Extent of Cleary’s grand final knee injury now clear as work on title No.4 begins
ByChristian Nicolussi
December 7, 2023 — 7.37pm
A fun-filled holiday that featured trips to New York, Bali and a highly-publicised stop in Perth to visit Matildas star Mary Fowler would have felt like a distant memory for Nathan Cleary when he resumed pre-season training in furnace-like conditions in Sydney’s west on Thursday.
Cleary and good friend Jarome Luai were among a scattering of premiership winners to resume training a day earlier than expected.
They were put through some fitness activities just after 10am before getting to work on the field with a fourth-straight premiership in the back of their minds. The mercury was approaching 35 degrees celsius.
Cleary showed no signs of being impacted by the knee injury he picked up in the NRL grand final.
This masthead can now reveal Cleary suffered a grade-three posterior cruciate ligament rupture in the NRL grand final, which could have ruled him out for up to two months during the regular season.
The severity of Cleary’s injury only became apparent when he was photographed visiting Fowler on the other side of the country with his knee still in a brace.
“They call it the dashboard car injury, where if you have a head-on accident, it can typically damage or rupture that ligament, such is the force involved,” Panthers physio Pete Green said.
“Had it been during the season, and what time of year it was, he could have come back half-done in two or three weeks, or you come back properly in six-to-eight weeks.
“Considering he has travelled around a fair bit with little rehab, he was in remarkable shape.”
Panthers teammate Mavrik Geyer said of Cleary: “He is looking good, and he already looks like he’s in for another great year – he looks like he’ll go until he’s 40.”
Luai, who underwent shoulder surgery after the comeback win over the Broncos, and is still mulling over a big-money deal from the Wests Tigers for 2025 and beyond, also took part in the gruelling conditioning session.
He will resume passing in the new year, but not take part in any contact work until the weeks leading up to round one.
“He actually had a big labral repair, they also had to fix up his bicep tendon, and also a bit of what Nathan had, which is the rotator-cuff tendon – it was the hamburger with the lot,” Green said.
He made the biggest hit in the NRL and now he’s got $7m to show for it
“The surgery he had was called “latarjet”, which is where they transfer bone from another part of your body. You come back stronger, but it also means you have to be slower with your recovery to start.”
The only other Panthers’ player who went under the knife was prop Moses Leota to repair an ongoing nerve issue in his shoulder.
Penrith will head to England in the middle of February for the World Club Challenge against Wigan.
The accolades continued this week when James Fisher-Harris was awarded the Golden Boot, the game’s gong that recognised standout performances in international matches.
Penrith officials this week indicated they were prepared to offer Luai a deal beyond two years in a bid to keep him
At home beyond 2024.
Nathan Cleary’s holiday that included New York, Bali – and a brief catch-up with Matildas star Mary Fowler – would have felt like a distant memory on Thursday.
www.smh.com.au