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Parker: Why Nathan Cleary should switch to union
SEN • July 9th, 2025 11:16 am
The one rumour about Nathan Cleary that will not go away is that the superstar is considering a future in rugby union.
The rumour mill has run wild with the potential code switch through much of the season and despite Cleary’s own attempts to pour cold water on them, Corey Parker remains convinced it’s a viable option.
With two years to play on his Panthers contract, Parker believes money could be the big temptation for Cleary who has nothing left to prove as a league player.
“The short answer is I can see him going to play another code,” Parker said on SENQ Breakfast.
“There's two forms of currency in sport. One is premierships and one is money. He has both.
“Cleary has copped so much criticism around ‘never owning the Origin arena’ and ‘he’s not as good as these people’.
“He’s 27, he’s got four premierships, he has two Clive Churchill medals, two Dally M halfbacks, a World Cup, this is his 17th game for NSW which puts him No 1 for NSW as a halfback.
“He’s ticked every box.”
With rugby union struggling in Australia in recent years, Cleary could be just the man to reignite the sport’s popularity.
“If he wanted to cross-code I could see him excelling,” Parker continued.
“Fly-half for Australia at a World Cup. Yes, I can see him doing it.
“All eyeballs would be on him and people would watch more rugby off the back of it.”
Cleary is set to become NSW’s most capped halfback in Origin game 3, surpassing Mitchell Pearce and Immortal Andrew Johns.
But he has never won a Game III, and as New South Wales enter a historic decider, his Origin legacy remains a question mark (to some) on an otherwise glittering resume.
Former NSW half Matty Johns believes it is unfair to say Cleary hasn’t dominated in Origin, despite his mixed record at that level.
“It's funny because he's played in fits and starts and he's been injured and then back,” Johns told SEN 1170 The Run Home.
“I do think it's a little unfair.
“I think the fact that he's just been so dominant at club level, people are waiting for that to be the natural transition to State of Origin and mainly because of injury, he hasn’t been able to do that yet.”
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BLUES RADIO: Tune in from 9pm (NZ Time) on SEN 1170AM to listen to Blues Radio hosted by Joel Caine and featuring Brett Kimmorley
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