“Instant guilt”: Cleary speaks after ‘silly’ sin bin

Nathan Cleary has spoken on his sin binning during the Panthers’ qualifying final win against the Roosters, admitting it was a stupid play.

Towards the final moments of the first half between the two sides with scores locked at 12-all, the superstar halfback made contact with Hugo Savala’s leg after he had kicked the ball.

Following the incident, referee Gerard Sutton placed Cleary on report for making contact with the kicker and sent him to the sin bin over the action.

Despite the extra man for the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Tricolours were unable to capitalise, with the 28-year-old going on to kick a field goal to give Penrith the lead in the final ten minutes before Brian To’o put the result beyond doubt with a try.

Cleary now faces a nervous wait with the judiciary to determine if he should serve any punishment for his actions.

Speaking on SEN League after their 19-12 win over the Roosters about what was going through his mind in the immediate aftermath, the Panthers’ captain expressed guilt for his actions.

  “My mind was racing a million miles an hour,” Cleary said.

“I just felt instant guilt; (it was) just a stupid play.

“I thought I had a moment to change the game there with 50 seconds to go in the half, but the way the rules are at the moment, you just can't put yourself in that position. It was silly by me.

“But the boys, far out, they're just an amazing bunch. (They) dug deep in that 10 minutes, I thought ultimately that's what got us to win, so I owe them a few, that's for sure.”

Cleary also appears to be under an injury cloud following the match, having hurt his foot.

The Panthers will now face the Knights or Warriors in a home preliminary final while Sydney faces Cronulla in a semi-final.

SEN League will have live commentary of every NRL finals match across its radio network and on the SEN app.