Nathan Cleary lifts lid on act from father Ivan after heartbreak for Penrith half
Cleary was desperate to banish the demons of the Game 3 defeat to Queensland on Wednesday night in Sydney, where he was admittedly well below his best. But he had to start from the bench against the Eels for just the third time in his career, with Penrith's coach citing concerns around the halfback's workload, having decided to rest NSW Origin trio Dylan Edwards, Brian To'o and Liam Martin.
Despite missing a host of their best players, Penrith were still able to get the job done for a fifth-straight win that cements their spot in the top-eight, having been dead-last on the ladder six weeks ago. And Cleary says the win was important in helping him move on from the heartbreak of Origin.
"I didn't really want to say it to dad but I still woke up thinking about it this morning," the Penrith No.7 said about the Blues' series defeat. "I don't know if you ever fully get over it to be honest but I also had a good chat with him yesterday that made me feel a lot better after it."
The Penrith half conceded he was torn by emotions of 'self-loathing' and 'embarrassment' after the Game 3 loss to Queensland, but used it as fuel to help him inspire Penrith. 'I think in the past I've probably, after a poor Origin performance, just tried to squash it and act like it didn't happen,' Cleary said.
'This time I actually saw it as an opportunity to analyse it a bit more and try and delve a bit deeper into why I didn't perform the way I wanted to and why it went the way it did. I came to the conclusion that it's only going to help me. It's only going to help me grow as a person and a player.
'Playing today gave me a good opportunity to test my character, too. I think that's an important thing. It's about how you move on and how you present to the team. You can only kick stones and feel sorry for yourself for so long. I didn't want to drag that into today's performance."
The fact the champion halfback was able to inspire his side to a comeback win was all the more pleasing for his coach, who said his son 'negotiated pretty hard' to play after the pain of the Origin loss. "It was pretty obvious that Nat was pretty disappointed and emotional after the (Origin) game on Wednesday," Cleary senior said about his son, whose bounce-back display against the Eels 'didn't surprise' him.
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"He negotiated pretty hard to play this game... and when he was doing that I thought it was a good sign. And I get it, you just want to get back out there. Origin is a big thing but everyone will forget about it after this week and I'm sure it'll be easy for him to sleep after this game...
"Rugby league is not who he is, it's what he does. On Wednesday night NSW were soundly beaten across the board and yes, Nat will be the first to say he could have played better and I'm sure a lot of other guys could have too. But it's the biggest game on the biggest stage and sometimes it just doesn't work out."
with AAP
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