{"id":693464,"date":"2026-05-25T12:13:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693464\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T12:13:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:13:11","slug":"state-of-origin-2026-nathan-cleary-origin-criticism-mitchell-moses-out-injured-ethan-strange-news-videos-highlights-nrl-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/693464\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin 2026: Nathan Cleary, Origin criticism, Mitchell Moses out injured, Ethan Strange, news, videos, highlights, NRL analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The potential loss of Mitchell Moses could be Nathan Cleary\u2019s gain.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say NSW are better off without the Eels weapon, but now the one glaring omission in Cleary\u2019s stellar resume has a better chance of being ticked off.<\/p>\n

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The superstar halfback has a chance to dominate the Origin arena and fully stamp his mark on a series \u2014 which has been the biggest criticism of a player who has achieved so much in the game.<\/p>\n

While conjecture surrounding who could replace Moses was rife on NRL360 on Monday night, The Australian\u2019s Brent Read raised the topic of Cleary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we are talking about Ethan Strange, but it\u2019s all about Nathan now,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we said, this is his chance to own Origin. A lot of responsibility is going to fall on his shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters last week, Cleary was asked about he was out to prove the critics wrong \u2014 and his response was telling.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot so much doubters to prove wrong, I know what I need myself,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been disappointed with my performances in the past and I am my own harshest critic, so it\u2019s not so much about proving doubters wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s repaying the faith that Loz has shown in me and the Blues have shown in me… and to myself, I know what I am capable of and it\u2019s trying to reach those heights.\u201d <\/p>\n

Which points to NRL legend Braith Anasta\u2019s response after Read placed the Origin focus solely on Cleary, who already has three series wins to his name and four premierships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he is comfortable with that now,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell he is going to need to be,\u201d Read replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s his time now. If he wants to be considered an Immortal of the game, this is his arena he needs to own and I reckon this is a great chance for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

In clubland, Cleary and his lock Isaah Yeo steer their team around the park, and during his NSW tenure, the Blues have been criticised for having \u2018too many cooks in the kitchen\u2019.<\/p>\n

With Moses out, a dominant ball-playing half, and the potential for Burton or Strange to be injected into the side, Cleary is back to dominating alongside his club teammate.<\/p>\n

Cam Munster previews Origin one! | 04:56<\/p>\n

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\u201cMy concern around Nathan was Isaah Yeo and the dominance of Mitch and sort of not letting Nathan have the clear ball when he wants it to have the freedom to play the way he can play,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough this is not great news for NSW, you can almost look at this optimistically and turn it into a positive. It is his time and this is a great opportunity for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

But back onto that Burton and Strange question. Who is the frontrunner to replace Moses if he is ruled out following his scans on Tuesday morning?<\/p>\n

According to team performance manager Frank Ponissi, Strange is the \u201cobvious\u201d pick, having spent time filling in during the week\u2019s training and preparation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not too sure about that, but it\u2019s the obvious decision because Ethan\u2019s been with the group all week. As I said, between Nathan, Mitch and Ethan, they\u2019ve shared the duties of training, so it\u2019s only a natural,\u201d Ponissi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhereas, you know, if Matt does get cleared by the NRL to come into the 20-man squad, he would only have done the captain\u2019s run tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it was just a natural decision. So whether we have to do that, I\u2019m not too sure, but for us, it\u2019s a natural decision. If again, Mitch is ruled out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he is to play in Mitch\u2019s case, he comes in on a good side playing with Hudson Young, his Raiders teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Anasta, Strange\u2019s inclusion was the right call \u2014 especially considering Burton will only spend one day training with the Blues squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so, I think it\u2019s too late. Strange is in the camp, he would have filled in,\u201d Anasta said.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrange has earnt his spot… he has been consistent for a long period of time, and you talk Origin and Strange, you just think it is going to be a good combination.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a big body, he loves taking a line on, he is hard to handle in defence. He will be going at Sam Walker, and that\u2019s what you want in Origin.<\/p>\n

“One of the best in Australian sport!” | 08:08<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt actually frees up Cleary to own the team himself now, you know that Strange is going to do a job, he always turns up. I can\u2019t remember him having a bad game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Legendary Maroons gun Gorden Tallis echoed Anasta\u2019s opinion, pointing to the history of successful ball-running five-eighths at Origin level.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou (Anasta), Fittler, Daley, big running threats in Origin with fatigue. I am not sure whether he is a deep thinker of the game or he just plays what\u2019s in front of him,\u201d Tallis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what you need at Origin level. The running five-eighth is probably the best way to play Origin, so he is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then The Daily Telegraph\u2019s Dean Richie delivered a big prediction, with Strange having previously been touted for the representative arena.<\/p>\n

The Raiders gun was in Kevin Walters\u2019 Kangaroos squad for the Ashes tour last season and his club coach Ricky Stuart has long sung his praises as a potential Aussie and NSW debutant.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe will just play eyes up footy, play what\u2019s in front of him,\u201d Richie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he dominates this game, there\u2019s no reason why Ethan Strange can\u2019t be NSW No.6 for five, six, seven years. He has long-term written all over him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The potential loss of Mitchell Moses could be Nathan Cleary\u2019s gain. That\u2019s not to say NSW are better…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-693464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693464","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=693464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}