The gift that keeps on giving...
NRL investigating after new videos of Nathan Cleary emerge, Phil Gould reacts
Nathan Cleary’s excuse for keeping his social distancing breach secret from the NRL has been ridiculed while Phil Gould teed off.
21 comments
news.com.auAPRIL 29, 20209:08PM
Penrith Panthers NRL star Nathan Cleary is pictured dancing in a video, now removed from Tik Tok, where he is clearly engaged in breaking coronavirus-related social distancing...
Nathan Cleary has come under fire after new footage surfaced of the Penrith halfback dancing with the same women who appeared in photos with the footy star as he was penalised for breaking social distancing restrictions.
The Daily Telegraph reports two videos were initially uploaded to social media platform TikTok but have now been deleted.
On Tuesday, Channel 9 released pictures showing Cleary appearing to break quarantine rules as he sat on a couch with at least five females.
Addressing the incriminating video clips, Cleary said he didn’t tell the NRL about their existence because the governing body didn’t ask.
“I messed up, I spoke to the integrity unit about what happened but they didn’t ask me about the TikTok videos, they just asked me about the pictures and I’ve already told them about that,” Cleary told
The Daily Telegraph.
“I wish I hadn’t done the video, just got carried away in the moment. I was stupid. I messed up.”
His latest excuse didn’t go down with everybody.
Bernie Coen
✔@berniecoen
#Nrl Clubs with players in hot water need to tell them to ZIP it NOW!! They're only burying themselves further in by opening their mouths. Nathan Cleary's comments are just bewildering. He didn't mention video because he wasn't asked!! Is he kidding
@PenrithPanthers @10NewsFirst
4
3:24 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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On Tuesday the Panthers playmaker apologised for his lapse in judgment, saying the women were his sister’s friends who had dropped in unexpectedly at his house on Anzac Day.
The NSW State of Origin No. 7 told Nine’s Danny Weidler they stayed for no longer than 10 minutes, and he had “no idea” a photo was taken.
However, the TikTok videos call that story into question because Cleary was an active participant in the clips and he would have known he was being filmed.
Cleary was busted ignoring social distancing rules.Source:Channel 9
Australia was quick to react to the development in Cleary’s case. Former Penrith supremo and ex-NSW coach Phil Gould said if Cleary was found to have lied about what happened at his house on Anzac Day, it would be “obscenely stupid”.
Gould earlier called on those NRL stars found guilty of breaking social distancing rules to be suspended for the entire season, which is scheduled to restart on May 28.
PhilGould15
✔@PhilGould15
If Nathan Cleary has lied about his involvement (a) That’s obscenely stupid (b) It’s worse than the original breach (c) He will have to live with consequence of his actions. NRL will definitely reconsider the penalty imposed, which I considered to be too light in first place.
621
1:14 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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Panthers great Mark Geyer also responded to the “disappointing” TikTok videos, calling the footage a “punch in the gut” for the rugby league community.
“The news on Latrell and Addo-Carr was enough, and then you see one of the Origin stars in a social media post today, which quite frankly is staggering,” Geyer told
7 News.
“I think just the self-entitlement of these young guys is what is most disappointing. We’ve all made sacrifices – birthday parties, weddings, you can’t even go to people’s funerals these days. Here we have three of the superstars of the game flaunting it front of the rest of society.
“They’ve got to be made an example of … at the moment, they’ve been hit on the back of the hand with a feather.
“We get another punch to the gut today. It’s so disappointing.”
Mark Gottlieb
✔@MarkGottlieb
·
20h
https://twitter.com/elizajbarr/status/1255303390457978880 …
Eliza Barr
✔@ElizaJBarr
And another killer exclusive, this time from @telegraph_sport: Nathan Cleary’s Tiktok videos contradict his story about the photos of him covered in girls which led to his social distancing fine from the NRL. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/teams/panthers/nathan-cleary-tiktok-video-contradicts-nrl-stars-story-over-isolation-breach/news-story/1b0a2a98c331d681274c7447b4a0163c …
Mark Gottlieb
✔@MarkGottlieb
I think it’s pretty clear that the ‘suspended’ part of Cleary’s fine should be ‘unsuspended’. What an idiot.
12:21 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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Jason Whittaker
✔@thetowncrier
AFL: Quietly working on logistics, not debating dates or scenarios in the media, players behaved, broadcasters patient.
NRL: WE'RE COMING BACK THEN OR ELSE, OR MAYBE THEN, BROADCASTERS REBEL, CEO SACKED, PLAYERS RUN RIOT, NEW DRAMA EVERY DAY, ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO US?
45
12:39 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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Craig Norenbergs
✔@CraigNorenbergs
Sheez. Why don’t athletes just fess up, admit they were wrong, and apologise? Why try and lie your way out of it? My mother was right in saying lies just make it worse...
#NRL #cleary https://twitter.com/foxnrl/status/1255319393132781568 …
Fox League
✔@FOXNRL
What happened to the Uber?
Nathan Cleary’s flimsy excuse exposed after TikTok video emerges
https://bit.ly/3bMpZov
47
12:58 PM - Apr 29, 2020 ·
Auckland, New Zealand
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Scotty Stevenson
✔@sumostevenson
Man the NRL just keeps on giving.
87
1:22 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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Adam Liaw
✔@adamliaw
·
17h
I suspect the NRL is going to spend millions trying to arrange for the season to get underway, only for it to be scrapped in the first few weeks as soon as a player who has secretly/not-so-secretly been breaking social distancing rules tests positive.
Adam Liaw
✔@adamliaw
Regardless of whether that happens or not, you'd have to say that a significant amount of goodwill has been eroded when the NRL is asking for special allowances for huge volumes of kits for daily testing of all players and staff, and their players can't even stay at home.
235
2:14 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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Shazza McKenzie
✔@Shazza_McKenzie
Last year NRL stars careers were getting ruined for doing drugs on snapchats. This year they’re ruined for dancing with women on TikTok during lockdown. Wild.
48
3:15 PM - Apr 29, 2020
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Police said today Cleary won’t be fined for breaching quarantine restrictions because he is the resident of the house where the photos and videos were taken, but the visiting women are facing possible $1000 fines for the alleged lockdown breach.
However, the NRL hit Cleary with a $10,000 fine (with $6000 suspended) and a suspended one-game ban after his photos went public. It’s yet to be seen whether he will receive added punishment for the videos.
Cleary’s infringement comes after Melbourne winger Josh Addo-Carr and Souths fullback Latrell Mitchell were busted breaking lockdown rules at Mitchell’s property near Taree on the NSW mid-north coast.
Photos and videos posted to social media showed the NRL stars riding motorbikes and shooting with a group of people, and they were both fined $50,000 (with $30,000 suspended).
Acting NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said their financial penalties were more severe than that imposed on Cleary because Mitchell and Addo-Carr planned their getaway, whereas the Panthers half said his situation arose unexpectedly.
NSW Police have also charged the duo with firearm offences, alleging Addo-Carr was not authorised to use a gun because he did not have the necessary permit.