BY AJ NASH
New South Wales Blues halfback Nathan Cleary may have played himself out of his number 7 jersey for the 2026 State of Origin series after a disastrous night for the playmaker and the Blues in front of a sell-out crowd at Accor Stadium in the series decider.
Cleary failed to produce in yet another big Origin showdown and has now lost three deciders.
The Blues were outplayed, outsmarted and outmuscled by a Maroons side who came back to win the series – winning Game II and Game III.
“At the end of the day I haven’t [owned Origin],” Cleary said after the loss where the Blues were red-hot favourites.
“I’m the harshest marker of myself so I don’t think what other people say is out of line because I think that of myself anyway.
“You feel like you let down the boys you played with and the state, that’s what hurts the most. I let down myself, my own high standards. It’s frustrating.”
There are now calls for Queensland’s Tom Dearden to be handed the Australian 7 jersey after a wonderful performance to steer the dominant Maroons home.
The Blues painfully dragged themselves through the 80 minutes and never looked like the threat they insisted they would be and missed Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses.
Young gun Isaiya Katoa is also hot on Cleary’s heels.
“I just want to play again but it’s not how it works.
“It’s much like a grand final.. it’s the biggest game of all and if you lose it you’ve got to wait a whole other year to get back there.
“It’s about growing from it, not trying to kick stones but growing and trying to find a place to get better.
“It’s a frustrating things about rugby league is you feel like you’ve learned lessons before but then there’s always new lessons to learn.
“No one rugby league game [is] ever the same so it’s constantly evolving. You’ve got to evolve you game and that’s where I’m at.”
Even the champion halfback Cleary conceded the Blues got worse as the series went on.
Returning coach Laurie Daley is also under fire.
Beetson Raudonikis Medal 2025 – State of Origin Game III
“It’s already happening in my brain at the moment, trying to work out what happened,” Cleary said.
“It’s frustrating, I didn’t adjust quick enough to their rushing defence and played into their hands a little bit.
“I’ll reflect on it but I could’ve controlled it a little bit more and not played into that aggressive defence as much which gave them confidence.
“At the end of the day, they did defend really well and put a lot of pressure on us.”
The 2026 Blues could and should look very different.
