Nathan Cleary will not feature for Australia in the Pacific Championships after the Penrith halfback was ruled out due to injury.
The Panthers star suffered a shoulder injury in the latter stages of the regular season but managed to get himself back out on the field and play for the club as they went on to claim their fourth consecutive premiership.
However, Cleary will now undergo surgery to fix his injured shoulder, ruling him out of the international tournament for the Kangaroos.
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Nathan Cleary ruled out of Australia’s Pacific Championships campaign
Cleary endured a frustrating season throughout the year as persistent injury issues kept him on the sidelines.
Two separate hamstring injuries saw him miss a large chunk of the first half of the campaign as well as the entire State of Origin series, before a shoulder injury against Melbourne in Round 24 left him fearing for his participation in the finals series.
"It was tough and it was annoying, but I had to work hard to get back," Cleary said after the Panthers had knocked off the Storm 14-6 in the decider.
"The only way I could do that was to work as hard as I could around the clock so I could be here.
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"I said to mum that I’ve got to play three games, and that’d be it.
"I knew if I worked hard that I could get back for those three games and be sweet. It worked out."
Cleary has not been named by Mal Meninga for the upcoming Pacific Championships with Mitch Moses and Ben Hunt named in the halfback position in his absence.
The Kangaroos will be desperate for revenge after falling to a heavy defeat to New Zealand in the inaugural decider last year.
They will get their tournament underway on home soil on Friday, October 18 when they take on Tonga at Suncorp Stadium.
