Former Dally M Medalist Todd Carney has expressed belief that star Nathan Cleary will lead the Penrith Panthers to a near-unprecedented fourth straight premiership in 2024.
Cleary set the 2023 grand final alight in the final 20 minutes with a performance for the ages to help the Panthers snatch victory from the jaws of defeat following an earlier hat-trick from Brisbane young gun Ezra Mam.
Cleary will again be the key for the Panthers in 2024, who head into the year without a number of players from the premiership campaign, with the most notable of those being State of Origin centre.
The club also stand to lose Jarome Luai at the end of 2024, who has already signed a mega deal with the Wests Tigers to ply his trade for the joint venture from the start of 2025.
But none of that will impact Cleary according to Carney, who told SEN Radio that the Panthers would win another competition because of him.
โSomeone asked me the other day and I said Penrith again, just purely because of him,โ Carney told SEN 1170 Sportsday.
โObviously like he's young but he's cool, just the way he was when they were leading up to the Grand Final last year, his presence and the things he was sayingโฆ after they won it last year he spoke about them getting better but that's acquired confidence.
โHe knows he's going to get better himself and he is getting better, the things they talk about, he's first on the field, last off, after (making) four Grand Finals you might think he'd throw his feet up.โ
Carney revealed Brisbane never let the grand final slip, but instead, Cleary snatched it away from them, comparing the 20-minute end to the game as "similar to Andrew Johns."
โPeople that don't watch footy or don't understand thought Brisbane let it slipโฆ no, Brisbane didn't let it slip, Cleary turned the game on its head,โ Carney added.
โThat 20-minute period was like Joey (Johns) in Origin in 2005, he owned the game, he took everything he needed to."
Cleary's Panthers outfit will start their season with a tough clash against the Melbourne Storm in a quest to become the first team in the NRL era to win four straight premierships, and enter rarified team as only the third club in history to win at least four competitions in a row.
