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Will Cleary be in the Aussie squad?


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In the final year of my dad's life, housebound but as sharp as ever, he took to watching almost every NRL match.

He was 88 and had seen countless legendary players come and go. But, in his opinion, Nathan Cleary was one of the two best halfbacks he had ever seen play the game.

I only regret forgetting to ask him who the other player was.

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I think Mal will go with Queensland's axis of Hunt, Grant at hooker and DCE, Munster at 7 and 6. I expect both Cleary and Hynes to make the 24.

Munster is a certainty and combining him and Cleary would be a big change. I can't really see it happening, at least as a first-choice pairing.

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On 28/09/2022 at 20:15, ChristianB said:

In the final year of my dad's life, housebound but as sharp as ever, he took to watching almost every NRL match.

He was 88 and had seen countless legendary players come and go. But, in his opinion, Nathan Cleary was one of the two best halfbacks he had ever seen play the game.

I only regret forgetting to ask him who the other player was.

Who did he support in England?

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On 29/09/2022 at 00:07, StandOffHalf said:

I think Mal will go with Queensland's axis of Hunt, Grant at hooker and DCE, Munster at 7 and 6. I expect both Cleary and Hynes to make the 24.

Munster is a certainty and combining him and Cleary would be a big change. I can't really see it happening, at least as a first-choice pairing.

I’m puzzled why you think a Munster/Cleary partnership wouldn’t work.

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1 minute ago, Davo5 said:

I’m puzzled why you think a Munster/Cleary partnership wouldn’t work.

It could work. I just think Munster is such a dominant presence that the other half will be there to suit him. DCE is an established presence and works well with Munster.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Cleary partnering Hynes or Hunt in one of the pool games.

Cleary will have a lot to surmount to wrest the #7 away from DCE, but it could come to pass

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6 hours ago, EastLondonMike said:

Does Meninga alone pick the squad? Or do they still have selectors?

I can’t honestly recall.

Meninga and the two State of Origin coaches is what I heard.

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12 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

Who did he support in England?

He was a Warrington lad. Grew up friends with the likes of Jim Challinor, and remembered being at Odsal in *that* crowd.

But he wasn't partisan. Nor did he have rose coloured spectacles for the past when casting judgement on the young players of today. That's why he rated Cleary so highly. Luke Thompson was another he admired because of his fearlessness and work rate.

I'm so sad he won't get to see this World Cup and shall miss him yelling at the television.

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Meninga may be a queenslander but surely even he’s not that stupid and pig headed to pick DCE over Cleary. Of all the 7s in the NRL I wouldn’t even have DCE in the top 3 let alone 1st choice for Australia. Cleary, Moses and Hynes are all better than DCE IMO.

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1 hour ago, Number 16 said:

And remember, Cleary was a poor second best in this year's Origin. 

He was man of the match in one of the games.

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"If someone doesn't value evidence, what evidence are you going to provide to prove that they should value it? If someone doesn't value logic, what logical argument could you provide to show the importance of logic?" — Sam Harris

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1 minute ago, Number 16 said:

But not when it mattered.

Yep, people tend to remember the decider - and DCE was fantastic for the Maroons.

I think people advocating for Cleary to take the #7 have to realise that DCE is the link to past greats for state and country and that that position gives him a considerable head-start on anyone coming for his jumper.

Cleary is an awesome player in the NRL, but I don't see DCE losing his pre-eminence this year.

 

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33 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Yep, people tend to remember the decider - and DCE was fantastic for the Maroons.

I think people advocating for Cleary to take the #7 have to realise that DCE is the link to past greats for state and country and that that position gives him a considerable head-start on anyone coming for his jumper.

Cleary is an awesome player in the NRL, but I don't see DCE losing his pre-eminence this year.

 

It would be weird for what most people is the world's best player to not be picked for the WC

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I really hope they do pick DCE instead of Cleary. It would be really poor decision from Mal and weaken Australia.

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3 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

It would be weird for what most people is the world's best player to not be picked for the WC

Yeah would be mental if Cleary weren’t in their squad. He’s probably the best in the world, albeit not by miles.

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