Cleary’s honest reveal on iconic GF try... and the other side to unsung Panthers hero Mitch Kenny

Nathan Cleary might be being modest, but the try which broke Brisbane hearts two years ago wasn’t all down to him, or so he reasons.

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As he stood on the short side, with the clock ticking down, his team on the brink of an epic 16-point comeback with just 17 minutes left of the 2023 grand final, he started counting numbers. There was no advantage: three Brisbane defenders against three Penrith attackers.

He got the ball, exploded off the left foot inside Adam Reynolds, and again prancing past Jordan Riki, arching his back and surging past a sleepy Reece Walsh, just for a microsecond, to score the try to win what might have been the greatest grand final of all. If not, it’s on the podium.

Show Cleary the vision and he asks you to stop the tape. He wants to point out what the casual rugby league fan might not instantly pick up: hooker Mitch Kenny’s role in the try. The art of being a good dummy-half is all in the eyes and the hips. Tell a lie with those, it’s half the battle.

As Kenny waits for Scott Sorensen to play the ball in the desperate final moments, he does just enough to make the markers, Riki and Walsh, think he’s about to throw the ball to the open side. Their hesitation when he comes back to the left helps Cleary – and the Panthers – win the premiership they never were going to.

“Mitch’s deception is something that is really underrated in the try,” Cleary says. “He’s just as much as to credit to that try than I am.”

For as long as anyone can remember inside the four walls at Penrith, Kenny is the guy you want to play with.

It’s written all over his battle-scarred face. His right ear is so cauliflowered, you would argue a plastic surgeon might even baulk at trying to fix it upon his retirement. His legs pump like pistons as he marches the Panthers’ defensive line forward at speeds which strangle opposition teams.

If there’s a better teammate during this remarkable dynasty, you would have to go a long way to find him.

Last week, he was voted only second behind Daniel Tupou as the NRL’s most underrated player in a Rugby League Players’ Association poll. The previous year, he was first.

“It’s not like I have the option to be a star,” Kenny shrugs. “I just don’t have the talent some of those guys do.

“So, I’ve got to bring value in the way I do. Being a good teammate is putting yourself second and always making every moment and every little decision about helping your mate. That’s not just something I do. We all do that.”

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The old adage never judge a book by its cover has never been truer than with Kenny: a deep thinker, avid reader who is a member of a book club, conservationist and a man of principle who hurried back from an interstate match this year to be one of 90,000 people to march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the pro-Palestine protest.

Sport and politics have always mixed, whether you like it or not.

From Bob Hawke skolling beers at the cricket to John Howard power walking through the streets in his Wallabies tracksuit to Scott Morrison awkwardly swinging a Sharks scarf above his head in the stands to Anthony Albanese calling on high-profile athletes (including Cleary) to support his failed The Voice referendum, Australian prime ministers wed themselves to it because it helps them.

In the United States, it’s not uncommon for endless commercials to be run on television where NBA and NFL megastars almost beg Americans to vote at upcoming elections given it’s not compulsory.

Now, athletes are finding their voice more than ever, armed with a captive social media audience.

Kenny and Panthers teammate Izack Tago had spoken about the war in Gaza and wanted to show their support. A few faces in the crowd recognised them. Later that day, an image spilled onto social media of Kenny, wearing a “Free Palestine” jumper, elevated above hordes of people braving the wet conditions.

“It was important to me,” Kenny says. “Anyone who is across the situation can see it’s an absolute tragedy.

“I’ve been super disappointed in our government’s role in it all, or the lack of role in it as a middle power (Albanese has now joined more than 150 countries in recognising Palestine as a sovereign state).

“It’s not much for guys like ‘Tags’ and I to go show up at a march like that. I know it meant a lot for people to see guys they watch on the tele care about things they care about. I felt like it was a really small gesture we could do to show solidarity and support for people affected by the situation.”

Has there been criticism of his stance?

“I’ve copped a bit of flak, but it doesn’t really bother me,” Kenny says. “I’ve also had a lot of people say some kind words and express it meant a lot to them. That’s why I was there.

“I never went there to be seen or photographed. In hindsight, I’m glad I was visible and people got to take something out of that.

“It’s a nerve racking thing to put yourself out there. I understand why people don’t want to engage in that. Small gestures like that, using our platform can make a lot of difference for people.

“That’s the sort of stuff I do want to use my platform for.”

Kenny’s voice, and social conscience, is spreading. He lives on the doorstep of the Blue Mountains and spends a lot of his downtime hiking through the countless trails, which he calls “magic”.

It’s his way of finding peace away from the battle between the sidelines, which this week will have him hurtling headfirst into Payne Haas and co as he tries to help the Panthers to a remarkable sixth straight grand final.

“Being environmentally conscious and conservation work is a growing interest of mine, for sure,” Kenny says. “It’s something I like to do away from footy.

“The longer I live here, the more I care about trying to look after the area. If there’s any way I can get involved with that, that’s something I’m interested in. It keeps me busy away from footy and brings a bit of meaning to my life.”

To this day, Kenny still doesn’t forget where he started his journey at the Panthers.

While studying at university, he worked at the leagues club. His job was to push the lawnmowers to keep the precinct’s grounds neat and tidy. The same blokes he used to work with are still doing the same jobs. He will stop and talk to them before or after training, not worried he’s already played in three winning grand finals and they’re baking or freezing in the harsh Penrith weather. He’s just one of them.

“This club and the relationships I have with the people here are some of the most important in my life,” he says.

“It’s a bit of a cliché and people say it’s made me a better player and a person, that gets thrown around a lot, but the more I think about it the more I find it to be true for myself. The men and women here are people I look up to all the time.”

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