Concerns grow for Nathan Cleary as Penrith superstar suffers brutal head injury in ‘extraordinary’ collision

Nathan Cleary was ruled out of Penrith’s 2024 Grand Final replay against the Melbourne Storm on Thursday night after he sustained a Category One concussion. 

The Panthers’ star man appeared to suffer a head injury after a bizarre collision with Storm’s Jarhome Hughes. 

Cleary, 27, had attempted to sweep up a grubber kick from Ryan Papenhuyzen inside his own 10m line but was beaten to the ball by team-mate Jack Cole. 

He appeared to jump in the air to avoid making contact with his fellow five-eighth, but flew backwards into last year’s Dally M medallist, Hughes. 

He flipped over the Storm stand-off’s shoulder appearing to land awkwardly on his side with his head hitting the floor.

‘They’ve come together acrobatically,’ Fox League commentator Michael Ennis said.

‘This is extraordinary, have a look at this. Two of the best off the ball have collided and they are so the worst for wear. What a moment,’ Andrew Voss said. 

‘Absolute carnage at AAMI Park,’ Ennis added. 

Cleary, worryingly lay prone on the ground for several moments with doctors rushing onto the field to deliver treatment. 

It was later revealed that he had been ruled out of the remainder of the match after fiailing a HIA. 

It means he’ll alsomiss Thursday’s game against the Rabbitohs due to the NRL’s stand-down rule. 

Storm ran into the changing rooms at half-time with a 14-10 lead over the reigning premiers.

Grant Anderson and Eliesa Katoa both crossed the try line inside 10 minutes with Nick Meaney converting both scores before kicking a penalty. Paul Alamoti scored a brace for the visitors but could only convert one of his tries. 

More to follow…