Penrith coach Ivan Cleary said early signs are positive for son and halfback Nathan, after leaving the loss to Melbourne early with a concussion.
Cleary didn’t last eight minutes in Penrith‘s grand final rematch with the Storm after an awkward collision ruled him out for the match.
The Panthers halfback collided with his rival No.7 Jahrome Hughes after Melbourne had made a break down the right-hand side.
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Ryan Papenhuyzen kicked ahead before Hughes and Cleary challenged for the ball. However, Jack Cole managed to get to it first before Cleary turned his back to Hughes and was upended awkwardly.
The impact of Cleary’s head on the turf resulted in a knock out.
Speaking after the match, coach Ivan Cleary said the halfback will not be available for 11 days as part of the NRL’s policy on concussion but Friday will reveal more about his condition.
Nathan Cleary leaves the field after a heavy collision. Nine
“Yeah, he seems OK,” Ivan Cleary said.
“He remembers the incident, so that’s a good thing.
“So, yeah, hopefully he feels the same way tomorrow.”
The replays led to booing on the field although nothing appeared to be sinister about the incident.
Midway through the first half, vision then showed Cleary in the sheds as his strapping was removed.
Cleary will miss the Panthers’ round four match against the Rabbitohs, with the NRL premiers looking to avoid an 1-3 start to the season.
Despite being down their captain and skipper, the Panthers almost came back to shock the Storm after falling behind by 14 in the first half.
Brian To’o and Paul Alamoti were standouts for Penrith, scoring two tries each. To’o also racked up a game-high 219 run metres.
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“Yeah I’m proud of the boys tonight,” coach Cleary said.
“There were lots of things that we sort of didn’t help ourselves throughout the game.
“There’s clearly a lack of cohesion at times, which is understandable.
“But, I thought from a cultural point of view, they were very brave, just never stopped, particularly 14-nil down.”
Penrith face a huge test in the coming weeks without Cleary and Dylan Edwards in the team.
The defending champions have arguably never faced such a tumultuous period in their dynastic run but captain Isaah Yeo said the signs are positive.
“I felt like when Nathan went down, that sort of could have gone either way,” he said.
“It’s a tough game down here against a really quality outfit and I thought we certainly didn’t shirk it.”
Yeo added: “We’re just excited about the challenge.
“Winning is addictive and we’re certainly addicted to it and the success.
“So at the moment we’ve just lost two on the trot and we understand we need to be better, but I felt like we could take a lot from tonight.
“We’re really confident with how the season will go and we just need to get it back on track.”
– with Sacha Mirzabegian
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