{"id":585228,"date":"2026-08-30T20:34:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/585228\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:34:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:34:09","slug":"warriors-v-knights-rave-reviews-for-jett-cleary-as-kiwi-side-fight-back-for-newcastle-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/585228\/","title":{"rendered":"Warriors v Knights: Rave reviews for Jett Cleary as Kiwi side fight back for Newcastle victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the son of former Warriors coach Ivan<\/a>, and brother of Penrith Panthers star Nathan, Jett\u2019s journey to first grade has \u2014 perhaps unfairly \u2014 been one of the most anticipated in the club\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"IvanIvan Cleary hugs son Jett, after his NRL debut for the Warriors against the Newcastle Knights. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

But as the latest example of the Warriors\u2019 \u201cnext-man-up\u201d mentality, Cleary\u2019s display against Newcastle was exactly what his club needed, with the promise of more to come if coach Andrew Webster decides to rotate next week, with a top two finish effectively sealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked like he belonged,\u201d co-captain Mitch Barnett said. \u201cFor a young half \u2014 and I\u2019m nowhere near a half \u2014 they just want to tackle well and kick well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he defended really well, [Greg] Marzhew\u2019s not easy to handle, even that back rower [Francis Manulelua] has been causing a bit of havoc on his edges.<\/p>\n

\u201cJett held his gloves up, he ticked the first one off, and he\u2019ll only get better each time he takes the field now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest compliment to Cleary came from the opposition. On more than one occasion, the rookie was the target of late, high tackles, before being outright tipped on his back late in the game.<\/p>\n

As Knights captain Kalyn Ponga explained, there was a very deliberate effort from Newcastle to make things as difficult as possible for Cleary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever there\u2019s a young half, someone on debut, naturally you want to test them out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went well, he played his role. It\u2019s a hard one when we had 12 [players] on the field.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Cleary family congratulate Jett after his NRL debut for the Warriors against the Penrith Panthers. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he\u2019ll be proud, his family will be proud no doubt. When he sits at home in the years to come and looks at his debut, it\u2019s a win, so he\u2019ll be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps making the week easier for Cleary was the fact that New South Wales Cup halves partner Luke Hanson was the five-eighth next to him.<\/p>\n

Hanson, 22, has spent most of the season playing alongside Cleary, having also both come through the same system at the Panthers before both moving on to the Warriors. <\/p>\n

With just two NRL games under his belt before facing the Knights, Hanson was the senior halves partner on-field, and clearly played a calming role for Cleary, as a familiar face to help out if the occasion got out of hand.<\/p>\n

Naturally, then, Hanson \u2014 as well as the rest of his teammates \u2014 had nothing but praise for Cleary\u2019s day\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cWebby, the coaching staff and all the boys put their trust in us, for us to go out there and be ourselves,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Cleary] was unreal today. He\u2019s a competitor, he competes on everything. I knew he\u2019d come out here and do the same today.<\/p>\n

\"JettJett Cleary of the Warriors against the Newcastle Knights. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n

\u201cAll teams always come at halves, but he\u2019s a good defender as well. He always holds his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played a fair bit of footy over the last couple of years, and back home. It was good when I found out when he was playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alex Powell<\/a> is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the son of former Warriors coach Ivan, and brother of Penrith Panthers star Nathan, Jett\u2019s journey to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":585229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[36671,806,1863,1038,69995,5821,15124,1888,2082,22220,2964,8482,35302,23996,194,78719,4960,23362,111,2653,139,577,69,109554,763,17891,6102,213,168226,48499,8982,3006,6123],"class_list":["post-585228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-always","tag-as","tag-back","tag-brings","tag-cleary","tag-everything","tag-fight","tag-first","tag-for","tag-going","tag-half","tag-huge","tag-hype","tag-jett","tag-kiwi","tag-knights","tag-live","tag-needed","tag-new-zealand","tag-newcastle","tag-newzealand","tag-nrl","tag-nz","tag-rave","tag-reviews","tag-rookie","tag-side","tag-sports","tag-surname","tag-taste","tag-victory","tag-warriors","tag-while"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/585229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}