Nathan Cleary put in a mammoth performance tonight for Penrith Panthers but it wasn’t enough to beat the defiant Super League champions Wigan Warriors at a packed-out DW Stadium.
An attendance of 24,091 witnessed Matt Peet’s side become just the second team to win five World Club Challenge titles as they won 16-12.
It marked the second year in a row that Penrith fell short and the fourth time that they had lost in the game, a record of their own.
Despite scoring in the first half to put the Panthers ahead there wasn’t much that the world’s best player Nathan Cleary could do to secure his side the victory and he spoke to Sky Sports after the game to recall the pain of losing.
“It hurts. We just didn’t execute how we normally would so we can have no complaints,” Cleary explained.
He continued: “Wigan are a great side. They are physical and they keep coming when most teams would cave being on the back foot as much as they were.
“They saved a lot of tries and stayed in the game. They just didn’t go away and took their chances. That’s sometimes the way it goes.
“We won’t dwell on it too much though. We go straight back to Sydney tomorrow after a great week here and we really enjoyed playing in the atmosphere.”
Nathan Cleary on chances of him ever playing in Super League
There might have been a helping hand in one or two of the try or no try decisions for Wigan Warriors, something that prompted former NRL man Josh Mansour to call out “bias refereeing”, but defensively Matt Peet’s side were immense.
His father and head coach Ivan Cleary had also spoken with Sky Sports and revealed that defeats to both St Helens last year and Wigan tonight were evidence of Super League sides “closing the gap” on the NRL.
It’s long been known that the best players in the world play in the NRL because it’s the best competition, but given his father’s admission that Super League is catching up with the NRL, Nathan spoke on the potential of him playing in the competition.
He answered: “The English crowds are amazing. They sing all the way through the game and they crest an incredible atmosphere.
“I think it’s a bit too cold for me to ever play in Super League but you never know. My focus is now on the season ahead and backing up in the NRL.”
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