Nathan Cleary will require surgery on both feet with the superstar halfback already playing on a broken right foot before suffering a compound fracture of his left ankle.
In Penrith’s 22-14 preliminary-final loss to Newcastle, the Panthers exited with Dylan Edwards playing through a ruptured PCL, Isaah Yeo a ruptured pec and Blaize Talagi off with an Achilles rupture.
The Knights had been leading 14-6 at half-time, and will likely have long-term ramifications for Australia in the end-of-season World Cup.
Penrith had hoped to get Cleary through Sunday’s game unscathed after keeping him and his injured right foot on the bench for the opening 25 minutes.
But ten minutes later the superstar halfback was exiting the field on the back of a medicab sucking on a green whistle, after a hip-drop tackle from Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland.
Crossland was sent off, with Cleary’s ankle also dislocated and his mother Bec among those in the stands in tears.
Nathan Cleary of the Panthers is attended to by a trainer after a compound fracture to his ankle
The star halfback was already playing on a broken right foot when he snapped his left
‘He watched the game in the ambulance, but it made him feel worse probably,’ his father and coach Ivan Cleary said.
‘I went and saw him at halftime and saw the whole crew and my family were in there. That was a bit hard, it was a bit emotional. But the show goes on.’
Cleary also confirmed his son had been battling a broken bone in his right foot, after Penrith had previously been coy on the nature of a ‘stress-related bone issue’.
‘He’ll have to get the other foot done as well, because that was broken as well.
‘That’s why I was even more emotional with what happened to him because I knew what he went through to get himself right to play today.’
Crossland is expected to miss Newcastle’s biggest game in 25 years.
Knights captain Kalyn Ponga with Phoenix Crossland getting pulled up by the referee
Crossland looked close to tears as he was sent off after the tackle on Cleary
He was emotional as he watched the replay looping on the stadium big screens while Cleary was given the green whistle and taken off by medicab en route to hospital.
The hooker looked on the brink of tears when he was summoned to hear his punishment from referee Gerard Sutton.
It’s the first send-off for a hip-drop tackle in NRL history, after they were outlawed in 2020.
The longest ban handed down for a hip-drop tackle is five matches, given to both Jeremiah Nanai in 2023 and Josh McGuire in 2021.
The only way Crossland could avoid a ban is if he was handed a grade-one charge, but given injuries are taken into account that appears almost certainly out of the question.
Harrison Graham, who has become a regular off the interchange for the Knights this year, looms as the most logical replacement for Crossland.
Penrith suffered multiple serious injuries including Blaize Talagi
The Knights stormed home 22-14 to earn their spot in the Grand Final
The Knights No9 will learn his fate when the match review committee reveals the judiciary charges on Monday morning.
‘He was disappointed, we’ve got to try and get him upbeat,’ said Knights coach Justin Holbrook.
‘He’s an emotional guy. He’s been so great for us every week this year. Hopefully Nathan’s okay.’
Cleary’s injury was later confirmed to be a compound fracture and dislocation of the left ankle.
The tackle silenced the packed Accor Stadium crowd.
‘It shouldn’t be at that angle. You can see the reaction of the players, they heard a crack,’ commentator Andrew Johns said.
The Penrith fans in the crowd, although outnumbered by blue and red, let out cheers when the send-off was announced.
During a 2022 NRL preliminary final, South Sydney winger Taane Milne was sent off for a wild high tackle on Penrith’s Spencer Leniu, at the time becoming the first player to be sent off in an NRL finals match since 1994.
