LAS VEGAS — What’s taking place with the Penrith Panthers of the National Rugby League at the minute, it’s the stuff fairytales are made of.
As a team, they’re a dynasty that rivals what the Patriots did and the Chiefs are in the process of doing in the NFL.
Penrith, which has been to the past five NRL Grand Finals and won the past four, plays the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the final match of Saturday’s splashy rugby league quadruple-header at Allegiant Stadium.
It’ll do so while showcasing Nathan Cleary, one of the best players in the sport, a player so dominant that he’s being called the Tom Brady and/or Patrick Mahomes of NRL.
The 27-year-old Cleary, a halfback (the rugby league comparison to an NFL quarterback), and the Panthers are coached by his father, Ivan.
“It’s super special,’’ Ivan Cleary told The Post on Friday of he and his son’s unique journey. “I feel so blessed — one, to be able to coach his team, but two, to have a son in it, as well. It’s like a dream come true.’’
Ivan Cleary is a former NRL player, a solid, dependable and cerebral fullback back in his day. But his son is doing otherworldly things on the pitch. Dominant things.
Nathan Cleary’s signature Brady-esque, take-over-the-biggest-game moment came in the 2023 Grand Final, the third of Penrith’s four straight titles.
Penrith was down 24-8 to the Brisbane Broncos in the final quarter when Nathan Cleary, like Brady did in that famous Super Bowl comeback win from a 28-3 deficit to Atlanta, seized the game, tucked it under his arms and willed his side to improbable victory.
In the comeback, he assisted on the two tries (like TDs in the NFL) and scored the game-winning try in the final minutes to secure a 26-24 victory.
Does that sound familiar?
There’s a reason why his nickname is “Iceman.’’
It seems fitting that Saturday’s match is being played in the stadium that houses the Raiders, the team Brady partially owns.
“Under pressure, Nathan is by far the best in the game,’’ rival coach Andrew Webster from the New Zealand Warriors told The Post. “He stands up when the big moments are on simply from his pure domination.’’
Nathan Cleary takes the comparisons to Brady and Mahomes in stride. He hears the pundits refer to him as perhaps the NRL’s all-time greatest halfback. But he’s genuinely humbled by that talk.
“To be honest, Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes and those Patriots and Chiefs teams, they just seem on a different planet to what we’re experiencing,’’ Nathan told The Post on Friday while relaxing in the team room during a break in the day. “That just feels so far away.’’
Cleary, though, has become a student of the things Brady and Mahomes have done to make themselves great.
“I’m really intrigued by the American game and how they go about their work,’’ he said. “Any time you get to listen to Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady speak, with the way they break down the game, I really enjoy that.’’
Everyone who knows Cleary speaks about his tireless preparation as a separator — along with his God-given skill.
“I wouldn’t say I compare myself to those guys; it’s more striving to be like those guys and what they do in preparation for games,’’ Nathan said. “I feel like my edge comes from preparation, which gives me confidence on game day to do what I need to do.’’
Ivan Cleary calls the comparisons of his son to the likes of Brady and Mahomes “nuts,’’ adding, “He would be very humbled by that.’’
“Nathan works extremely hard — harder every year,’’ Ivan said. “He definitely values all the little things, which I’m really proud of.’’
Nathan, who extracted the importance of the little things from watching his father play, called his father “a solid player’’ when asked about his playing days.
“A lot of people have said that he was a coach as a player,’’ he said. “He was kind of a cerebral guy as a player. He was a dependable player. Everyone trusted him, and he was a leader as well.
“At the end of the day, that’s all I wanted to be — I wanted my teammates to trust me, and if I would gain their trust and have their respect then the rest takes care of it as well.’’
The trust Ivan has in Nathan has earned him the leeway to skip out of Vegas on Wednesday to San Diego to visit with his girlfriend, Mary Fowler, a star on the Aussie women’s national soccer team and who plays for Manchester City in the Women’s Premier League.
“He said, ‘It will make me play better,’ ’’ Ivan said with a smile. “So, let’s hope so. I said, ‘Is that a promise?’ ’’
It’d probably be a good bet.
