‘Devastated’ Cleary in grim locker room scenes as Ivan reveals shock injury detail

Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary made a startling revelation on Thursday night in the wake of Nathan Cleary’s nightmare injury.

Nathan Cleary and Ivan Cleary

The Panthers face a very nervous next couple of days after star halfback Nathan Cleary was forced off the field with an injured shoulder late in his side’s loss to the Storm.

Cleary grimaced in pain after being tackled and looked in obvious discomfort when getting to his feet, favouring his left shoulder.

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Cleary had surgery on his right shoulder in 2021. On this occasion it was the left shoulder giving him agony, although it turned out this wasn’t exactly a fresh injury.

Rather, coach and father Ivan Cleary revealed in his post-game press conference that it is a “reoccurrence” of an injury the Panthers halfback suffered in the pre-season.

“He hurt it in the pre-season and had some trouble with it early in the year and throughout the hamstring injuries, he got on top of it (the shoulder) but it’s a reoccurrence,” Cleary said.

“I’m concerned. It’s bad enough for him to come off.

“We’ll organise scans tomorrow and until we get those in, we’ll be in a better position to steer our way forward but it’s obviously a concern.

“He’s in better shape than he was when he did his hammy. I hope that’s good news but what do you do? It’s just one of those years.”

Nathan Cleary grimaces in pain.

Cooper Cronk said in commentary at the time of the injury that Cleary was in a “lot of discomfort”.

“This is not good,” the premiership-winning halfback added.

“He has that shoulder strapped, and with pain like that, something has happened.”

The Penrith medical staff quickly called for a sub, and Cleary walked off striking a dejected figure, heading straight into the sheds.
Fox League’s Jake Duke confirmed post-game that the Penrith half injured his left shoulder, adding Cleary was “quite devastated” in the sheds.

“It is a different shoulder to the shoulder he had surgery on (in 2021),” Duke reported.

“We’ll have to wait for scans in the next couple of days.”

Post-game, cameras showed Nathan and Ivan in a sombre mood in the Penrith sheds while discussing the injury.

Fox League’s Greg Alexander opined that Cleary sustained a dislocated shoulder.

“(It looks like) the shoulder has come out and that he’s dislocated his shoulder,” Alexander said.

“Then there is a severity ranking on how bad that can be, if it’s come out and if it’s stayed out, what ligament damage there is to it. And don’t forget Nathan had the shoulder (injury) which he nursed through the 2021 season at the back end of it, he missed two months.

“There he is with Ivan and he would be devastated. Not knowing the seriousness of it but it certainly didn’t look good and there was very limited movement in that arm when he left the field, he was keeping it very still.

“So you would think he’s dislocated it, whether it’s popped back in itself, which it can do, or they had to put it back in which wouldn’t be a good situation.”

Nathan Cleary grimaces in pain.

Michael Ennis added: “He didn’t look in too much discomfort leaving the field, I know he’s tough but sometimes you see them going into the sling and the trainers nurse them off the field but he did leave the field ok, so fingers crossed for Penrith.”

Cleary was playing in just his 10th game this season, having missed much of the season with a hamstring injury.

The two-time Clive Churchill Medal winner missed several games at the back end of the 2021 season with a shoulder injury but returned in time for the finals.

Duke was crossed to after the game and reported that the Panthers were tight-lipped on the injury.

“The mood here at BlueBet Stadium is sober because they know what they could potentially have seen here tonight,” he said.

Originally published as ‘Devastated’ Cleary in grim locker room scenes as Ivan reveals shock injury detail