The true extent of Penrith’s injury woes has been laid bare after coach Ivan Cleary revealed that his son suffered a compound fracture of the ankle, while Blaize Talagi ruptured his Achilles and Dylan Edwards ruptured his PCL in their shock loss to the Knights.
Penrith’s premiership hopes were dashed with a 22-14 loss to a team riding one of the game’s greatest fairy tales.
But even if they had won, the Panthers would have been in disarray for next week’s grand final, with three of their best players unavailable.
There was a flat feeling around Accor Stadium five minutes before halftime when champion halfback Nathan Cleary went down with a gruesome injury as a result of a hip-drop tackle by Phoenix Crossland.
The Knights hooker was sent from the field after Cleary was carted off on a medi-cab with his left foot facing the wrong way.
The prince of Penrith was in doubt for Sunday’s clash and started on the bench after he suffered a foot injury in the qualifying final, which we now know was broken.
“He’s in hospital now, so he’s just waiting for surgery,” his dad said after the game.
“We have to get the other foot done as well because that was broken as well.
“All I know is he watched the game in the ambulance apparently, so it only made him feel worse I think.”
It was a brutal few minutes for the family at halftime as Ivan raced down to see his son.
“It was a bit hard,” he said, with Penrith unable to score a point in the second half with Cleary off the field.
“I went and saw him at halftime and saw the whole crew in there, my family, so that was a bit hard. It was a bit emotional, but the show goes on. It’s pretty hard though.
“When all the boys went around to the medi-cab, I actually got a bit emotional there because I thought that was pretty cool.
“I just can’t really explain what happened in the second half. So I’d just probably rather congratulate the Knights and Justin (coach Justin Holbrook) for an unbelievable performance, and they thoroughly deserved to be in the grand final.”
Cleary’s injury was just one of several major setbacks for the minor premiers, with Talagi forced off in the second half, while Edwards bravely played on after hurting his knee before the break.
That was on top of co-captain Isaah Yeo, who made a miracle recovery to get back for the finals.
“The guy sitting next to me is also playing with a fully ruptured pec, which I’m not sure has been done before,” the coach said.
“Dylan Edwards ruptured his PCL in the first half tonight and played on, so we’re probably just falling apart a little bit.
“I think that’s why I was probably even more emotional than what happened to him (Nathan) was I knew how hard he worked and what he put himself through to actually get himself to play today. But that’s the way it goes.
“I want to pay full credit to the Knights and their supporters. Just a great day for their club and sets up a pretty good grand final.”
Yeo hasn’t had surgery yet and hasn’t decided whether he will have it now or try to get through the World Cup, which begins next month.
“I don’t know yet,” the Kangaroos captain said.
“I’ll have to talk to the club as well because it’ll affect the start of next season if I was to prolong it. So I’m not sure. That’s a conversation for probably later on next week with Ivan and the staff, and go from there.”
Originally published as ‘Got a bit emotional’: Ivan Cleary confirms the worst for Nathan Cleary as horrific injury toll costs Panthers dearly