'Devastated': Grim locker room scenes sum up nervy Panthers after ...

The Panthers face a very nervous next couple of days after star halfback Nathan Cleary was forced off the field with an injured shoulder late in his side’s loss to the Storm.

Cleary grimaced in pain after being tackled and looked in obvious discomfort when getting to his feet, favouring his left shoulder.

“Shoulder injury for Nathan Cleary, hang on a second,” Andrew Voss said.

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“This is not good. He has that shoulder strapped, and with pain like that, something has happened. He’s in a lot of discomfort and he knows it” Cooper Cronk added in commentary.

The Penrith medical staff quickly called for a sub, and Cleary walked off striking a dejected figure, heading straight into the sheds.

“He’s only played ten games this year. It’s been hamstrings the issue and now he will come off. The crowd is stunned. Their main man is off and you’re left to wonder,” Voss said.

In 2021, Cleary had surgery on his right shoulder.

Fox League’s Jake Duke confirmed that the Penrith half injured his left shoulder.

“He’s quite devastated in the sheds,” Duke said.

“What I can say is it is a different shoulder to the shoulder he had surgery on (in 2021).

“We’ll have to wait for scans in the next couple of days.”

Coach Ivan Cleary provided an update on his son and star halfback in the post-match press conference, revealing it’s a “reoccurence” of an injury he suffered in the pre-season.

“He hurt it in the pre-season and had some trouble with it early in the year and throughout the hamstring injuries, he got on top of it (the shoulder) but it’s a reoccurence,” Cleary said.

“I’m concerned. It’s bad enough for him to come off.

“We’ll organise scans tomorrow and until we get those in, we’ll be in a better position to steer our way forward but it’s obviously a concern.

“He’s in better shape than he was when he did his hammy. I hope that’s good news but what do you do? It’s just one of those years.”

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Post-game, cameras showed the two Clearys in a sombre mood in the Penrith sheds discussing the injury.

Fox League’s Greg Alexander than opined that Cleary sustained a dislocated shoulder.

“(It looks like) the shoulder has come out and that he’s dislocated his shoulder,” Alexander said.

“Then there is a severity ranking on how bad that can be, if it’s come out and if it’s stayed out, what ligament damage there is to it. And don’t forget Nathan had the shoulder (injury) which he nursed through the 2021 season at the back end of it, he missed two months.

“There he is with Ivan and he would be devastated. Not knowing the seriousness of it but it certainly didn’t look good and there was very limited movement in that arm when he left the field, he was keeping it very still.

“So you would think he’s dislocated it, whether it’s popped back in itself, which it can do, or they had to put it back in which wouldn’t be a good situation.”

Michael Ennis added: “He didn’t look in too much discomfort leaving the field, I know he’s tough but sometimes you see them going into the sling and the trainers nurse them off the field but he did leave the field ok, so fingers crossed for Penrith.”

Cleary was playing in just his 10th game this season, having missed much of the season with a hamstring injury.

The two-time Clive Churchill Medal winner missed several games at the back end of the 2021 season with a shoulder injury but returned in time for the finals.

Duke was crossed to after the game and reported that the Panthers were tight-lipped on the injury.

“The mood here at BlueBet Stadium is sober because they know what they could potentially have seen here tonight,” he said.