Nathan Cleary has already set up 20 tries at club level this season, but it’s going to be tough to top the banana kick he put in for Brian To’o this month that made up for a similar play that the superstar winger dropped earlier this year.
The Panthers playmaker has produced countless highlight plays throughout his career, but the one against the Wests Tigers was on another level as he kicked it with the outside of his right boot and had the ball bounce up for To’o.
The nuggety winger still had a lot of work to do to score, with To’o spilling an even better Cleary kick that he bent perfectly when Penrith beat the Roosters back in round 3.
“It was all right,” Cleary said, with a similar banana kick attempt against the Eels landing a metre short of his intended target.
“I tried one earlier in the year and ‘Bizza’ (To’o) dropped it. He actually had a fair bit to do to score that try, so he did well.”
To’o has scored plenty of tries for the Panthers and Blues thanks to Cleary’s wizardry, but he said life would be a bit easier for everyone if he was a bit taller.
“If the winger was six foot, then he’d kick it normally, but because I’m short, he had to do a little banana kick for me,” he joked.
“Full credit to him for making it easier for me. That’s all natural for him. He can see the game, see where the other players are with his peripheral vision, and then he can execute.
“It’s pretty crazy just imagining all the fans watching from home or at the stadium, but being able to share the field with him is crazier.”
Blues skipper Isaah Yeo has won four premierships with Cleary and can’t remember him playing better than this as the champion halfback looks to lead the Blues to Origin glory after he was named man of the match in game one.
“If you look at the Dally M points, then you’d probably say this is the best he’s ever played, but I don’t know how you can compare,” Yeo said, with Cleary leading the Dally Ms when voting went behind closed doors after round 12.
“I just feel like he’s playing at the top of his game and is super confident. It’s not like he’s trying different things, but he’s practising things at training and he’s got the confidence to do it in games.
“The banana kick, I would’ve seen that a handful of times at training. It’s one thing to have confidence to do it at training, but it’s another thing to do it in a game and to then be able to pull it off.
“I’m very glad that he’s my teammate. We pulled a face at each other after we pulled off the banana kick and scored. We had a moment where we were like ‘that’s pretty cool’. I hope I’m not taking it for granted.”
Originally published as ‘Best he’s ever played’: Nathan Cleary on another level as NSW maestro reveals secret behind freakish Panthers kick