Nathan Cleary suffers compound ankle fracture in Penrith's preliminary final
Penrith Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary suffered a compound fracture of his left ankle in Sunday’s NRL preliminary final against Newcastle at Accor Stadium.
Cleary was carried from the field on a medicab, the motorised cart used to take injured players off, and is set to miss the World Cup as a result The Guardian.
The injury came in the 36th minute. Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland, the middle forward who distributes the ball after each tackle, caught Cleary with a hip-drop tackle, a banned technique where a defender drops his body weight on to the ball-carrier’s legs.
Referee Gerard Sutton sent Crossland off. He is the first player to be sent off for a hip-drop tackle in the NRL. Newcastle played the final 44 minutes with 12 men instead of 13.
It was a brutal end. Penrith had gambled.
Cleary started the match on the bench and entered play in the 25th minute. He went into the game carrying pre-existing bone damage in his right foot, described before the match as a stress-related bone issue and a fractured foot.
Penrith had confirmed before kick-off that he would play through the foot injury. Co-captain Isaah Yeo publicly backed Cleary to cope with it ahead of the game, which had been scheduled for Sunday NRL.com. Cleary had been warned he risked further damage to the foot by playing ESPN.
The new injury is separate. The long-standing problem was in his right foot. The fracture suffered against Newcastle was to his left ankle.
For fans new to rugby league, the context is simple. Cleary is Penrith’s halfback, the chief playmaker who directs the attack kick by kick. A preliminary final is a semi-final. The winner goes straight to the Grand Final, the sport’s title decider.
Penrith entered the Newcastle game chasing a sixth Grand Final appearance in seven seasons. That record has made them the benchmark club of the NRL era.
What makes this stand out is the collision of those two stories. One is about toughness and selection. The other is about player welfare. Penrith asked their most important player to manage one serious foot problem, then lost him to a different and more immediate leg injury.
