The Penrith Panthers head coach has announced captain’s Nathan Cleary retirement
Nathan Cleary, the current captain of Penrith during the premiership, believes that Nathan Cleary should be named the new captain of the team.
In 2003, Nathan Cleary led the team to victory in the grand final. Strangely, if not for the boycott and eventual cancellation of the awards ceremony, he would have been the recipient of the Dally M Medal that year.
Last year, Cleary was the favorite among most pundits to win the main Dally M gong. However, he lost by a small margin and finished third in the vote count, behind Jack Wighton and Clint Gutherson.
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Throughout the season, which ended in a grand final loss to Melbourne, Cleary was the Panthers’ most valuable player. The youthful halfback took the brunt of the criticism for that outcome.
James Tamou, the team’s captain from the previous season, has since left for the Wests Tigers, creating a space for someone else to assume captaincy.
Many believe that Isaah Yeo will be chosen, but Gower believes Penrith should hand the reins over to Cleary, 23, right away rather than waiting.
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“Yeo is there, of course. He has the experience and had a great season. It’s just one of those situations where you wonder if Ivan (coach) Cleary wants to give Nathan more responsibility and the captaincy. To foxsports.com.au, Gower said.
“I have no doubt he could manage it.
There are many guys in their leadership group, but Nathan is the one I would probably give it to.
At some point in the future, he will be the captain. He could definitely manage it, in my opinion.
Although Cleary was arguably the best player in the NRL in 2020, it was widely believed that Wighton, who defeated the Penrith halfback by two votes, should have won the Dally M Medal.
The Panthers won 18 of 20 games and the minor premiership, with Cleary leading the way in a record 17 straight victories.
But they stumbled in the finals and were ultimately defeated by the formidable Storm to take home the major trophy.
After that, Cleary was chosen to play for NSW in the State of Origin, but he was once again unable to perform well under pressure, and the Blues lost the series to a weaker opponent, Queensland.
Gower thinks that Cleary’s experiences from such a wild year will only help him grow and learn.
“It’s a new season, so I wouldn’t even worry about it.” Nathan is a class player, as we all know, but you saw his form during the season. There will be doubts about him the next time he plays. “He was amazing,” Gower remarked.
“He puts in a lot of effort in his training; it’s just a testament to the kind of person and player he is.”
