Why Nathan Cleary might miss Las Vegas NRL opener as one-week window looms in Panthers call

Nathan Cleary successfully underwent Latarjet surgery on his troublesome shoulder on Monday but now faces a race against the clock to be ready in time for the NRL season opener. The recovery time for Cleary is around 12 to 16 weeks. And with the Las Vegas opener against Cronulla to be played in 16 weeks, it will be touch and go.

With injuries plaguing Cleary in recent years, it is unlikely the NRL or Penrith will push for him to play if he is at any increased risk of reinjuring his shoulder. But he is also seen as a pivotal promotional tool and will be rugby league's No.1 drawcard when the NRL takes Nevada by storm in 2025.

If he isn't fit in time it would raise questions about the halfback's decision to jet set to Europe to spend time with Mary Fowler after winning the 2024 NRL premiership, delaying his shoulder surgery. With his surgeon away, Cleary decided to head overseas to spend time with Fowler last month. They travelled to Switzerland and stayed together in England before Cleary returned to Australia last week, while Fowler stayed in the UK where she is contracted with Manchester City.

Despite that delay, Cleary and Panthers officials are confident the halfback will be right to go in round one given the fact he has undergone the same procedure before. The Panthers No.7 missed the first three rounds of the 2022 season after he had the same surgery in late 2021, however, Panthers officials say this time around it is nowhere near as serious.

Is it worth rushing Nathan Cleary back for Vegas?

Leading sports physio, Brien Seeney is also confident Cleary will be available for round one as long as there aren't any significant setbacks. However, he expects the halfback will be well below his best. "From a purely medical standpoint, unless he has any significant setbacks in his rehab, there’s no reason he won’t be fit and medically available for round one in Vegas so it will come down to whether Penrith pushes him to play," Seeney told The Daily Telegraph.

“If it was a regular round one clash, I don’t think they’d even consider rushing him but everyone wants to go to Vegas. The recovery range is usually around 12 to 16 weeks for Latarjet surgery. Vegas is a big spectacle but is it worth sending him over there underdone, coming off 16 weeks of rehab, not forgetting the travel aspect?

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"No player coming off any rehab process is 100 per cent going into their first week back. They haven’t had match fitness. It will come down to whether Penrith want to take that risk given it’s a long season ahead and they’re going for five premierships in a row. Do they leave him for round two and not make him do the round-trip to Vegas... There’s a saying in the medical sports world: ‘There’s a difference between return-to-play and return-to-performance’. Return-to-play can be 16 weeks but return-to-performance can be three to four weeks after that because it takes time to build match fitness."