Nathan Cleary has finally undergone shoulder surgery, four weeks after playing through injury to win the NRL grand final.
The Penrith Panthers halfback first reported issues with the left-side joint in the pre-season and it flared up again in a loss to Melbourne late in the season.
He missed three weeks in the run to the finals — and had another scare in the preliminary final — before bouncing back to defeat the Storm in the grand final to seal a fourth straight premiership.
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At one point it looked like Cleary could avoid off-season surgery but, midway through the finals, his coach and father Ivan confirmed an operation would be required.
In the end it was put on hold because Cleary’s surgeon was overseas, and he took the opportunity to visit his Matildas star partner Mary Fowler in Europe.
He has now gone under the knife, sharing a brief but positive post-surgery update from his hospital bed.
Cleary will be pushing to be fit for the Panthers’ 2025 season-opener against Cronulla in Las Vegas.
But any setbacks could cruel his hopes given it is just four months away (March 1 local time, March 2 AEDT).
Penrith will hope Cleary is ready for the start of the new campaign — when running mate Jarome Luai, who reached new heights in Cleary’s absence midway through this year, will be in Wests Tigers colours.
Blaize Talagi has leaned on Luai during Samoa’s Test tour of England in the hopes of being ready to line up alongside Cleary in 2025.
The 19-year-old spent this year playing out wide for Parramatta but wants to be a five-eighth and could not turn down the chance to join the Panthers.
“It was a really tough decision. The toughest decision I’ve ever made,” Talagi told AAP.
“But at the end of the day, I made the right decision and I’m just looking forward to whatever faces me.
“Penrith are a club that’s at the top of their game. Who wouldn’t want to join them? I just want to be a part of it.”
Salary cap pressure has forced a host of quality players out of the Panthers across five seasons as the NRL’s benchmark, but Luai’s departure has the potential for the most impact yet.
The five-eighth has been both an excellent cover for halfback Cleary amid repeated injuries and a perfect offsider, his crafty eyes-up play complementing Cleary’s precise game management.
Talagi’s ability to cover either the halves or outside backs positioned him as an option to replace either five-eighth Luai or winger Sunia Turuva, who also joins the Tigers from 2025.
But Talagi is hopeful of holding off challengers Jack Cole and Brad Schneider to play five-eighth.
“It (five-eighth) is where I’d like to play, for sure,” he said.
“But I’m happy to play anywhere, to be honest. Whatever happens, I’m happy but I want to just work hard and earn it.”
Talagi played two games in the halves early in his debut season after Mitch Moses went down with a foot injury, both ending in losses for an Eels side that eventually finished 15th.
As Talagi eyes improvement and game-winning chemistry with Cleary, Penrith’s four-time premiership-winning five-eighth Luai will provide the perfect sounding board.
“Whatever I can learn from him, I will,” Talagi said.
“He’s got that sort of aura about him. He’s just a real leader, he leads by his actions, leads by his words. I’m just looking forward to learning off him.
“When you’re a six or five-eighth, you sort of look up to the top people in the game who play that position. Jarome’s one of them so whatever I can learn from him, I’m looking forward to.”
– with AAP