Panthers confident Nathan Cleary will overcome groin concern to play next week

Nathan Cleary’s mystery groin injury hurt the Blues on Wednesday night, with the Panthers sweating on the fitness of their biggest star.

The Panthers are confident that superstar halfback Nathan Cleary will be fine to face the Bulldogs next Thursday despite the NSW No.7 battling through a mystery groin issue in the Blues’ shock loss to the Maroons in Perth.

Cleary gave up the goalkicking duties on Wednesday night and it proved telling as Zac Lomax missed several sideline conversions and a two-point field goal as NSW went down 26-24 to set up a decider.

The champion halfback had a compression bandage on his right leg and kicked just three times in the first half as Jarome Luai and Latrell Mitchell picked up the slack.

Nathan Cleary had strapping around his right thigh on Wednesday night. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Luai sent his first kick sailing out on the full, with Cleary then taking over in the second half where he had 11 kicks for 295m, while he also ran five times.

Cleary took the line on a couple of times in the first half and had a try disallowed for obstruction, but the Blues need him to be 100 per cent for the decider given they’re already without the injured Mitch Moses.

NSW coach Laurie Daley insisted his chief playmaker wasn’t in any doubt, with the Panthers expecting Cleary to take on the Bulldogs next Thursday.

The Panthers desperately need him to play the ladder-leading Bulldogs given they are one point outside the top eight and will be without their Origin stars for the game against the Warriors.

“He just felt a bit tight in his groin, so we wanted to limit the amount of force that he put through there,” Daley said, with Cleary not named for Penrith’s trip to New Zealand this weekend.

“He’s a tough kid. We know what a quality player he is, but he’s tough.

“His groin was tight, but he got through OK.”

Cameron Munster was at his brilliant best to help ease the pressure on Billy Slater. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

Meanwhile, new Queensland captain Cameron Munster said he was hurt by the criticism that coach Billy Slater copped leading into the crunch game in Perth.

Slater’s selections were questioned – but all proved to be masterstrokes – while former Blues prop Aaron Woods called him a “grub”, which led to Slater referencing the late Paul Green at an emotional press conference the day before the game.

The Maroons coach apologised to Green’s family on Wednesday morning, with his players lifting to ease the pressure as they kept the series alive in the driving rain.

“I played with Bill. He is a champion player and a champion coach and I have had a great relationship with him and still do. We are really close mates,” man-of-the-match Munster said.

“When you have someone jabbing him like that, it really hurts. It hurts me personally and I never tell him that. I will tell him now, I love him.

“I just want to do the best thing for him and the best thing for Queensland. He’s not doing this for him, he’s doing this for Queensland, and he loves Queensland.

“That’s the reason why he’s so passionate, and when you have someone like that at the top, you want to play for him. At the end of the day … he’s the reason I want to play.”

Originally published as Panthers confident Nathan Cleary will overcome groin concern to play next week