Nathan Cleary admits he struggled during one of the toughest week’s

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ON the surface he is as cool a player as there has been. Nathan Cleary’s taken everything in his stride from his first grade debut to his baptism of fire in the Origin furnace.

But the week that was... well that got the better of him.
In an incredible post-match press conference after the Panthers escaped with a golden point win over the Titans, Cleary laid it all out there.

“It was pretty crazy, especially the start of the week. You know it was just like a massive bombshell everything hit it,” he began.

“I think my wrongdoing at the start of the week was that I was on social media too much and I was reading too much rubbish.

“There was a lot of stuff out there at the time, and I thought there were a lot of lies out there as well and I didn’t want to delve into that too much and then halfway through the week I spoke to “Cirro” [caretaker coach Cameron Ciraldo] and I made the decision that I just couldn’t look at social media too much.

“I think me and mum were doing it too much, it was hurting mum she was reading stuff she didn’t like to see. We made the resolution to get off it and not read that stuff and just really focus on this game.”

Reading about himself and his father Ivan, who was heavily linked with the Panthers coaching role made vacant by Anthony Griffin’s sensational axing, took an enormous toll on the 20-year-old.

When asked if it was the toughest week of his young career, he nodded.

“It’s up there, yeah,” he admitted. “At the start of the week my head was just a whirlwind, I could barely sleep there were so many thoughts going through my head.”

He said he wouldn’t have been able to hold it together in the lead-up to the game, without the support of his teammates.

“I’m really lucky with the coaching staff we’ve got and the players at the club, as soon as I walked into training I felt like I was home... it is kind of my second home and I love those boys out there and it just made it a lot easier to focus on footy from there.”

Of course, the budding superstar’s week could’ve ended on even more sour note had the Titans won in golden point after he missed the simplest of conversions in the 79th minute.

Instead, the No.7 wanted the ball and nailed the match-winning field goal in extra time.