Las Vegas – What's going on with the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League, is what fairy tales are made.
As a team, they are a dynasty that rivals what the Patriots did and what the Chiefs are doing in the NFL.
Penrith, who has been appointed to the last five NRL Grand Finals and won the last four times, plays Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the final match of the Ruzzy Rugby League Quadruple-Header on Saturday.
He does so while introducing Nathan Cleary, one of the best athletes in the sport.
Cleary, 27, is halfback (comparing rugby league with NFL quarterbacks), and the Panthers are coached by his father, Ivan.
“It's super special,” Ivan Cleary told him and his son's unique journey post on Friday. “I feel very blessed. One can coach his team, but two can have a son, which is like a dream come true.”
Ivan Cleary is a former NRL player and is the solid, reliable brain fullback of his time. However, his son is doing something else in another world on the pitch. The dominant thing.
Nathan Cleary's signature Brady-esque, game-over-game moment appeared in the 2023 Grand Final, the third of Penrith's four straight titles.
Penrith was down 24-8 to the Brisbane Broncos in the final quarter. Brady seized the game, shoved under his arm and tilted his side, as Nathan Cleary did in the famous Super Bowl comeback victory from a 28-3 deficit over Atlanta.
On the comeback, he supported two tries (like the NFL's TDS) and scored a game-winning try in the final minutes, securing a 26-24 victory.
Does that sound familiar?
There's a reason his nickname is “Iceman.”
It seems appropriate that Saturday's game will be played at the stadium that houses the Raiders, partly owned by Team Brady.
“Under pressure, Nathan is far better in the game,” New Zealand's Warriors rival coach Andrew Webster told the post. “He is standing up when the big moments simply rise from his pure domination.”
Nathan Cleary walks compared to Brady and Mahomes. He hears critics refer to him as perhaps the NRL's greatest halfback ever. But he is truly humbled by the story.
“To be honest, it looks like Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes, the team of Patriots and Chiefs, they're on a different planet than what we're experiencing,” Nathan told the Post on Friday, relaxing in the team room during the day's break. “It just feels like it's far away.”
However, Cleary became a student of what Brady and Mahomes did to make themselves great.
“I'm really intrigued by the American games and how they go about their work,” he said. “Whenever I can hear about Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady, the way they break the game, and I really enjoy it.”
Everyone who knows Cleary talks about his tireless preparation, along with his God-given skills.
“I don't say I compare myself to those people. I'm trying harder to do just like they do and what they do to prepare for the game,” Nathan said. “I feel like my advantage comes from preparation.
Ivan Cleary calls his son's comparisons something like Brady and Mahomes.
“Nathan works very hard. She works hard every year,” Ivan said. “He definitely cherishes all the little things I'm truly proud of.”
Nathan extracts the importance of little things from watching his father play, when he was asked about the day of his play when his father was called a “solid player.”
“A lot of people say he's a coach as a player,” he said. “He was like a guy with the brain as a player. He was a reliable player. Everyone trusted him, and he was a leader too.
“At the end of the day, that's everything I wanted to be. I wanted my teammates to trust me. If I gain their trust and respect, I'll cherish it for the rest of them.”
The trust that Ivan has in Nathan has won him the room to visit with Mary Fowler, the star of the Australian women's national soccer team and his girlfriend who plays for Women's Premier League Manchester City, skipping from Vegas to head to San Diego on Wednesday.
“He said, 'It's going to make me play better,'” Ivan said with a smile. “So I hope so. I said, 'Is that a promise?” ''
That would probably be a good bet.
