Nathan Cleary needs to break his duck in deciders and lead the Blues to a series win with a dominant display on Wednesday to cement his Origin legacy and complete his career resume.
Cleary has done it all in rugby league scoring 63 tries and 1,627 points from 184 NRL games for the Panthers, including five grand finals and four premiership wins for Penrith.
The 27-year-old has scored two tries and 96 points in 16 Origins for the Blues and one try and 68 points in five Tests for the Kangaroos, including three Origin series wins and a World Cup triumph.
The Blues have won three of the six Origin series that Cleary has been involved in, but the superstar halfback has lost the two deciders that he has played in.
Braith Anasta questioned if Cleary needs to lead the Blues to a win with a dominant performance in a decider to cement his legacy at Origin level.
“Is this his final frontier?” Anasta asked on NRL 360.
“He has been successful in Origin, but he hasn’t won a decider.
“He’s done everything else in our game and is going to be a great of our game, but this would mean a lot to him to win this one on Wednesday.”
James Hooper believes Cleary is the undisputed best halfback in the game and arguably the best player, but he needs to win a decider at Origin level to match the feats of the great NSW No.7’s.
“Nathan’s the best halfback in the game no question, to win four premierships the way that he has,” Hooper said.
“He’s won a World Cup for Australia. He’s won three State of Origin series. He’s won a Brad Fittler Medal.
“But the true champions of NSW, Andrew Johns and Ricky Stuart, they did win series deciding games, so this probably is the final box for Cleary to tick.”
Anasta believes it is only a matter of time before Cleary breaks his duck and has backed him to do it next Wednesday night.
“I believe he will do it and this will be his best Origin ever,” Anasta said.
“He’s had a lot of success and I believe he will do a great job.”
Cleary has always been a team man, but in his first two Origin series wins under Brad Fittler as a young gun, James Maloney was the star of the show and the dominant playmaker, who led NSW to back-to-back series wins in 2018 and 2019.
And in 2019, Mitchell Pearce came into the team for the decider after Cleary was ruled out due to injury.
While he has always been a team man, Cleary didn’t shy away from what leading the Blues to victory in a decider would mean to him.
“Honestly it would mean the world to me,” Cleary said.
“It’s been something I have been longing for, for a while. I have been lucky enough to win series, but haven’t quite yet jumped the hurdle of winning a decider.
“I would love the opportunity to do it and love the challenge and I’m really looking forward to next Wednesday night.”