{"id":901271,"date":"2026-09-22T12:26:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901271\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T12:26:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:26:51","slug":"nrl-2026-nathan-cleary-named-for-penriths-preliminary-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901271\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Nathan Cleary named for Penrith\u2019s preliminary final"},"content":{"rendered":"

State of Origin rivals Nathan Cleary and Sam Walker could face off in the biggest game of the year next week after the star halfbacks were named to play in their respective preliminary finals after overcoming injury concerns. <\/p>\n

There were fears Cleary would miss Sunday\u2019s showdown with Newcastle after the club revealed last week that the Panthers halfback had sustained a \u201cstress-related bone issue in his foot\u201d during the qualifying final win over the Roosters.<\/p>\n

Cleary appeared to be hampered and then told Penrith\u2019s medical staff that there was a problem with his foot after he kicked the field goal that put them in front.<\/p>\n

He was able to rest up given Penrith earned the week off, but there are huge questions over whether he will be anywhere near his best this weekend. <\/p>\n

He was in a moon boot last week and has trained away from his teammates, but he has been named and will start in the grand final qualifier. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going all right,\u201d co-captain Isaah Yeo said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a pretty quiet week last week, but the week off was certainly nice for him and a few others. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m confident he\u2019ll be named and ready to go. If we had to play last week it would have been pretty sore, and he would have pushed through it, but it\u2019s settled down a little bit so hopefully all systems go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cole will partner Cleary in the halves after impressing at five-eighth while Jack Cogger was out suspended. <\/p>\n

Cogger will come off the bench, with Bears-bound Cole not named in Penrith\u2019s squad for the NSW Cup Grand Final this weekend. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a bit strange,\u201d Cole said on Tuesday before the team was announced. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I just try to prepare as if I\u2019m playing for NRL, and if I do end up playing Cup, that\u2019ll put me in good stead for that as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s just another game of footy. Obviously there\u2019s a lot more on the line in both games, but you\u2019ve just got to treat it like every other week, and come game time, just feel prepared and ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blaize Talagi has kept his spot in the centres against an unchanged Knights side that is flying high after their upset win in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Walker has been cleared to return from an ankle injury that has kept him sidelined for several weeks.<\/p>\n

The Queensland halfback trained on Monday and is a huge in for the Roosters, with Daly Cherry-Evans shifting to five-eighth.<\/p>\n

Hugo Savala has dropped back to the bench with Billy Smith keeping his spot at left centre. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s smooth sailing for the rested Dolphins who have included veteran Felise Kaufusi on the six-man bench for the club\u2019s first preliminary final. <\/p>\n

Adam Gee will be in charge of the game of Brisbane, while Gerard Sutton will referee Sunday\u2019s game in Sydney after Ashley Klein was dropped<\/a> for missing a penalty in the final minute that would have sent the Warriors match into extra-time.<\/p>\n

Klein will be in the bunker for the first preliminary final and received support from Yeo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he let the game flow really well,\u201d Yeo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game on Friday there were a lot more six-agains, weird ones too. Anyway, it\u2019s up to the refs to interpret that.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the most part, I thought Ash let the game flow really well, he let both teams sort it out. Obviously there were some decisions there that were 50-50, but over the course of a year, I feel like it evens up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Nathan Cleary named for the Panthers, Ivan Cleary makes shock call at five-eighth<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State of Origin rivals Nathan Cleary and Sam Walker could face off in the biggest game of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[469736,380197,469765,395498,380143,184698,469742,376963,469758,380489,376730,469760,380327,469759,385815,469769,376925,20426,426287,417749,469755,469767,45957,54654,64,63,469753,4442,155890,469761,380336,651,10966,50921,420992,432214,156300,3933,4430,469771,469738,199641,16308,469740,9116,39598,469770,12099,32115,428812,377212,421758,469766,377197,411596,469762,12979,49772,5098,4593,74181,13307,439754,13052,469745,1203,469772,761,762,469737,10668,43961,51485,158,469748,5357,16284,4478,469756,241558,383190,469741,85,2177,8825,469764,22410,670,384381,469743,66184,401943,382205,412083,379738,215379,434150,465908,469751,74713,469757,456469,395523,87494,379414,469747,5991,469754,463561,415437,469768,174850,469749,402312,469739,315971,469750,98734,378969,469752,469763,379782,28333,469744,9829,469746,143929],"class_list":["post-901271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-first-preliminary-final","tag-s-game","tag-s-medical-staff","tag-s-showdown","tag-s-squad","tag-50-50","tag-a-stress-related-bone-issue","tag-a-bit","tag-a-few-others","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-lot","tag-a-moon-boot","tag-a-penalty","tag-a-pretty-quiet-week","tag-a-problem","tag-a-shock-call","tag-a-year","tag-adam-gee","tag-all-systems","tag-an-ankle-injury","tag-an-unchanged-knights-side","tag-another-game","tag-ash","tag-ashley-klein","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bears-bound-cole","tag-billy-smith","tag-blaize-talagi","tag-both-games","tag-both-teams","tag-brisbane","tag-charge","tag-cleary","tag-co-captain-isaah-yeo","tag-cogger","tag-cole","tag-cup","tag-daly-cherry-evans","tag-every-other-week","tag-extra-time-klein","tag-fears","tag-finals","tag-five-eighth-hugo-savala","tag-footy","tag-friday","tag-front-he","tag-game-time","tag-gerard-sutton","tag-good-stead","tag-his-best","tag-his-foot","tag-his-spot","tag-his-teammates","tag-huge-call","tag-huge-questions","tag-injuries","tag-injury-concerns","tag-ivan-cleary","tag-jack-cogger","tag-jack-cole","tag-last-week","tag-left-centre","tag-monday","tag-more-six-agains","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-nathan-cleary-and-sam-walker","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-zealand-meanwhile","tag-newcastle","tag-newswire-sport","tag-next-week","tag-nrl","tag-origin-rivals","tag-panthers","tag-penrith","tag-sam-walker","tag-several-weeks-the-queensland","tag-shock-call","tag-smooth-sailing","tag-some-decisions","tag-sports","tag-state","tag-sunday","tag-superstar-halves","tag-support","tag-sydney","tag-the-bench","tag-the-biggest-game","tag-the-bunker","tag-the-centres","tag-the-club","tag-the-course","tag-the-day","tag-the-end","tag-the-field-goal","tag-the-final-minute","tag-the-first-preliminary-final","tag-the-game","tag-the-game-flow","tag-the-grand-final-qualifier","tag-the-halves","tag-the-line","tag-the-most-part","tag-the-nsw-cup-grand-final","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-panthers-halfback","tag-the-qualifying-final-win","tag-the-refs","tag-the-rested-dolphins","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-roosters-cleary","tag-the-six-man-bench","tag-the-star-halfbacks","tag-the-team","tag-the-warriors-match","tag-the-week","tag-the-year","tag-their-respective-preliminary-finals","tag-their-upset-win","tag-this-weekend","tag-tuesday","tag-veteran-felise-kaufusi","tag-walker","tag-weird-ones","tag-yeo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901271","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=901271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}