‘There were whispers’: The shock Cleary reveal which could have changed NRL history

 

A Storm jersey on Nathan Cleary?

Remarkably, there were talks about it occurring almost a decade ago.

In advance of the tantalizing final between Cleary’s Panthers and the Storm on Sunday, the standout halfback has disclosed that Melbourne was scouting him while he was representing the Penrith under-20s.

Speaking candidly with News Corp, Cleary revealed that following Penrith’s firing of father Ivan at the conclusion of the 2015 campaign, rumblings regarding the Storm’s interest surfaced in 2015 and 2016.

Cleary remarked, “I remember there were whispers, but nothing concrete.”

“I wasn’t interested in going anywhere else; I was pretty committed to staying at Penrith.”

A provision in Nathan’s Panthers contract that would have allowed the then-teen star to sign with another team was activated when Penrith fired Ivan Cleary as coach.

Given that Cooper Cronk’s career was coming to an end, Frank Ponissi, head of football for Melbourne, clarified that the Storm were “certainly interested” in the young player.

Cleary, though, was eager to remain in Penrith and carry on playing with many of the celebrities. he’s since helped build a dynasty with and in 2016, he inked a contract extension to stay at the foot of the mountains.

“A little heads up, there is a clause in his contract,” his manager informed me over the phone. Although we were interested, it didn’t work out. Then, in Melbourne, I saw him play his first NRL match against us, Ponissi recalled to News Corp.

“To be fair, nobody anticipated he would become the player he is today; we just thought he would be a good player.”

As it happened, Ivan Cleary would return to Penrith in 2019 to reunite with his son following an indiscernible two-year stay with the Tigers, and two years later, the Panthers would win their first of three consecutive titles.