Kangaroos sweating over Cleary knee injury

Save articles for later

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

Nathan Cleary is a chance of being ruled out of the Pacific Championships because of a knee injury that will require scans this week.

Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga first learnt of a problem with his star playmaker when contacted by this masthead late on Monday.

“I rang our guys who then rang Penrith’s medical team, and they told us he’ll definitely go for scans to see what the extent of the injury is,” he said.

“At this stage he’s still celebrating, and rightly so. We’ve got ‘Cherry’ [Daly Cherry-Evans], so we can keep Nathan in the squad and have him available for the New Zealand game if needed. We’ll see what happens.”

Cleary injured his knee when tackled by Payne Haas early in the first half of Sunday’s grand final. Haas was later charged by the match review committee for the tackle, but escaped with a fine.

Stephen Crichton converted the first try while Cleary received treatment, and the halfback was able to finish the game. He was noticeably limping at Monday’s fan day.

Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary.Credit: Getty

It is understood Cleary has not suffered any major damage to the ligaments in his left knee, with the issue likely to be a problem with his meniscus or deep bone bruising.

Should Cleary be unavailable for the Samoa game on Saturday week, some at Penrith believe he will miss the Pacific Championships altogether.

Meanwhile, rugby league officials defended selecting Josh Addo-Carr in the Kangaroos squad, despite an investigation into his involvement in a brawl at the Koori Knockout.

Footage emerged of the Canterbury winger punching a man on Saturday on the Central Coast while representing the Sydney All Blacks against the tournament’s eventual winners, Walgett. Addo-Carr posted on social media, “play dirty, cop it”.

Meninga and ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys confirmed Addo-Carr’s availability for Tests against Samoa and New Zealand was still pending the outcome of inquiries by police and the NRL’s integrity unit.

The integrity unit is expected to inform the commission of its findings by Wednesday.

Valentine Holmes was also named in the 21-man squad on Tuesday, even though he will miss the first game as part of a one-match suspension for tarnishing the game’s image after posting a photo of himself with a white bag on social media.

As for selecting Addo-Carr despite the footage, V’landys told this masthead: “Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and because we don’t know the circumstances, or the facts, he was considered.

Josh Addo-Carr was involved in an on-field brawl on Saturday.Credit: Getty

“What if the facts were incorrect and he hadn’t done anything wrong, then he wasn’t considered? It would be a tragedy.”

Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona was stood down for three Tests for New Zealand after being involved in a brawl in Bali.

“But he [Addo-Carr] hasn’t been charged at this stage, and the investigation is at its infancy,” V’landys said, when asked to compare the cases.

“If he’s charged, it’s a different story, and we have contingency plans in place if that happens. If he is innocent and misses out because of it, it’s a greater injustice.”

Valentine Holmes is banned for Australia’s first game of the Pacific Championships.Credit: Getty

Meninga said of Addo-Carr: “He’s innocent until proven guilty. We have to go through that process. I’ve spoken to him, he’s in good spirits, and he believes he’s done nothing wrong.”

The Kangaroos will be led by James Tedesco, with fullback rivals Reece Walsh and Kalyn Ponga both overlooked completely.

Cleary may miss out, but premiers Penrith will still have Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin in green and gold. Brisbane will be represented by Selwyn Cobbo, Pat Carrigan, Payne Haas, Selwyn Cobbo and Kotoni Staggs. Staggs told Meninga he was keen to represent Australia instead of Tonga.

Latrell Mitchell needs surgery on his finger.Credit: Getty

The Kangaroos will spend next week at Airlie Beach in camp and play their first game of the Pacific Championships against Samoa on Saturday week in Townsville, followed by New Zealand in Melbourne on October 28. The final will be played in Hamilton on November 4.

In other Test news, Roosters outside back Joseph Suaalii will not feature for Samoa because of “concussion protocols”.

Suaalii missed the semi-final against Melbourne because of concussion, and suffered another head knock at training midway through the year.

New coach Ben Gardiner, who was a part of Penrith’s premiership success, said of Suaalii’s omission: “We had a conversation with the Roosters a few weeks ago, and it’s concussion protocols. I don’t want to go into it because I’m not privy to that medical information, but through some of the concussions at the end of the year, he was unavailable for the Test matches.”

Full Kangaroos team: Josh Addo-Carr, Pat Carrigan, Daly Cherry-Evans, Nathan Cleary, Selwyn Cobbo, Lindsay Collins, Reuben Cotter, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, Tom Flegler, Harry Grant, Payne Haas, Valentine Holmes, Ben Hunt, Liam Martin, Cameron Munster, Cameron Murray, Kotoni Staggs, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, James Tedesco (c), Jake Trbojevic, Isaah Yeo.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Most Viewed in Sport

From our partners

Source: Read Full Article