Daly Cherry-Evans looks set to retain the Australian halfback spot after Penrith coach Ivan Cleary confirmed son Nathan Cleary was “highly likely” to require post-season shoulder surgery.
Panthers superstar Cleary would have been the favourite to win the Australian No.7 jersey for the Pacific Championships set to begin in late October after the NRL season ends.
Instead, the 26-year-old is likely to go under the knife to fix a shoulder problem first reported in the pre-season, and which flared up in the round-24 loss to Melbourne last month.
Cleary is undergoing full training loads ahead of Saturday’s grand final qualifier against Cronulla but is still participating in rehabilitation, having missed three weeks on the run to finals.
Early in that lay-off, Penrith had been hopeful Cleary could avoid off-season surgery, but his father was more concrete when pressed on Thursday.
“It’d be highly likely he’ll have surgery, I’d say,” coach Cleary said.
“But we’ll just get through what we need to do and weigh up the risks and options.”
The news comes after Cleary missed last year’s post-season series with a knee issue, and opens the door for in-form Manly veteran Cherry-Evans to retain the halfback spot.
At 35, Cherry-Evans had been realistic as to his chances of being ousted from the team when quizzed after Manly’s season ended with a semi-final loss to the Sydney Roosters last week.
But the halfback produced a stellar season and few other options remain.
Incumbent NSW halfback Mitch Moses is still sidelined following biceps surgery and coach Mal Meninga has preferred St George Illawarra playmaker Ben Hunt as a hooker in recent times.
Along with Cleary, Tom Trbojevic is expected to miss the series through shoulder surgery, with fellow fullback option Kalyn Ponga opting to remove himself from contention.
The Ponga saga could draw on, though, as league rules state players must make themselves available for representative honours if fit.
Cleary said “of course” he hoped Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards would be in consideration for the No.1 jersey, having made his Kangaroos debut on the wing in last year’s post-season series.
Edwards’ peers recently voted him fullback in the Rugby League Players Association dream team for 2024, but Dally M contender and incumbent fullback James Tedesco poses stiff competition.
“I don’t know what else he could do but obviously there’s some pretty good contenders in there as well. I guess we’ll see,” he said.
Edwards has been contending with a posterior cruciate ligament injury since the third match of the State of Origin series but could avoid surgery and line up for Australia.
“I don’t think (he’ll need surgery) but I honestly don’t know,” Cleary said.
Source Agencies
