{"id":227113,"date":"2025-10-20T09:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T09:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/227113\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T09:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T09:23:07","slug":"wreaking-havoc-on-kicking-games-cleary-ready-to-handle-english-stadium-quirks-ahead-of-ashes-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/227113\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Wreaking havoc on kicking games&#8217;: Cleary ready to handle English stadium quirks ahead of Ashes opener"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-end=\"230\" data-start=\"65\">Nathan Cleary is backing himself to handle the unique challenges of English stadiums as the Kangaroos prepare to open their Ashes campaign at Wembley this weekend.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"481\" data-start=\"232\">British fields have long been a trap for Australian playmakers, with small in-goal areas and unpredictable weather often wreaking havoc on kicking games. But Cleary said the Kangaroos have been working to adapt during training in London this week.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"739\" data-start=\"483\">\u201cYou do have to adjust your kicking,\u201d Cleary told <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nrl.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NRL.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"739\" data-start=\"483\">\u201cIn the World Cup final at Old Trafford &#8230; the in-goals were absolutely tiny. You just need to trust your skill and back yourself to get it in the in-goal rather than think too much about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"739\" data-start=\"483\">MORE:\u00a0<a target=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/au\/rugby-league\/news\/fit-king-tongas-nrl-heritage-samoa-pacific-championships\/1e57dfbf4d29cb4e6fd7f357\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u2018Fit for a King\u2019: Tonga\u2019s NRL stars reconnect with heritage before Samoa showdown<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Cleary confident after English experience<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1032\" data-start=\"790\">Eight members of Australia\u2019s 2022 World Cup-winning squad have returned for the Ashes, alongside three players who\u2019ve featured in World Club Challenge matches in the UK. That experience, Cleary says, will help them adjust to the conditions.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1193\" data-start=\"1034\">\u201cIt\u2019s definitely something to be aware of,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom experience, sometimes you can overthink it a bit. You just have to assess as the game\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1398\" data-start=\"1195\">The Kangaroos got a taste of Wembley\u2019s atmosphere when they attended an NFL game there on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1398\" data-start=\"1195\">Captain Isaah Yeo said the noise and energy will be unlike anything most of the squad have experienced.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1624\" data-start=\"1400\">\u201cIt\u2019s a hostile environment with the crowd,\u201d Yeo said. \u201cIt\u2019s what makes English sport unique. Getting 60,000 fans to Wembley and then the next two games sold out \u2013 it\u2019s going to be a wonderful challenge and we can\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Yeo compares Ashes to Origin battle<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1870\" data-start=\"1669\">With Headingley chosen for the third and final Test, England will enjoy a strong home-ground advantage throughout the series. Yeo said the atmosphere and intensity will be similar to State of Origin.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2068\" data-start=\"1872\">\u201cThe first game is often not about footy but about attrition,\u201d he said. \u201cQueensland this year showed it\u2019s not the be-all and end-all if you lose Game One, but you certainly want to start strong.<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"2154\" data-start=\"2070\">\u201cI\u2019m expecting a hostile crowd and a physical challenge \u2013 and we\u2019re ready for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Cleary is backing himself to handle the unique challenges of English stadiums as the Kangaroos prepare to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-227113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}