Nathan Cleary is reportedly a chance of being ruled out of the Pacific Championships after reportedly picking up a knee injury during the 2023 Grand Final.
The injury reportedly occurred during Sunday's match against the Brisbane Broncos after he was the victim of a hip-drop tackle by Payne Haas in the ninth minute of the match.
The Broncos forward would later be cited for the incident after the game and plead guilty to the Grade 1 Dangerous Contact infringement, meaning he will now need to pay a $1,800 fine rather than miss any games due to suspension.
“I rang our guys who then rang Penrith's medical team, and they told us he'll definitely go for scans to see what the extent of the injury is,” Mal Meninga told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“At this stage he's still celebrating, and rightly so. We've got ‘Cherry' [Daly Cherry-Evans], so we can keep Nathan in the squad and have him available for the New Zealand game if needed. We'll see what happens.”
It is understood that the star halfback has not suffered any major damage to the ligaments in his left knee, which is a good sign for Penrith Panthers fans. As reported, the issue is likely to be a problem with his meniscus or deep bone bruising, per the Herald.
Much of the squad from last year's World Cup is back on deck for the tri-series, while the likes of Thomas Flegler, Kotoni Staggs and Selwyn Cobbo will be in line for a possible Kangaroos' debut after playing in the grand final on Sunday, while Payne Haas, who missed the World Cup, has been included.
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is the other inclusion from outside the World Cup squad, while Matt Burton, Reagan Campbell-Gillard, Angus Crichton, Jeremiah Nanai, Murray Taulagi and Jack Wighton are all sitting out.
Nathan Cleary is in doubt for the Kangaroos games after suffering a knee injury in the #NRLGF (via @MCarayannis). Happened in the 10th minute - scans to come to determine nature/severity but limited video brings concern for MCL sprain w hip drop tackle causing knee to collapse in pic.twitter.com/siHEixpv47
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) October 3, 2023
Full squad
James Tedesco (c) (Sydney Roosters)
Josh Addo-Carr (Canterbury Bulldogs)
Patrick Carrigan (Brisbane Broncos)
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly Sea Eagles)
Nathan Cleary (Penrith Panthers)
Selwyn Cobbo (Brisbane Broncos)
Lindsay Collins (Sydney Roosters)
Reuben Cotter (North Queensland Cowboys)
Tino Fa'asuamaleaui (Gold Coast Titans)
Thomas Flegler (Brisbane Broncos)
Harry Grant (Melbourne Storm)
Payne Haas (Brisbane Broncos)
Valentine Holmes (North Queensland Cowboys)
Ben Hunt (St George Illawarra Dragons)
Liam Martin (Penrith Panthers)
Cameron Munster (Melbourne Storm)
Cameron Murray (South Sydney Rabbitohs)
Kotoni Staggs (Brisbane Broncos)
Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow (The Dolphins)
Jake Trbojevic (Manly Sea Eagles)
Isaah Yeo (Penrith Panthers)
Fixtures
Saturday, October 14: Australia vs Samoa at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, Townsville, 8:10pm
Saturday, October 21: New Zealand vs Samoa at Eden Park, Auckland, 4:00pm
Saturday, October 28: Australia vs New Zealand at AAMI Park, Melbourne, 8:10pm
Saturday, November 4: Final at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, 3pm
All times AEDT.
