The NRL hasn’t been happy with Penrith since their landmark grand final win – but it seems the bad blood goes both ways.
Wide World of Sports has learned that the Panthers are far from impressed that Nathan Cleary was stripped of the Clive Churchill medal just moments after receiving it – and nearly a month later, still hasn’t seen his prize for man of the match in the year’s biggest game.
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Embarrassed NRL officials quickly took the medal off Cleary because it was incorrectly engraved with the grand final being played at ANZ Stadium in Sydney – when in fact it was moved to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium due to COVID-19 fears weeks earlier.
“They promised that they would correct it and return it ASAP and begged Nathan not to say anything about it,” a highly-placed Panthers source said.
“We were okay with it but it’s been weeks and weeks and not so much as a word from them.
“Nathan went to see his grandmother yesterday for the first time in four months and naturally the first thing she wanted to see was the medal.
“She grew up in the era of Churchill so it meant a lot to her – she was naturally disappointed.
“Hundreds of other people have asked Nathan to see the medal and he just had to say ‘I don’t have it’.
“Perhaps the NRL should be fined for disrespecting Clive Churchill and his family by engraving the medal incorrectly and then making the winner wait (with no explanation) a month (and counting) to actually receive what he earned?”
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