Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has confirmed son and star halfback Nathan Cleary remembers the incident which led to him being concussed on Thursday evening during a Round 3 loss to the Melbourne Storm.
The incident, which came in the first half, saw Cleary leaving the ground in an attempt to clean up a bouncing ball before colliding heavily with Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes.
His symptoms were viewed as Category 1 immediately by the independent doctor monitoring the game from the NRL bunker, with Cleary making forceful and unprotected contact with the ground.
In what can only be viewed as a good sign, the coach said the halfback 'seems ok'.
"He seems OK, he remembers the incident, so that's a good thing," the Panthers' four-time premiership-winning coach said during his post-match press conference.
"Hopefully he feels the same way tomorrow.
"I thought the boys were very brave... 14-0 down and losing Nat is a pretty big thing mentally, against a great team, I thought we hung in well."
Regardless of the way Cleary, who missed much of last season with injury, is feeling, he will still be subjected to the NRL's mandatory 11-day stand-down period before having a chance of returning.
It means he will, at a minimum, miss next weekend's clash at Homebush with the South Sydney Rabbitohs before having a chance of returning for the Round 5 home game against the North Queensland Cowboys which will be played at Parramatta.
Blaize Talagi, who played in his absence after being named 18th man for last night's game, as well as Brad Schneider, would seem the most likely options to replace Cleary next weekend.
