Nathan Cleary has opened up on New South Wales State of Origin defeat
The half-back starred for Penrith on Sunday, guiding his side to victory

The Penrith superstar was blasted by fans following his performance during the Origin decider, with the champion half-back failing to lead his side to victory on home soil against Queensland.

Cleary, 27, had been carrying an injury during the final two games of the series, defecting kicking duties to Zac Lomax.

The four-time premiership winner struggled to put his front foot first during the match, with Cleary unable to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

Fresh from the anguish of Wednesday night, he came off the bench for Penrith in their 32-10 victory against the Eels, to produce a sensational performance, notably scoring a try in the 71st minute of the match.

The result sees Penrith keep pace with the rest of the top eight in sixth place, but the demons of Wednesday night are still weighing heavy on the Panthers halfback.

New South Wales star Nathan Cleary has made a sad admission about his side's State of Origin defeat

Cleary turned out for Penrith on Sunday, scoring a try to lead the Panthers to victory

'I don’t know if you ever fully get over it,' Cleary explained after Sunday's match.

He added that a long conversation with his dad, Ivan, 'made me feel a lot better.'

'In the past, I’ve probably after a poor Origin performance, just tried to squash it and act like it didn’t happen.

'This time I saw it as an opportunity to analyse it a bit more and try and delve deeper into why I didn’t perform the way I wanted.'

While the defeat will be an agonising one, Cleary sees it as a way to grow as a player.

'I came to the conclusion that it (the Origin loss) is only going to help me grow as a person and a player. Playing today gave me a good opportunity to test my character too,' he explained.

'That’s an important thing. It’s about how you move on and how you present to the team. You can only kick stones and feel sorry for yourself for so long.'

Devastated and under fire after NSW's loss in the decider on Wednesday, Cleary came on from the bench for the first time at NRL level while three of his NSW teammates sat out to rest.

However, he admitted that he doesn't think he'll ever get over last Wednesday's loss

The four-time premiership-winning halfback triggered the shift down the left that put Luke Garner over for the try that gave the Panthers an unlikely half-time lead on Sunday in Parramatta.

Cleary forced a dropout that helped put Izack Tago over after the break, then sealed the result with a show-and-go to burst past Joash Papalii and Sean Russell for a try in the final 10 minutes.

Lindsay Smith had the Panthers in party mode when he crashed over in the final minutes, the fifth-straight win providing a stellar end to an Origin period that began disastrously for Penrith.

The Panthers' loss to struggling Newcastle in round 12 pushed them to last on the ladder and signalled the low point of their season.

But they haven't lost since and finish the Origin period on course for a top-eight finish, having knocked off the Warriors and Eels without some of their biggest stars.

Parramatta had a glimpse into their future, giving Papalii a chance at the starting five-eighth role he could land when Dylan Brown joins Newcastle next year.

The recently re-signed Papalii had some good moments, with Dylan Walker rolling forward on the back of a good run from the five-eighth and putting Kitione Kautoga over for first points.

Cleary (left with Zac Lomax) explained that he had used the defeat as an opportunity toanalyse his own game

A long Papalii kick forced a dropout ahead of the Eels' second try, scored as 100-gamer Bailey Simonsson reached around Tom Jenkins to find Zac Lomax with a flick pass.

Lomax had an otherwise tough game, dropping the ball ahead of what could've been the Eels' third try in the second half

Penrith rolled upfield after the Lomax blunder and had a 12-point lead when Paul Alamoti bolted past Josh Addo-Carr.

Rated the Eels' hooker of the future, mid-season signing Tallyn Da Silva came on for his club debut, making 32 tackles but largely struggling to assert himself in attack.

Papalii and Da Silva came up short of answers as the Eels chased points in the second half.

Brown, shifted to starting hooker, inexplicably remained on the bench as the side cried out for attacking composure and only came on with the game out of reach in the final six minutes.

Tago could face scrutiny from the match review committee for a hip-drop style tackle that injured Kautoga's left ankle but went undetected by referee Peter Gough.

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