At 24 Nathan Cleary is so far ahead of where his contemporaries were at the same age that he is now a realistic chance of going down as the greatest halfback to ever play the game.
Cleary turns 25 in November and is arguably playing better at this stage of his career than his rivals for the greatest NRL era halfback ever in Andrew Johns, Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk.
His stats also compare favourably with the great halfbacks who finished their careers before or just after the NRL era began in 1998, most notably Peter Sterling, Allan Langer and Ricky Stuart.
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Cleary has played 136 premiership games before his 25th birthday, which will move to 137 in the Grand Final, more than Sterling (133), Johns (124), Thurston (114), Cronk (113), Stuart (104) and Langer (75) before their 25th birthday.
The incumbent Blues halfback ranks equal second in terms of Origin played with Johns on 13, behind only Langer (15). Thurston (12), Stuart (8) and Sterling (4) round out the list, while Cronk didn’t debut for the Maroons until after his 25th birthday.
Cleary does trail in terms of Tests for the Kangaroos, as he is yet to debut, but that is in part due to the fact the pandemic has seen Australia not play a Test match for the last three seasons.
Johns and Thurston lead the Tests category with 11 each before turning 25. Langer (8), Sterling (6), Stuart (5) and Cronk (1) are the next best.
However, Cleary could rise up that leaderboard when he is expected to debut for Australia at the 2022 World Cup, which kicks off on October 15 and ends on November 19, five days after his 25th birthday.
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Sterling has the most finals appearances with 19, with Cleary coming in second with 15, which will become 16 on Sunday. Stuart and Cronk are next with 13 each, while Johns and Thurston had nine each and Langer just three.
Sterling also has the most grand final appearances with four, but on Sunday Cleary will come in at equal second with Cronk and Stuart with three each. Thurston had (2), Johns (1) and Langer (0) at the same age.
Sterling also won the most grand finals by 25 with three, but Cleary can go to equal second with Stuart (2) with a win over the Eels. Johns, Thurston and Cronk all had (1) premiership, while Langer had none.
However, when it comes to the modern day stats, which unfortunately were not kept for the older players, Cleary is streaks ahead of Cronk and Thurston.
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Cleary has 49 tries with one NRL game to go before his 25th birthday, nine more than Thurston (40), while Cronk had (27).
Cleary also leads the try assist category with (112), ahead of Thurston (101) and Cronk (89) and can still add to it on Sunday.
However, it is his goal kicking record that is most remarkable before he turns 25. Thurston is the fourth highest NRL point scorer in history with (2,222), but he had just (550) before his 25th birthday.
Cleary already has a whopping (1,197) points with a few more likely to come on Sunday, which is already well over halfway to Thurston’s career mark and he could play for another 10 years.
Cameron Smith’s point-scoring record of (2,786) is well within his reach if he can stay fit and healthy.
Braith Anasta asked Cronk on NRL 360 just how good Cleary is for his age and how good he can become.
“Over the last couple of days yourself and Joey Johns have said he is probably more advanced than both of you,” Anasta said on NRL 360.
Cronk believes Cleary’s skills coupled with his work ethic and temperament sets him apart from all other halfbacks in the history of the game at that stage of their careers.
“I can’t speak on behalf of Joey, but absolutely, he is streets ahead of me,” Cronk said.
“He has got the physical skills, the kicking game and passing game, but the maturity and composure, and the temperament in big moments is a huge thing.
“I think the fact that he studies the opposition within an inch of his life, he has got the skills and execution to back it up.
“But as I said, the ability to galvanise his team and come up with a big play, there is no real ceiling on what Nathan can do.
“But right now, he is one of the best players and trajectory wise he can just about achieve anything.”
Cronk was quick to point out that there are different styles of halfbacks, but believes Cleary is close to the most well rounded playmaker for his ability to hurt teams in so many different ways.
“There is this argument about manufactured and robotic against ad-lib, and the best-case scenario sits in the middle,” Cronk said.
“I think Nathan knows what he is going to do before he does it because he knows the cues from the opposition, he studies them and knows what they do.
“But he also has this combination of 10,000 hours with all these players around him, he has played a lifetime with Luai, Edwards in the system.
“The fact it all adds together is the reason why he can do it… he has got it in spades.”
Billy Slater asked Johns on Channel 9’s The Sunday Footy Show, how Cleary’s career development compares with his own at the same age.
“That second half against Souths Nathan Cleary just took control with his kicking game,” Slater said on The Sunday Footy Show.
“He set up a try for Spencer Leniu and then scored one himself.
“He is 24-years-old. Where do you see his game getting to and where were you at, at 24 years old?”
Johns has no doubt Cleary is well ahead of himself and every other halfback in history at the age of 25 because he lives and breathes rugby league and improving his game every day is a priority.
“I wasn’t near him,” Johns said.
“His control. His kicking game. His calm head. His defence. He is just the all around halfback now.
“He has got that real presence about him. At 24 he is well ahead of where I was.
“When comparing the modern era with myself and JT (Thurston) at that age, he is a fair bit ahead.
“He works so hard at his game and for him it is not a job. He does it because he absolutely loves it.
“We all know how much work he puts in with his kicking game and his goal kicking, but it is his general play.
“The sky is the limit. He is going to be at this level for another 10 years, fingers crossed there is no injuries.
“He has got a strong team there for a long time, so where he gets to, who knows.”
Slater also commended Cleary on his toughness to play through the pain of a shoulder injury en route to last year’s title.
“He showed his toughness there as well last year,” Slater said.
“He had a busted shoulder in Origin and I know exactly what injury he had and to come back and play that finals series the way he did and control that grand final with his kicking game last year.
“That just shows you he is not just a talent. He is a tough competitor as well.”
Blues coach Brad Fittler, who played with and against Johns believes the Immortal’s defence was what set him apart from other halfbacks and believes Cleary is similar in that department.
“Joey’s defence made you stand out in my eyes,” Fittler said.
“Amongst the other halfbacks you tackled like a back-rower. He does the same.
“When anyone runs at him he gets up off the line and puts his body on the line and he hits hard.
“Sides go there to fatigue him, but they don’t go there to run over him, so I think that is a huge plus.”
Cleary’s ability to dominate the Origin arena from a young age is another reason he is up there with the best halfbacks in the history of rugby league.
Johns marvelled at Cleary’s ability to bounce back from a loss in the 2022 Origin series opener and totally dominate Queensland in game two.
“No other halfback has had a game like that in Origin at his age,” Johns said on Channel 9 after Origin II.
“There was a lot of criticism after game one… only early in his rep career.
“I think it was harsh. But he stewed on it. He has been exceptional. Cleary put on a masterclass.”
Phil Gould believes Cleary’s showing in Origin II was up there with the best by a No.7 at that level.
“I think that second half tonight was one of the truly great halfback performances in Origin history,” Gould said at the time.
“It ranks up there with the best of all time in what he did in that period. In the first half he was a little frantic and side-to-side and trying to find something.
“A grubber kick to Burton got a spark in him and all of a sudden he started to tear Queensland apart.”
Michael Ennis said of Cleary’s game two heroics that it hadn’t been seen at that level since Johns led the Blues to a series victory from 1-0 down in 2005.
“A historical individual performance,” Ennis said on Fox League.
“I haven’t seen a more dominant individual performance from a New South Wales half since Andrew Johns in 2005… it was incredible from Nathan Cleary.”
The fact that Cleary is being compared to the greatest halfbacks in history at the tender age of 24 is evidence of how great he can be.
But by the time he hangs up the boots a decade or so from now, he may be the benchmark to which all other halfbacks in rugby league history are compared.
