Penrith Panthers star Nathan Cleary has been ruled out of Thursday night's clash with the Melbourne Storm due to a head knock.
The halfback suffered the head knock last weekend and due to the five-day turnaround, will not line-up in the grand final rematch.
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The Panthers confirmed Cleary's omission in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
"Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has revealed Nathan Cleary will not play in tomorrow’s game against the Storm," Penrith tweeted.
JUST IN - Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has revealed Nathan Cleary will not play in tomorrow’s game against the Storm.#pantherpride pic.twitter.com/fXQnWxNeap
— Penrith Panthers (@PenrithPanthers) March 24, 2021
it is a major blow for the Panthers as they look to avenge last year's grand final loss.
However, it is a positive that the Panthers took a conservative approach with the 23-year old as the NRL looks to be more judicious with head knocks.
Confirmation from the Panthers that Nathan Cleary will not play tomorrow night. Signs were pointing that way as the week wore on, very rare to see a return 5 days after suffering a concussion. Good to see the conservative approach taken, hope Cleary continues to be symptom free
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 24, 2021
The grand final rematch between Penrith and Melbourne will kick off at 8.05pm at BlueBet Stadium AEDT.
