Laurie Daley believes Nathan Cleary is unfairly judged for his State of Origin record, claiming NSW’s fortunes don’t rest solely on fortunes of the No.7, who has a 47 per cent winning record in the interstate series.
Cleary will play his 18th Origin game on Wednesday night at Sydney Accor Stadium, with the pressure turning up on the halfback on Tuesday after halves partner Mitchell Moses was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Cleary, the Blues most-capped No.7 of all time, has been peerless at NRL level in crunch games over the last six years of Penrith’s dominance.
But there is a widely held view the Australian international has failed to translate his red-hot club form into Origin, with many critics claiming he has yet to “own” a series.
“That’s the storyline around Origin and Nathan, but I don’t see it like that,” said Daley.
“I think that for us to have success it has to be a team performance.
“If we’re relying on Nathan Cleary to go out and get man of the match, then we’re kidding ourselves.”
