Cleary heading back to where it all began in blue

Westpac NSW Blues halfback Nathan Cleary may be approaching his 19th Origin appearance, but it’s the MCG that holds a special place in his career so far.

Next Wednesday night Cleary enters Australia’s biggest sporting venue for just the second time in his career, the first being his NSW debut in Game One of the 2018 series after 46 NRL games.

That side went on to win the series 2-1 after taking a 2-0 lead in what was the first success of his top-flight career. 

Now eight years on, with three series wins, four premierships, a World Cup and an Ashes trophy to his name, Cleary hopes to use that big match experience to help the younger faces in the squad put their best foot forward in attempting to clinch the series in Melbourne.

“It’s about telling them to just enjoy the experience,” Cleary said.

“It’s not every day you get to play at a stadium like the MCG, it’d be one of the greatest stadiums in the world.

“Just try to soak that all in, I think it’s easy to get caught up in the nerves of it and overthink it.

“But enjoy the opportunity we have.”

The halfback had a lot to do with his side being in this position after a match-turning display in the final quarter of Game One, helping steer the Blues to a record Origin comeback and earning the Player of the Match medal in the process - his third in the Origin arena.

And despite the one-man advantage, the right mindset is still required to nail the moments when they present themselves.

“It’s a bit of a juggling act because you don’t want to be overthinking too much and you want to let instincts take over,” Cleary explained.

“As a halfback you’ve got to keep your wits about you and work out how you’re going to attack it."

He did just that in an Origin clash so often decided by inches, whether it was a perfectly placed 40/20 that may not have come off if slightly misdirected, or a pinpoint bomb for fullback James Tedesco to produce the match-winning try - the sole remaining teammate from eight years ago when Cleary first pulled on the blue jersey.

“It’s about just trying to stay calm too. I think particularly once Ponga was sent off everyone was quite frantic and you could feel the crowd was really getting into as well,” Cleary added.

“We wanted to make sure we were getting to where we needed to and playing well, but for it to come down to basically the last set of the game was pretty wild.”