Nathan Cleary's Man of the Match display in New South Wales' Game 2 win over Queensland was the most in control performance of his career, father and Panthers coach Ivan Cleary believes.
The knives were out for Cleary in the build-up to Wednesday's battle following his quiet night in the series opener, with father and Panthers coach Ivan Cleary declaring it was "easily" the most pressure Nathan had been under as a player.
But the maligned number seven tore the Maroons the shreds with his inch-perfect kicking game and crafty ball-playing, and the plaudits have been flowing in for what was Cleary's breakout display on the Origin stage.
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Speaking on SEN, Matthew Johns described Cleary's effort as the "best performance" of his career, going as far to say it was the most dominant display he's witnessed from a NSW Blues playmaker.
Cleary senior echoed those sentiments, declaring Nathan played with a level of confidence and control he hasn't seen from him before.
“I’ve obviously watched him a lot over the years, his whole first-grade career and now I coach him,” the Panthers coach said.
“He looked as in control last night as any game that I’ve ever watched him.
“To do it at that level and under those circumstances, [I’m] very proud of him.
“[We’re] looking forward now for him to take that confidence up to Suncorp [for Game 3], which is going to be something else again next week.”
Cleary said it was more of a challenge to swallow the pressure on Nathan acting as just his parent and not his coach, particularly with the way his position at Origin level is scrutinised.
While he's imposed himself on the game at NRL level, questions have been raised about whether Cleary possessed the maturity yet to excel at the representative level.
It's why some were calling for the Panthers playmaker to be rested for the series opener in the wake of Penrith's agonising grand final loss to Melbourne, amid claims Cleary appeared tired after a busy NRL campaign.
Cleary senior admitted he had his own concerns for Nathan going into the Game I down in Adelaide
"I spoke to him leading up to Game 1 and I thought it was a difficult lead up for him for that game, forget about what happened or didn't happen in the grand final, it was a few rough days after that on the drink.. that's not normally how he'd prepare for a game," he said.
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But after Wednesday's turnaround performance, Cleary heaped praise on the way Brad Fittler has helped nurture Nathan amidst the Origin spotlight.
“It was the most he has ever been under pressure easily and I think Freddy has got to get a big wrap," he added.
"Three years ago when Freddy took the reins the biggest thing he had to do was change the culture of the team.
“He brought in all those new guys and Nathan was one of those where it was clear he wasn’t going to be the finished product for a long time and yet Freddy's been absolutely rock solid with him.
“It's good for Freddy I think as well to see the way Nathan played that the plan he put in place because he put Nathan in there not so much because he was going to be perfect as an Origin playmaker straight away.
“But he just did stuff that fit in with the culture and he makes his tackles and competes and all that kind of stuff and now you are starting to see the fruits of that loyalty.”
