Penrith’s ace halfback Nathan Cleary has downplayed the severity of his troublesome shoulder injury which he aggravated again in the side’s preliminary final win over the Cronulla Sharks.

Speaking on Channel Nine’s Today show, Cleary said he was ready to go for Sunday’s blockbuster grand final.

“I think it’s bigger than that… It’s about turning up for your teammates,” the mercurial halfback said.

“At the end of the day, the outside noise doesn’t come into my head too much.

“It’s just about putting my best foot forward on the day and trying to play my best to essentially get a win and share success with my teammates.”

The pivot admitted it had been a topsy-turvy season for himself and the Panthers who finished the regular season in second place.

“It has been a frustrating up and down year but at the end of the day we are lucky enough to be in our fifth grand final in a row.

“We are very grateful to be in this position.

“We’ve got one more game to go so I’m going to give it my all and I know all the boys are feeling that way too.”