Injured superstar Nathan Cleary ditched the moon boot and pulled on a pair of teal adidas football boots as he made a surprise appearance on the field at Penrith training on Tuesday.
Any concerns about the halfback’s foot injury ahead of Sunday’s preliminary final against Newcastle would have been allayed by the sight of the game’s best player moving freely on a cool, cloudy afternoon at Panthers HQ.
Cleary spent time stretching and completing visualisation drills at one end of the ground. He also relied on a stepper to fire up the muscles in his legs, before joining his teammates for a light run.
The No.7 suffered a “stress-related bone issue” in his right foot during the second half of the qualifying final win over the Sydney Roosters. The danger for Cleary is the risk of a micro fracture becoming a bigger fracture if he is pushed too hard.
Penrith’s medical staff, who did a remarkable job getting Isaah Yeo back on the park in just four weeks after he suffered a ruptured pectoral muscle, spent last week working around the clock on Cleary with the use of a hyperbaric chamber, a bone stimulation machine, icing and light physio.
Despite the concerns over Cleary, it would still have been a shock had he been ruled out of the Knights clash. But these exclusive images should help put Panthers fans at ease.
Yeo himself backed his co-captain to play.
“He would have been sore if we needed to play last weekend, but it’s settled down a bit, and hopefully, it’s all systems go,” Yeo said on Tuesday. “I’m confident he’ll be named and ready to go.
Playmaker Jack Cogger, who was named in the No.14 jersey, with Jack Cole named at five-eighth, said Cleary was odds-on to return, but also backed the team to be ready for all scenarios.
“I’ve shown throughout the year when [Cleary] has been involved in Origin or other things that I’ll be there, and whether that’s in the first minute or 70th minute, I’ll try to make it as seamless as possible for the team, and make sure we get the job done,” Cogger said.
“But he’ll be there. You just have to cover all your bases all the time. You don’t want to carry an injury into a game, but things happen in footy, and you have to be prepared for it all the time.”
Cleary was named at halfback, with Blaize Talagi retained in the centres, and Yeo named to start at lock. There is still no sign of Paul Alamoti (hamstring).
The Roosters named Sam Walker (ankle) at halfback and retained Billy Smith in the centres, while stand-in playmaker Hugo Savala was named in the No. 18 jersey for Friday’s first preliminary final against the Dolphins at a packed Suncorp Stadium.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.