Melbourne Storm legend Billy Slater has called out Nathan Cleary and questioned his comments on his shoulder injury as the Panthers medical team weigh-up whether to use painkilling injections for the first in the NRL finals series for the halfback. Cleary sent a scare throughout the Panthers camp having come off with a few minutes to go in Penrith’s win over the Sharks.
Cleary clutched at his troublesome shoulder, which saw him miss a number of games to end the regular season having injured it against the Storm. “Cleary in a little bit of trouble,” Fox Sports commentator Dane Ginnane said. “The first time we have seen that tonight. For the first time in this finals series Nathan Cleary is troubled by that shoulder injury.”
However, Cleary appeared to dismiss any suggestion of an injury and rotated his arm to dispel any worries from fans. “It’s all good, it was just a bit of a knock,” he said. “It was always going to be one of things where I wasn’t at 100 per cent.
However, Maroons coach and Storm legend Slater has questioned whether the Panthers star – who had two try assists and a 40/20 against the Roosters – was putting on more of a charade to fool his rivals. The Storm have already suggested they won’t overly target Cleary this weekend with team’s using the tactic in the NRL finals series coming up short.
And Slater was in awe of Cleary’s toughness in that Roosters game. “You don’t clutch at it unless you feel it,” Slater told Channel Nine’s The Billy Slater Podcast. “I admire Nathan’s toughness. It’s one thing we don’t speak about a whole heap with Nathan Cleary… this is not something new to Nathan.”
