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- Halfback felt a ‘pop’ in his groin on Tuesday
- Kept the injury secret, even teammates unaware
- Queensland won 26-24 to force a series decider
Plenty of NSW Blues fans felt Nathan Cleary was below his best in game two on Wednesday night – and now it can revealed the champion halfback carried a groin injury into the Origin clash.
Cleary, 27, aggravated his groin while practicing goalkicking 24 hours or so before kick-off and was a doubtful starter.
So much so that Blues’ 18th man Matt Burton was told to be ready to play.
Speaking post-game, Cleary admitted the injury unfolded in front of media on Tuesday.
‘It sort of just popped up which was frustrating, but to be honest the physios did a great job working with me and made sure I got there,’ he said after the 26-24 defeat in Perth.
‘I wasn’t too sure what it was, so I was just visualising (goalkicking) instead.’
Plenty of NSW Blues fans felt Nathan Cleary was below his best in game two on Wednesday night – and now it can revealed the halfback carried a groin injury into the Origin clash
Cleary aggravated his groin while practicing goalkicking 24 hours or so before kick-off – and was a doubtful starter (pictured, with girlfriend Mary Fowler)
NSW Blues prop Payne Haas also had to prove his fitness after tweaking his groin at a training session on Monday
NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley lauded Cleary’s mental strength, and maintained he played ‘fantastic.’
Cleary won’t play the Warriors in New Zealand this weekend, but is aiming to line up for Penrith against NRL ladder leaders Canterbury on June 26.
It is understood Panthers officials were kept in the dark about Cleary being on restricted training duties all week in Origin camp – and then were bemused when the playmaker ran out onto Optus Stadium with a heavily strapped right thigh.
In the lead up to game two, Parramatta star Mitchell Moses suffered a calf injury which saw him replaced by Jarome Luai.
Eels coach Jason Ryles is said to be unhappy following Moses’ latest setback, which will see him sidelined for six weeks.
Moses missed the start of the NRL season after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.
Elsewhere, NSW prop Payne Haas had to prove his fitness after tweaking his groin at a training session on Monday.
If Haas was ruled out, Lindsay Smith was pencilled in as his replacement.
The Origin series decider is in Sydney on July 9.
