The Panthers are prepared to look to the US and even Qatar to help fix Nathan Cleary’s hamstrings as fears grow his latest injury could keep the halfback out of the game for up to eight weeks – essentially the entire State of Origin series.
The premiers were awaiting test results on Saturday after Cleary reinjured his right hamstring in Penrith’s 16-10 win over Canterbury on Friday night.
The game’s most influential player suffered the injury when he chased through a kick and tackled Connor Tracey. He played on for a few minutes, forced a repeat set with a left-foot kick, before he reluctantly came from the field a minute before half-time.
Cleary experienced a “sharp pain”. Penrith’s medical team indicated after the game he may have suffered a grade-two tear.
Recovery time from a grade-two tear is four to six weeks, but slightly longer if a player has previously injured the hamstring.
The best-case scenario is Cleary has a low-grade irritation of his pre-existing scar tissue, which could have him back in a month.
Nathan Cleary comes from the field on Friday.Credit: NRL Photos
Sources with knowledge of Cleary’s injury, but not authorised to speak publicly until scans were confirmed, told this masthead the club’s preference was to stay local and trust the club’s medical team.
However, given this is Cleary’s second injury to the same hamstring in as many months, and third such injury in a little more than a year, they are also open to exploring options abroad.
Melbourne-based David Opar has worked with NRL players, while there is also Bill Knowles, the Philadelphia-based reconditioning guru who has spent time with Tom Trbojevic, Latrell Mitchell and Ryan Papenhuyzen. Trbojevic, however, injured his hamstring on Thursday night and is faces up to two months on the sideline.
Nathan Cleary’s gammy hammies
Rd 12, 2023: Suffers a grade-two tear against the Dragons, is ruled out for six weeks and also misses the final two Origin matches.
Rd 3, 2024: Injures him hamstring again and misses a month of football. Returns in Rd 8 but pulls up sore following the match and sits out Rd 9.
Rd 10, 2024: Suffers another suspected grade-two tear and leaves the field just before half-time and doesn’t return. There are fears he could miss the entire Origin series.
Another option Penrith will discuss is the world-renowned sports medicine clinic Aspetar in Qatar, which has worked with many Premier League footballers, as well as some AFL players.
A hit-and-run trip overseas could also help Cleary mentally, especially knowing every option available to him had been properly explored.
Cleary only returned a fortnight ago from a hamstring injury, then was rested the following week because of the tight turnaround.
Cleary told this masthead last week there was no cause for concern with his hamstring, saying: “You could go into every game worrying about getting injured, and it’s a contact sport, but the hamstring is definitely not on my mind.”
For Penrith, it means they will need to move forward with Jarome Luai and Jack Cole. Back-up halfback Brad Schneider played NSW Cup on Friday and suffered a posterolateral corner injury, a knee ailment that could sideline him for anywhere between a fortnight and eight weeks.
NSW coach Michael Maguire will be sweating on Mitchell Moses playing at least one game before he picks his team in a fortnight for the Origin opener on June 5.
Moses is expected to test out his foot fracture for the first time at a field session any day in the hope he returns for next week’s Magic Round. If he fails, the Eels expect him to be right the following week against Souths.
Another No.7 option, Adam Reynolds, is out of play three months with a biceps tear.
Queensland are not without their own injuries with Tino Fa’asuamaleau, Kalyn Ponga and Tom Gilbert all unavailable this year.
“A few years ago we had a lot of debutants, and it was one of the most exciting periods in Origin,” Maguire said.
“There’s no reason why we don’t unlock someone that we don’t quite know about. That could be the opportunity for someone to come through and become a big part of Origin.
“We have a wider squad and that’s Origin. Over the years, this has happened. It’s about the culture you build.”
As for Moses, Maguire said: “He’s working hard to get himself back, and I’m hearing a lot of positives about how he’s going. That’s a good thing for where we are going.”
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