The Baseline: Cleary just played himself out of Immortality

He may go on to achieve more in his rugby league career, but Nathan Cleary should never truly be in any future Immortal conversations again after his insipid performances in this year’s failed State of Origin series.

Many have seen four-time NRL champion Cleary as an Immortal-in-waiting after what he’s achieved with the Panthers, but on Wednesday night, he comprehensively proved he doesn’t deserve that honour.

Win $500 Cash In Our Free Giveaway Here

When push came to shove at Homebush in the 2025 series decider, Queensland had heroes step up: Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow loomed large as he backed up every play, Origin rookies Gehamat Shibasaki and Robert Toia were fearless in the centres, and the Maroons halves Cameron Munster and Tom Dearden were perfect through 80 gruelling minutes.

And where was Cleary? All but absent — except when he was taking set-killing tackles on play four.

Now, the Panthers’ halfback dished that up as he ticked up a huge milestone, too. When he ran out in State of Origin III, he passed Andrew Johns and Mitchell Pearce to become the state’s most-capped seven.

Through those 17 appearances in sky blue, the 27-year-old carries a 47% win rate. In the last seven, he’s claimed victory just twice. When it comes to series triumphs he’s won in 2018 and 2021, but should any tight State of Origin battle go to a decider, there’s instant worry: Cleary has never won a decider in the three times he’s been played them.

“He’s never proved himself in Origin” is a rugby league cliche, but it rings true here.

Rugby league Immortality is forged in the Origin arena.

Just take a look at some of the plays he coughed up on Wednesday.

In the first half, Cleary grabbed the ball and ran late on in several sets before getting dragged down. While the Blues halfback was caught playing the ball, Jarome Luai had to pick up the slack, and every attack funnelled left off that setup.

The kicks weren’t much better either. While Munster and Dearden cracked more than 1,000 kick metres between them under lights at Accor Stadium, Cleary managed 448. Luai chipped in just 130 more for New South Wales.

Then, when things were falling apart, Cleary was nowhere to be seen marshalling his troops. As the minutes drained away, the Blues attack and defence alike became more and more disjointed. Hail Mary plays resulted in dropped balls. Sets were insipid and uninspiring. And Cleary never even looked interested in rallying his battered Blues troops for a comeback.

Perhaps most damning, this Sporting Base writer was down at the pub for the decider and there were several times the packed out front bar groaned when the ball ended up in Cleary’s hands for the fourth or fifth tackle.

Maybe the pub test isn’t the be-all, end-all, but if that was Joey in the 2000s, people would sit up.

So too Glenn Lazarus in the ’90s, or saluting Brad Fittler in 2004. Stars fans knew would conjure something from nothing.

Cleary has certainly done it in clubland, not least in that spectacular 2023 grand final comeback against the Broncos, but more and more it seems like he needs the Penrith system around him to truly shine. When it comes to rugby league’s grandest arena, Cleary disappoints time and again, looking lost and shot for options barely minutes into games.

And perhaps it is worth mentioning this isn’t a knock on Cleary as a player. In black (or pink), he’s incredible, but that’s with his prebuilt Penrith system purring around him. Laurie Daley clearly tried to transpose that into Origin, and it failed.

When Origin rolls around again in 2026, I’d be picking Mitchell Moses and Jarome Luai as seven and six. Cleary has had more than enough chances and still hasn’t really taken Origin by the scruff, which looks even worse when (now injured) Moses turned in some series-winning magic just last year with one of the grandest Blues victories at Suncorp Stadium in game three.

If that’s not the most damning indictment on Cleary’s Immortality bid, nothing else is.

With Penrith built for him, Cleary does still succeed at the NRL level.

And now the question lingers: Will he ever “own” Origin? Certainily not yet, says the frustrated man.

“At the end of the day, I haven’t,” a shattered Cleary said after Queensland’s 24-12 victory on Wednesday night.

“I’m the harshest marker on myself anyway, so I don’t think what other people say is out of line because I probably think that myself anyway. You just feel like you’ve let down the boys you play with and your state. That’s what hurts the most.

“Terrible. It’s frustrating… I’ve been here before, and it’s happened again.”

Win $500 Cash In Our Free Giveaway Here

Too right really, Nath — if Immortality was an honour in the Panthers star’s future, it never would have happened again.