NRL legend Brad Fittler has proclaimed Nathan Cleary as the best player in the competition this year after a stellar regular season performance from the Penrirth Panthers halfback.
Ever since the return of footy after the COVID-19 break interrupted the 2020 NRL season, Cleary has been a force to be reckoned with at the Panthers. The NSW Blues No.7 has helped guide Penrith to a club record 12-game winning streak, with their last defeat – a six-point loss to Parramatta – way back in June.
And scarily, the Panthers show no signs of slowing down, with many of their big-name players, led by Cleary, only going from strength to strength in the lead-up to finals.
« He’s been absolutely brilliant this year. He’s been the best, » Fittler said of Cleary on Wide World of Sports’ Freddy & The Eighth.
« He’s controlled his team. The worst they’ve been is an eight out of ten. There’s a couple of errors that have snuck into their game in the last couple of weeks early in games, but they’re resilient and with his kicking game – he seems to come up with the right kick a lot. »
Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns was a gun halfback and goal-kicker during his playing career, much like Cleary is today.
While he couldn’t agree with Fittler that the Penrith star is the best in the entire competition in 2020, he agreed that Cleary is the best in his position at making big plays, kicking and delivering when under pressure.
« The last couple of weeks things haven’t gone their way but he hasn’t panicked and he’s gotten them back into the game with his kicking.
« He’s really taken ownership of the team now James Maloney is gone. He’s got that show-and-go. He’s been getting across the field.
« He’s starting to get to the peak of his powers and he’s only going to get better and better. He’s looking at the defence, reacting to that and defensively he’s strong. »
Johns said the NRL’s two best kickers were Cleary and South Sydney’s Adam Reynolds, because of their ability to pull off perfectly placed kicks, whatever the scenario.
« They get the ball, they know what kick they’re going to do, but if they get pressured they can easily go to option two or option three and get it done, » he said.
« They can adjust their angles. Adam Reynolds is brilliant at it. If he gets chased in different directions if he can change the way he’s going to kick and contort his foot with the way he hits the ball to get it into space and Nathan’s the same. »
Cleary, 22, however, is eight years younger than Reynolds, 30, signalling a bright future for the Penrith half if he is performing at such a high level at such a young age.
Fittler, who has mentored Cleary in his role as Blues head coach, put that down to the pathway Cleary has had to the NRL, supported at Penrith by state-of-the-art development programs.
« He’s one of the real first players that’s come through as a pure professional, where clubs are right up on their rehab, prehab, the mental side of things, and everything, » Fittler said.
« If you focus and can handle it – which is pretty hard – you might be able to have the attention to detail that Nathan has. »
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com/news/two-words-that-should-scare-nrl-about-cleary/?remotepost=266447
