Cleary suffers setback in hamstring recovery, Bellamy dismisses Souths speculation
Penrith superstar Nathan Cleary has had a minor setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury and is now racing the clock to prove his fitness to play the Wests Tigers next week.
The Panthers have the week off with the bye this weekend and were confident Cleary would make his return from a hamstring injury in time for next week’s game against the Tigers in Bathurst.
However, Cleary’s recovery hasn’t progressed at the rate the club would have hoped and may still be a couple of weeks away from returning to the paddock. The Panthers have said he hasn’t aggravated the injury.
The Panthers take on the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville the following round.
Cleary suffered the injury in the final minutes of Penrith’s round three win against the Broncos at BlueBet Stadium.
He also missed part of last year’s Origin series with a hamstring injury.
Bellamy brushes off Souths speculation
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has dismissed talk of him being a future candidate for the South Sydney coaching role.
Bellamy has yet to confirm if this will be his last season coaching the Storm and didn’t have any update on his future as his team prepares to host Canterbury at AAMI Park on Friday night. But Bellamy, who is into his 22nd season at the club, was adamant Souths had not reached out to him.
This masthead reported on Wednesday that Souths favour current Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett to return to the Rabbitohs next season should the club part ways with Jason Demetriou.
“I haven’t heard from anyone at Souths,” Bellamy said on Thursday.“I don’t think there is any decision made there.”
When asked if he would “never say never” to a head coaching role after Storm, Bellamy said he had no plans for when his time leading the club came to an end.
“I’m coaching here now, I’ve got a job to do. There is nothing else on the table and, if there was, I wouldn’t want to think about it any way,” Bellamy said.
“I expect the players and staff to focus on their jobs and that’s what I want to do as well.”
Bellamy opted against naming prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona in his 19-man squad for Friday’s game so the New Zealand international is set play another week with feeder club North Sydney in the NSW Cup.
Schuster free to leave
Manly has given Josh Schuster permission to negotiate with other clubs after a troubled start to the season.
Schuster was informed of the decision on Wednesday morning after a meeting between his agent and coach Anthony Seibold. The playmaker signed a deal worth $800,000 per season that would keep him on the northern beaches until the end of 2027, but is now free to explore his options.
Schuster has been languishing in reserve grade after enduring an injury-plagued off season.
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