Storm were down to 11 players after two sin-binnings. There was some Harlem Globetrotter stuff before it fell apart.

It was some win on enemy territory for the Storm; some win given they haven’t been in Melbourne since June. Smith celebrated with complete relish as Cleary trudged around like it was the worst night of his life.

“Oh, wow,” Papenhuyzen said. “I had the most butterflies I’ve ever had. People at home in Melbourne are doing a lot tougher than we have. I just pinned the ears back … they came back strong at the end but it’s unbelievable.”

Smith saluted the courage and commitment of a Storm side that had “basically been living in each other’s pockets” after being forced to the Sunshine Coast by COVID-19.

Cleary put his hands on his head and squeezed like he wanted a bad dream to end. He grimaced and groaned and said: “Super-disappointing. I feel like I let the boys down. Hopefully we’ll be back. There were a few moments — I threw that intercept, we let in too many ordinary tries. This is going to hurt for a long time.”