Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Clearly has revealed son Nathan fought off a nasty skin infection on his face and a trip to hospital, before leading his team to a 20-12 NRL win over South Sydney Rabbitohs.
On Wednesday, the Panthers halfback spent six hours in hospital on antibiotics with cellulitis and had to undergo scans to make sure the infection above his nose did not spread.
The infection was so bad, the 22-year-old could not open one of his eyes during the week.
But he overcame the infection and played a key role in the win, making a linebreak, kicking 573 metres and scored the game-clinching try for his side, as the Panthers moved atop the NRL standings.
However, his goal kicking was off target, as he only landed two of his five attempts at the post.
"He turned up and his face was pretty swollen," says Panthers coach Cleary. "That's when we worked out he had an infection.
"He then came in Wednesday, we worked out antibiotics weren't really working and he was worse, so he was in hospital most of yesterday on an IV drip and all that sort of stuff.
"He showed some better signs, but we had to wait until this morning and then halfway through today, [we thought] he was OK.
"Infections are a little bit tricky, especially around that area. He had scans to make sure it had not got into his sinus area, and once they were clear and the swelling went down a bit... he was right."
Cleary also hints at resting some players in the coming weeks, as many are carrying minor injuries.
"We've got a couple of guys playing busted. Josh [Mansour's injury] is a chronic knee - he could have easily played, but the last couple of weeks, his prep's been a bit [affected], with a nine-day turnaround I thought it was a good chance [to rest him].
"We've spoken about how we could possibly rotate. It's important to get some of these guys who aren't playing footy [some minutes]... it was good to see Brent Naden come in tonight."
The Panthers will remain on top of the standings if the Parramatta Eels and Newcastle Knights lose this weekend.
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