The star at the centre of Penrith’s desire to bring coach Ivan Cleary back to the club has made winning a premiership at the Panthers his main focus.
Speaking before Anthony Griffin’s sacking this week, Nathan Cleary revealed how his major motivation is to claim a title alongside his long-time teammates.
“My No.1 priority is to bring a premiership back to Penrith at the moment,” the Penrith halfback told AAP after Sunday’s win over Canberra.
His comments come in the same week his dad – the West Tigers coach – has been heavily linked with what would be a sensational return to the foot of the mountains next year.
The Tigers, who have tied up Ivan until the end of 2020, have since emphatically stated that they would deny any request for the 47-year-old be released from his deal.
It was widely tipped that Nathan would join his dad at Concord when his contract expires after next season, however, the shock axing of Griffin has paved the way for it to happen at Penrith.
Nathan is one of nearly 10 Panthers first-grade players who were part of their under-20s side that won a title in 2015.
He said it was a dream to do so again at NRL level.
“I’d love to win a comp with this team, that’s contract or no contract,” the 20-year-old said.
“I honestly have not thought about my contract and I’ve said that from the start.
“I don’t want to think about it until the end of the season.
“I absolutely love playing with these boys. I’ve come through with a lot of them and that’s what makes it even more special.
“All of us shared the same dream of playing NRL and now that we’re playing NRL together we all share the same dream of winning the comp.
“That’s honestly what’s driving me at the moment and I really want to do that.”
Having recently passed the 50-game mark, as well as making two finals appearances and completing his first State of Origin series, Nathan said he is ready to deliver in the big games.
“I’ve taken a lot out of those finals experiences in the past two years and then obviously Origin, there’s no bigger stage than that,” he said.
“I can take a lot out of that and bring it back to this team.”