{"id":424239,"date":"2024-09-30T23:24:39","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T23:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=424239"},"modified":"2024-10-01T01:07:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T01:07:44","slug":"bigger-than-that-cleary-evasive-as-injury-concerns-probed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=424239","title":{"rendered":"'Bigger than that': Cleary evasive as injury concerns probed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathan Cleary<\/a> is not giving anything away about his physical condition ahead of the premiership decider against Melbourne<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Penrith<\/a> halfback failed to finish the club's preliminary final victory over Cronulla<\/a> due to concerns around his shoulder, which he appeared to reaggravate late in the match.<\/p>\n

There has been no suggestion the 26-year-old will be sidelined for the grand final, but concern still lingers as to the severity of the injuries he carries.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Broncos confirm Madge signing after quitting Blues<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Storm star's ban prompts grim Gus prediction<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'One of the greatest' in NBA history dies of brain cancer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Cleary was limited to just 12 matches this season due to hamstring and shoulder injuries, taking to the field in the preliminary final \ufeffwith heavy strapping.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

League great Phil Gould revealed there had been suggestions the halfback may have "broken his hand" at training, but \ufeffthe star refused to comment on the matter.<\/p>\n

"I'm going very well," Cleary told Nine's Today<\/em> on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

"It has been a frustrating up and down year but at the end of the day we are lucky enough to be in our fifth grand final in a row.<\/p>\n

"We are very grateful to be in this position. We've got one more game to go so I'm going to give it my all and I know all the boys are feeling that way too."<\/p>\n

\"Concern<\/p>\n

When asked by host Sarah Abo \ufefffor a second time about the signs of injury against the Sharks, Cleary replied: "\ufeffI think it's bigger than that. It's about turning up for your teammates."<\/p>\n

"At the end of the day, the outside noise doesn't come into my head too much," he continued.<\/p>\n

"It's just about putting my best foot forward on the day and trying to play my best to essentially get a win and share success with my teammates."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2024 NRL grand final live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The fresh concern followed coach and father, Ivan's, confirmation ahead of the Cronulla clash that his son will "highly likely" require surgery on his shoulder in the off-season.<\/p>\n

But the three-time premiership winner has continued to play without the help of painkilling injections, with medical experts suggesting his shoulder is a "ticking time bomb<\/a>".<\/p>\n

But Cleary believes doubters have "blown out of proportion" the severity of his injury.<\/p>\n

"No\ufeff, the hand's actually all good," he laughed.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

While the focus remains on his troubled shoulder, the halfback only has eyes to extend Penrith's reign over the competition.<\/p>\n

"If we play the way we want to, we know that we will be able to get the job done," Cleary said.<\/p>\n

"It's going to be about putting processes in place to get that done on the day.<\/p>\n

"What they've (the Storm) been able to do over a long period of time is nothing short of impressive. They are a star studded team led by Craig Bellamy.<\/p>\n

"To be that consistent for so long is not easy to do. It's going to be a great challenge for us, we are looking forward to it."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nathan Cleary is not giving anything away about his physical condition ahead of the premiership decider against Melbourne. The Penrith halfback failed to finish the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":424241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=424239"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":424244,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424239\/revisions\/424244"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/424241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=424239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=424239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=424239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}