Latest news with #goalKicking
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NSW insider answers key question surrounding Nathan Cleary before Origin decider
NSW Blues performance manager Frank Ponissi has claimed Nathan Cleary won't be goal-kicking in the State of Origin decider even though he will be fine to kick in general play. There are a number oc NSW players carrying slight injury setbacks into the decider with Cleary, Brian To'o and Payne Haas battling niggles ahead of Wednesday's showdown. Haas and To'o have not taken part in any training session ahead of the captain's run on Tuesday with some concern around the duo. And Cleary has been struggling with a groin injury heading into Game 3, which limited his impact in Perth. Cleary injured his groin in the captain's run ahead of Game 2, which saw him handover the kicking duties to Zac Lomax. Both Cleary and Lomax have struggled with the tee in the series having only slotted four from nine attempts across both games. Cleary has the best goal-kicking record at club level of any of the NSW players in the team, but questions have remained over whether he will once again drop his goal-kicking duties in the decider due to his injury. And speaking to SEN Radio on Monday morning, Melbourne Storm and NSW Blues high performance manager Ponissi claimed Cleary won't be kicking for goal in the decider. "Yeah, probably unlikely he will be doing the kicking," Ponissi said of Cleary goal-kicking. "We are going to stick with Zac Lomax. But everything else with Nathan, he hasn't missed a beat at hasn't had to be managed in terms of his workload. General play kicking he is fine, it's just won't be kicking." NSW struggled in the first 40 minutes against Queensland in Game 2 with Cleary opting to avoid most of the general play kicking duties due to his injury. Although the halfback emerged in the second-half with the Blues trailing and took back control in a huge improvement for NSW. And it appears he will be kicking from the first whistle in the decider in a massive boost for his state. After the squad was selected last week, coach Laurie Daley backed the Eels winger Lomax to step-up in the decider having already suggested Cleary is set to skip the duties due to his injury. "I doubt whether (Cleary) will goal-kick," Daley said. "I think we'll go with Zac, and Latrell (Mitchell) or Steve Crichton will be on stand-by if something happens to Zac." The stats show Latrell Mitchell and Stephen Crichton are both arguably better options than Lomax, whose kicking percentage declined in his last few seasons with the Dragons. Although NSW fans should expect Lomax to line-up for goal with the Blues relying on the winger to step-up during Cleary's struggles. RELATED: Cameron Munster rocked by devastating news as captain leaves camp Family first as Panthers star withdraws from representative games Another player who has been a huge talking point heading into the decider is To'o. The Penrith Panthers winger was outstanding in Game 2 having scored two tries and ran for more than 200m. However, he injured his knee in the Panthers' win over the Bulldogs in round 17 and hasn't trained with the side yet. Jacob Kiraz was a surprise 18th man selection for NSW and it meant he couldn't line-up for his side against the Broncos on Friday night. And while Ponissi explained the importance of Kiraz's selection in the squad, he does expect To'o to play for the Blues. "It's going to be rare that a team in Origin, in the middle of the season, to have 20 fit 1 we handled it really well, and probably Game 2 we didn't. There were a few disruptions. And the way we selected our 20 was to make sure the injury concerns weren't going to disrupt the team," Ponissi said. "That's why we selected a winger in 18th man. Jacob Kiraz. He has been basically training for Brian To'o all week. If Brian was not going to make it, it would be a smooth transition. We still expect Brian to play. We expect everyone to train this afternoon and the 17 selected to play on Wednesday night." " NSW will be looking to win their second series in a row in front of their home crowd. Queensland coach Billy Slater has made a number of changes ahead of the decider and will be looking to avoid a second series defeat as coach.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Startling vision comes to light as NSW's massive mistake with Latrell laid bare
It's hard to blame Zac Lomax's poor goal-kicking for NSW's loss in State of Origin 2. But stats show he probably shouldn't have been given the important task of replacing Nathan Cleary in the first place. Vision has emerged of the moment Cleary refused to follow-through with a practice kick at the Blues' captain's run on Tuesday in Perth - the first sign something wasn't right. The NSW halfback felt a 'pop' in his groin during the session, and was later seen 'visualising' his goal-kicks rather than actually hitting them. Lomax was seen standing with Cleary and practicing his own kicks off the tee, and the Parramatta winger took over the job during Wednesday night's game. But stats from the 2025 NRL season have highlighted the fatal mistake NSW made in opting for Lomax ahead of Latrell Mitchell or Stephen Crichton. The moment NSW knew Nathan Cleary was busted 🤯 Details 👉 #SuperCoach #NRL — SuperCoach NRL (@SuperCoachNRL) June 19, 2025 Lomax has kicked 18 goals from 23 attempts this year at 78 per cent. It's a respectable figure, but it actually should have put him as the Blues' fourth-choice kicker. Cleary has kicked a staggering 40 out of 44 attempts (91 per cent), while Mitchell is 22 out of 26 (85 per cent) and Crichton is 36 out of 43 (84 per cent). The stats show Mitchell and Crichton were both arguably better options than Lomax, whose kicking percentage declined in his last few seasons with the Dragons. Who should kick goals for NSW in Game 3? 🤔The Blues have the luxury of having 3 of the top 5 most accurate goal-kickers in the NRL this season in their team, yet they are 3/10 with the boot this series 🥶Note that QLD has no kickers on this top 10 list 👀#NRL #Origin — Random Stats Guy (@randostatsguy) June 18, 2025 It's not known whether coach Laurie Daley would have had a say in who replaced Cleary as the Blues' goal-kicker, but it's more likely the players decided amongst themselves. It might be a case of Mitchell and Crichton not wanting the extra responsibility, but that would be hard to justify seeing as they both captain their teams at club level. If someone simply had a look at the stats and figured out who's been kicking them better, it might have resulted in Mitchell or Crichton getting the nod over Lomax. In all fairness to Lomax, he was kicking them sweetly in last year's Origin series. He nailed five out of seven in Game 2, and three out of three in the decider (including a number from the sideline). But the cold-hard facts are NSW scored more tries in the 26-24 loss on Wednesday night (five to Queensland's four), but Lomax only converted two of them. Lomax also missed a sitter in Game 1 after Cleary gave up the kicking duties following three misses of his own. It didn't cost the Blues in the series opener, but it certainly did on Wednesday night. While none of Lomax's three misses were easy, it reinforced the fact that goal-kicking is such an important factor. And Phil Gould highlighted that on Wednesday night. "In the end they've been beaten on goal-kicking," the former NSW coach said on Channel 9. "That's what it was. They scored four tries in the second half and kicked one conversion ... Queensland had the benefit of a penalty in the first half and that's been the difference." RELATED: Details emerge after Mam and Leniu spotted in post-match moment Door open for Reece Walsh as Slater urged to axe Queensland hero Whether or not Lomax retains the kicking duties for Game 3 remains to be seen. Cleary has declared he'll be right for the Panthers' next game in Round 17 against the Bulldogs, which would put him on track for the Origin decider. But the extent of his groin injury hasn't come to light, and there's every chance he'll need a stint on the sidelines.
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Nathan Cleary responds amid calls for Panthers star to lose key role in NSW team
Nathan Cleary has moved to shut down doubts over his goal-kicking ability and whether he will be handing the tee to Zac Lomax for State of Origin Game 2 after the captain's run session raised eyebrows. Cleary endured a tough night from the tee during Game 1 at Suncorp having missed three of his four conversions with the Blues' 18-6 win not reflecting the dominance of NSW throughout the 80 minutes. Cleary handed over the kicking duties to Lomax for the final conversion, which saw the Parramatta Eels star also miss from close range, in a sign he might not take on the kicking in Game 2. Viewers at Optus Stadium also witnessed Lomax and Cleary run through their kicking routines in preparation for the game on Wednesday. Although Cleary did not attempt as many as Lomax with the Panthers halfback taking a more reserved approach. This prompted speculation that Lomax would be the kicker. Fox Sports reporter Dane Lillingstone claimed it was odd watching Cleary in training not undergo his conversions with maximum effort. "I was out there for the captain's run. Lomax and Nathan Cleary doing plenty of kicking practice, but obviously we saw Cleary not actually hitting the ball. This brought about the debate of whether he was fully fit?" he said on SEN Radio. "He shut that down." Lillingstone claimed Cleary clarified that he was visualising his kicks. And the Panthers halfback claimed there were no concerns heading into Game 2, even though he will need to adapt to a slightly different view in the oval shaped Optus Stadium. "I've never found it too difficult to adapt to the oval fields because they have the signage set up as a rectangle around the field," Cleary said. "It would be a bit different if it was just the full circle. Training on the field the day before the game helps you get a feel of the ground and you get your bearings. Once you get used to it, it's not too different." RELATED: NRL fans react after Broncos sign forward from Melbourne Storm Fresh calls for NRL competition to be suspended as Panthers dudded Cleary will link-up with former Panthers teammate Jarome Luai for State of Origin Game 2 in the halves as they reignite their partnership. Luai's call-up means there are now nine members of Penrith's NRL premiership dynasty in the Blues' group, including 18th man Matt Burton. And Cleary said he is excited to throw on the Sky Blues jersey again with the No.6 in an attempt to seal the series victory for NSW. "(Jarome and I) understand each other's games pretty well. So in that regard, it was a pretty seamless transition with him coming back in," Cleary said ahead of Game 2 in Perth. "He was a part of the series last year too. He has those combinations already with the guys around him. Our combination doesn't change. It's probably more him coming back into the side with those other guys. And I thought he's done that really well." Cleary and Luai know each others games extremely well having won four premierships together. The duo started on their journey in the same team since they were 15 years old. They have a winning record of 107 from 134 games at all levels. Except they have lost three of their last four games together for NSW. The duo will be looking to turn this around in Perth.
