COMMENT
After everything he’s achieved in his career, oddly we’ve decided to coronate Nathan Cleary after one afternoon running downhill over a depleted opposition.
But while everyone agrees the superstar Panther will eventually join the game’s legends lounge and the rich commentary roles it promises, comparing him now to the upper crust is a case of premature exaggeration.
Penrith’s breezy win over the Warriors on Saturday has sparked debate over Cleary’s standing in the game, with Phil Rothfield arguing on NRL360 the halfback is fit for mention alongside royalty like Andrew Johns, Allan Langer and Peter Sterling.
As we know, Cleary is a relentless practitioner and a humble champion, the kinda kid who promotes the game in its brightest light and debunks every boomer trope about the youth being cooked.
And by pocketing two premierships, three Origin shields, a World Cup, a Clive Churchill Medal and a Covid breach all by the ripe age of 25, he has amassed eye-watering success at an age most of us were licking Cheezel dust off our X-Box thumbs.
But while his record compares favourably at the same age to Johns (two Dally M’s and a premiership), Langer (four Origin series wins) and Sterling (three premierships and bow legs you could drive a lorry through), it’s all just quantifiable fluff.
That’s because ranking GOATs requires relevant data-driven analysis, like zeitgeist, pub tests and feelings.
Firstly, Cleary can’t be mentioned alongside the standout halfbacks yet because he arguably isn’t the standout halfback now.
He was shaded by Nico Hynes last year on Dally M’s and by Daly Cherry-Evans this year on feels, and until he steers a side around the park while juggling a full-time coaching role, he’ll continue to be shaded by Adam Reynolds.
Following recent events, you could even argue Cleary isn’t the most valuable player in his team, a title everyone agrees should go to Mitch Kenny.
But of greatest detriment to Cleary’s claims for God status is that he makes the game look too easy.
Yep, it’s impossible to class the Origin rep as an all-terrain playmaker while ever he enjoys endless time behind a pack more difficult to subdue than a T-Rex with haemmorhoids.
Cleary’s club sides have been blessed with more up-front than Matt Shirvington, and when every game for a halfback is like a Cessna being taxied down the runway by an Airbus, you’ll pick up plenty of points duty-free.
That’s why much like pulling out a wedgie through the eye of a needle, we need to see him extract a few wins under duress- and this leads to his next knock.
To truly be considered magnificent, Cleary needs to turn around a reputation at Origin level which is taking on decidedly Pearceian undertones.
While playing a prominent hand in Origin triumphs in 2018, 2019 and 2021, pundits are critical of his ability to blithely unpick an NRL club’s defensive line while looking like a blind locksmith at Origin level.
As such, Cleary needs at least 13 Wally Lewis Medals - give or take - to appease our prohibitively high standards and enter the GOAT realms.
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He’ll also need to follow his mates to Canterbury and win a few grand finals behind a down-market pack, at least until someone develops software that can prove Ray Price would’ve bashed James Fisher-Harris.
- Dane Eldridge is a warped cynic yearning for the glory days of rugby league, a time when the sponges were magic and the Mondays were mad.
He’s never strapped on a boot in his life, and as such, should be taken with a grain of salt.
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