{"id":908799,"date":"2026-09-28T17:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908799\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T17:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:24:18","slug":"nrl-2026-panthers-star-nathan-cleary-wins-players-champion-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908799\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Panthers star Nathan Cleary wins Players\u2019 Champion award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nathan Cleary has had a bittersweet victory after his disastrous ankle injury, with the champion halfback unveiled as the 2026 Players\u2019 Champion.<\/p>\n

The Rugby League Players Association announced the prestigious award, which was voted by fellow NRL players, with the Penrith great also winning it in 2020. <\/p>\n

It caps a dream year for Cleary, who won the Wally Lewis Medal as the best player in the State of Origin series, as well as the Brad Fittler Medal at the NSW Blues night of nights.<\/p>\n

He is odds on to win his first Dally M Medal on Wednesday night after an incredible season with Penrith, although it\u2019s unclear how he will accept the award given he has two serious injuries. <\/p>\n

Cleary beat out a field of 68 to be crowned the Players\u2019 Champion ahead of fellow finalists Erin Clark, Herbie Farnworth, Haumole Olakau\u2019atu and four-time winner James Tedesco. <\/p>\n

He is just the third player to win the award multiple times. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of the RLPA, I congratulate Nathan Cleary on being voted by his peers as their Players\u2019 Champion for 2026,\u201d RLPA chief executive Clint Newton said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout this season, for club and state, Nathan has consistently played at a level even beyond his high standards. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo now be a multiple-time winner alongside James Tedesco and Johnathan Thurston is a massive honour and credit to Nathan\u2019s ability, professionalism, relentlessness and toughness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expectations on Nathan are always very high. But in 2026 he showed once again that he can carry that pressure and produce quality performance after quality performance. <\/p>\n

\u201cDefined by his toughness as a halfback, Nathan\u2019s all-round game has been astounding this year. Whether it be setting up tries or line breaks, or his tactical and attacking kicking game, Nathan has been on another level in 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe proudly recognise Nathan Cleary as the Players\u2019 Champion for 2026. He is a phenomenal and gifted player, a great leader and a quality human. These are some of the reasons why Nathan is such a respected player across the game and by his peers. <\/p>\n

\u201cRugby league should be very proud to have him as one of the stars of our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The award is bittersweet for Cleary, who left Accor Stadium in an ambulance and required emergency surgery on Sunday night as a result of a hip-drop tackle.<\/p>\n

Cleary suffered a compound fracture of the ankle, with the four-time premiership winner also nursing a broken right foot that he suffered two weeks earlier. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to send my thoughts to Nathan and his family after sustaining a brutal injury in the preliminary final,\u201d Newton said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish you all the best in your recovery and we know you will fight your way back on the playing field as soon as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Bittersweet\u2019 win for Nathan Cleary as Panthers star adds prestigious award to his list of 2026 accolades<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Cleary has had a bittersweet victory after his disastrous ankle injury, with the champion halfback unveiled as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[407230,477011,476978,47025,10968,476980,376755,476990,476983,477007,476997,475433,476989,407864,476984,404416,477002,429869,477009,477015,477016,477003,380260,477014,402763,404010,475728,476993,397390,64,63,1703,378532,428097,8813,50921,175805,477000,4311,476979,476996,477017,114538,28081,476987,376761,461495,476982,409916,410488,477010,442473,12979,4415,43473,477008,69071,378664,161303,1203,761,762,95277,35062,477013,158,7468,778,380373,5357,343684,16284,476995,380393,151197,476988,114698,476999,159,85,476998,8825,435486,476991,433955,419183,461514,477004,477006,406208,390157,74713,476994,5991,477005,175806,454311,460256,419215,408238,476986,476992,396013,165057,476981,477012,390192,380519,364611,477001,476985,381069,41313,8935,477018,384215],"class_list":["post-908799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-ability","tag-s-all-round-game","tag-s-bittersweet-honour","tag-47025","tag-10968","tag-2026-accolades","tag-376755","tag-a-bittersweet-victory","tag-a-broken-right-foot","tag-a-brutal-24-hours","tag-a-brutal-injury","tag-a-compound-fracture","tag-a-dream-year","tag-a-field","tag-a-great-leader","tag-a-halfback","tag-a-hip-drop-tackle-cleary","tag-a-level","tag-a-massive-honour-and-credit","tag-a-multiple-time-winner","tag-a-phenomenal-and-gifted-player","tag-a-quality-human","tag-a-result","tag-a-small-silver-lining","tag-accor-stadium","tag-all-the-best","tag-an-ambulance","tag-an-incredible-season","tag-another-level","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-awards","tag-behalf","tag-bittersweet","tag-champion","tag-cleary","tag-clint-newton","tag-club-and-state","tag-emergency-surgery","tag-fellow-finalists-erin-clark","tag-fellow-nrl-players","tag-four-time-winner-james-tedesco","tag-haumole-olakauatu","tag-herbie-farnworth","tag-his-disastrous-ankle-injury","tag-his-family","tag-his-first-dally-m-medal","tag-his-high-standards","tag-his-list","tag-his-peers","tag-his-tactical-and-attacking-kicking-game","tag-his-toughness","tag-injuries","tag-james-tedesco","tag-johnathan-thurston","tag-level-beyond","tag-multiple-times","tag-my-thoughts","tag-nathan","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newton","tag-night","tag-nights-he","tag-nrl","tag-odds","tag-origin-series","tag-our-game","tag-panthers","tag-panthers-star","tag-penrith","tag-prestigious-award","tag-professionalism","tag-quality-performance","tag-relentlessness-and-toughness","tag-rlpa","tag-rlpa-chief-executive-clint-newton","tag-rugby-league","tag-sports","tag-such-a-respected-player","tag-sunday","tag-that-pressure","tag-the-2026-players","tag-the-ankle","tag-the-award","tag-the-best-player","tag-the-brad-fittler-medal","tag-the-champion-halfback","tag-the-expectations","tag-the-four-time-premiership-winner","tag-the-game","tag-the-nsw-blues-night","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-penrith-great","tag-the-players","tag-the-playing-field","tag-the-preliminary-final","tag-the-prestigious-award","tag-the-reasons","tag-the-rlpa","tag-the-rugby-league-players-association","tag-the-stars","tag-the-state","tag-the-third-player","tag-the-wally-lewis-medal","tag-their-players","tag-this-season","tag-this-year","tag-tries-or-line-breaks","tag-two-serious-injuries","tag-two-weeks","tag-wednesday","tag-win","tag-your-recovery","tag-your-way"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908799","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=908799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}