At just 19, Penrith playmaker Nathan Cleary has earned comparisons with Johnathan Thurston ahead of Friday night's knockout NRL semi-final at Suncorp Stadium - from his opponents.
Brisbane hooker Ben Hunt has made the bold call, claiming it won't be hard for the Panthers teenager to enter the rare air of future Immortal Thurston.
In his first full NRL season, Cleary has emerged as Penrith's danger man after stepping up in the absence of troubled skipper Matt Moylan to help guide them past Manly 22-10 in last week's elimination final.
Hunt said preparing to stop the Panthers halfback was like "going into a game against Thurston".
"He's so young but look at what he has done in the game already. It's not going to be hard for him to get to the heights of Thurston," he said.
"A lot of teams have tried to stop him this year but I think he has shown how good a player he is.
"It doesn't matter what you do, he will find a way around it and a weakness in your defence.
"It's like going into a game against Thurston - you really have to work together as a team defensively to limit him."
Hunt admitted it was a huge call to mention Cleary in the same breath of his Queensland State of Origin teammate Thurston.
But the halfback-turned-hooker said he had not seen anyone dominate the competition at such a young age in his nine years of NRL.
"You see all these young players come through and they have spurts of greatness and are very patchy, but his biggest thing is that he has been so consistent for the whole year," he said of Cleary, the NRL's leading point-scorer.
"I think he has shown this year he is a world-class player."
Cleary made his debut as an 18-year-old in round 13 last year.
Back in 2002, Thurston made his first-grade debut as a 19-year-old in round 13.
Hunt said he could see plenty more similarities between Cleary and Thurston.
"He's definitely a fierce competitor," he said.
"He just plays with such a cool head on his shoulders and never leaves anything out there."
And just like Thurston, Hunt said Brisbane had given up trying to stop Cleary but did hope to minimise the damage caused by the teenager.
"We just need to limit his opportunities," Hunt said.
Share
