'It just sounded different': Andrew Johns quizzes Nathan Cleary on left-field theory for goal-kicking shocker
Nathan Cleary has explained the simple reason behind one of his goalkicking gaffes after Andrew Johns posed a left-field theory about the Steeden balls being used in Origin I.
During the second half, Johns noted the difference in kicking, suggesting the balls were different.
Coincidentally, Cleary had his worst night ever with the boot, missing three conversions. All three were from difficult areas of the ground but his third attempt from the sideline was a shocker, falling short and missing well to the left.
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"It's another ordinary kick by Nathan Cleary," caller Mat Thompson said on Nine.
Nathan Cleary. Getty
In the second half when Dylan Edwards scored, Cleary was released of the kicking duties with Zac Lomax stepping up to the tee.
"Sometimes the kicker after missing a few, it's not their night, they're not quite right with their contact and maybe approach to the ball," Cameron Smith said.
Lomax then missed his effort, possibly the easiest of the night. Val Holmes also had a shocker from the sideline for the Maroons.
Zac Lomax missed a kick from this spot. Nine
Speaking post-match, Johns was determined to find out what was going on.
"I'm going down to the sheds, I'm going to ask Nathan about it in the fair dinkum department whether the balls were a little bit different," he said.
"Even the sound of the ball when they were kicking, it just sounded different. Mitchell Moses kicked one in-goal, he never does that."
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Johns added the balls in Origin are "a little bit fatter" and more graphics can change how they're shaped.
"Zac Lomax, he missed it by a mile and that was a sitter," he said.
When Johns went down to the sheds, he simply asked Cleary if the balls were different or he just "f'ed up" the final attempt.
It was the latter.
"The last one I kicked was definitely just an f up," Cleary said.
"I think I'll reflect on that and I think there was a bit going in my brain, I had so many things I wanted to do. I've thought about being back in this arena so often and so many things I wanted to do and sometimes I need to calm down a bit and go through the processes."
When contacted by Wide World of Sports, the NRL confirmed the balls used at Origin level are the same specification as those in the NRL.
Nathan Cleary talks to Andrew Johns post-match. Nine
