Nathan Cleary is free to play in Penrith\u2019s preliminary final next week after the world\u2019s best player was hit with a grade 1 dangerous contact charge by the match review committee.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a huge relief for the premiership favourites and means the Panthers don\u2019t have to brace for a season-defining decision if he had copped a grade 2 charge.<\/p>\n
That would have meant a one-match ban offer, with Cleary risking a two-match ban if he fought the charge and lost, which would rule him out of the grand final should Penrith qualify.<\/p>\n
But they don\u2019t have to worry about that anymore, with Cleary having to pay a $1000 fine that he\u2019ll happily do now that he\u2019s free to play in the grand final qualifier against either the Warriors or Knights.<\/p>\n
Cleary was sent to the sin bin for running through Hugo Savala\u2019s legs as the Roosters five-eighth put in a clearing kick with 13 seconds to go in the first half of Sunday\u2019s qualifying final.<\/p>\n
The four-time premiership winner knew he\u2019s done the wrong thing and was immediately sent to the sin bin before he returned and kicked the field goal to put his team up by a point late in the contest. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of guilt and I felt like I let the boys down. It was a super stupid decision,\u201d Cleary told the Matty Johns Show after the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I saw an opportunity to make a big play on half time but it was the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is easily the best player in the world right now after leading the Blues to Origin glory this year, with Cleary expected to win his first Dally M Medal in a few weeks. <\/p>\n
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary was adamant after the game that his son didn\u2019t deserve a ban. <\/p>\n
\u201cGod no. Of course not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just trying to make a play, so I think he\u2019s probably thinking the right thing there, but the angle was wrong and under the current rules that\u2019s what it is. <\/p>\n
\u201cI must say though, the same thing happened to him down near the goalposts earlier in the game (when James Tedesco made contact). <\/p>\n
\u201cYou could tell he was definitely disappointed. He was thinking the right thing in terms of trying to make a play at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
There have been several players charged for similar incidents, with Canberra\u2019s Zac Hosking copping a grade one for his tackle on Reece Walsh in last year\u2019s finals, while Storm skipper Harry Grant was found not guilty at the judiciary. <\/p>\n
Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V\u2019landys was shocked when he saw Cleary\u2019s contact on Savala. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like everybody else; I\u2019m a big fan of Nathan. But he has to be treated the same as any other player,\u201d he told the NewsWire before the charge came out. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a superstar, and he realised himself at the time that it was an accident. He didn\u2019t do the wrong thing; accidents happen in games. Like the rest of us, I was a bit shocked, but he came back and just showed how good a player he is.\u201d<\/p>\n