Cleary’s Dally M caps a week of NRL heartbreak

Nathan Cleary finally has the one major individual honour that had eluded him, but few Dally M triumphs have arrived in more painful circumstances.

Nathan Cleary should have been dressed up and walking onto a stage to accept one of rugby league’s highest honours last night (September 30).

Instead, the Penrith superstar accepted his first Dally M Medal from his couch, recovering from surgery after one of the most dramatic weeks of his career.

Cleary polled 67 votes to finish 14 clear of Cronulla halfback Braydon Trindall, with Panthers teammate Dylan Edwards third on 52. He had wrapped up the count with two rounds remaining.

It completed one of the few gaps on an extraordinary rugby league CV.

Yet the timing was cruel as only three days earlier, Cleary had gone into Penrith’s preliminary final against Newcastle carrying a broken right foot.

The Panthers knew the risk and tried to manage it and Cleary started on the bench and entered the game after 25 minutes.

Ten minutes later, his afternoon was over.

Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland was sent off for a hip-drop tackle that left Cleary with a compound fracture and dislocation of his left ankle. Cleary was taken from the field on a medicab and later required surgery for injuries to both feet.

The revelation that he was already playing with a broken foot has inevitably prompted debate about whether he should have played.

There is no evidence the existing injury contributed to the damage to his other leg, as they were separate injuries and the catastrophic second one came in Crossland’s tackle.

But it is another example of the difficult line elite sport regularly asks its best players to walk: playing through pain for the team, while knowing how quickly a calculated risk can become something else entirely.

Two players, two kinds of heartbreak

Then came the other human story of the week.

Crossland pleaded guilty to dangerous contact at the NRL judiciary and was suspended for four matches, ruling him out of Newcastle’s first grand final in 25 years. If selected for New Zealand, the ban would also cost him the opening three matches of the Rugby League World Cup.

Crossland was, understandably, deeply emotional at the hearing.

He revealed he had called Cleary and his father, Panthers coach Ivan Cleary, to apologise. Crossland said Nathan told him to stop apologising and accepted it had been an accident.

Cleary then went further. After seeing the online abuse being directed at Crossland, he publicly defended him, describing the incident as a “complete accident” and saying he had “nothing but respect” for the Newcastle player.

It leaves two men missing from rugby league’s biggest stage for very different reasons.

Cleary has finally won the Dally M, but faces a long rehabilitation.

Crossland helped Newcastle reach the grand final, but will have to watch it from the sidelines.

And somehow, after everything that has happened, there is still a premiership to decide.

Steel City meets eastern suburbs polish

Newcastle’s 22-14 victory over Penrith sent the Knights into their first grand final since Andrew Johns led them to the 2001 premiership. They will meet the Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium on Sunday night.

Even the matchup feels like something from rugby league folklore.

The Knights carry the Steel City identity of Newcastle and the Hunter, a community that has waited a quarter of a century to see its team back on this stage.

Across the field will be the Roosters, the famous eastern suburbs club with Bondi polish, a glittering trophy cabinet and a history stretching back to rugby league’s beginnings in Australia.

The contrast gives Sunday’s decider the feel of an old-fashioned underdog tale, especially after Newcastle finished with the wooden spoon only last season. The Knights have climbed from seventh this year to stand one victory from their third premiership.

There is just one problem with the fairytale.

Nobody told the Roosters they are supposed to be the villains who lose at the end.

They have earned their place too and are chasing a 16th premiership after reaching their first grand final since 2019.

For Newcastle, though, something special is brewing.

League legend Wayne Pearce knows what rugby league means to the people of Newcastle. And as he tells Starts at 60, this unlikely run has all the makings of a fairytale with one chapter still to be written. Stay tuned for our exclusive interview with Pearce tomorrow.