REPORT: Jarome Luai reveals Nathan Cleary’s thoughts following the latest horrific NRL blow.

Panthers star Jarome Luai describes Nathan Cleary’s latest injury setback as “heartbreaking”. Cleary suffered a hamstring strain in Penrith’s 16-10 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night and is expected to miss at least the first State of Origin game in June. Cleary was forced to leave the field abruptly just before halftime.

Last year, a hamstring injury ruled Cleary out of Origin II and III and the latest injury is a cruel blow to Cleary weeks out from this year’s Origin series. But Luai says that missing out on playing for the Blues is just the tip of the iceberg, stating that he had been mentally struggling during his latest stint on the sidelines.

“It’s not really about Origin,” Luai said. “It’s about his well-being, about his health, at the end of the day.”

“I’m sort of heartbroken, in a way. His spirits are pretty down. He’s done it three times in a row now. It’ll be frustrating for him. He loves his footy and he wants to play with the boys. I feel for him. I know what he’s feeling but we’ve got good energy among this team and we’ll get around him for sure.”

Penrith’s medicos are unclear if the hamstring strain was in the same spot as the injury that sidelined him recently, with the club facing a nervous wait for scan results. Cleary has managed just five games this season after succumbing to a leg injury in round three.

Panthers turn to Jack Cole as Nathan Cleary’s replacement

The Panthers’ Cleary misfortune was only compounded by the injury to his replacement and previous stand-in Brad Schneider. Schneider picked up a serious leg injury in the NSW Cup on Friday, taken out while kicking the ball by Canterbury’s young back-rower Kitione Kautoga.

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