The remarkable actions of the Penrith Panthers halfback have come to light.

ARL boss Peter V’landys has lifted the lid on Nathan Cleary’s beautiful gesture for a young girl with cancer before her recent death. V’landys revealed to the Sydney Morning Herald this week that a tradesman working on his house informed him of Cleary’s many visits to Nicola Smith at Bear Cottage in Manly.

Nine-year-old Nicola had been battling brain cancer for the last 12 months but died recently. Cleary had visited the diehard Panthers fan on a number of occasions to help keep her spirits up and keep her occupied. The Panthers halfback wore a tribute to Nicola on his boots when Penrith played Manly back in round 24.

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“This is one of many acts of kind-heartedness I hear about Nathan,” V’landys said. “Not only is he a superstar player but a superstar human being.” The ARL Commission chairman even joked that Cleary’s actions might have changed the tradie’s allegiances. “He may even do the impossible and turn the Parra man to a Panther,” he added.

Cleary said he first met Nicola at a training session in 2022. He told the SMH that giving back to the community was the “best part about what we do”.

“I got to meet the family and I stayed in contact with them. I was lucky enough to see her again earlier this year, and at the time she was defying the odds,” Cleary said. “They thought her time was going to end sooner than it did, but she was a soldier and kept fighting on.”

A GoFundMe page set up to help Nicola’s family reads: “She has a huge love of the Panthers NRL team and especially Nathan Cleary. She also has a quirky sense of humour and a love of the very inappropriate Jeffy Puppet and entertains us endlessly with his one liners.

“This family needs your support as they prepare to lose their ‘Poppet’. Please help this family to ease some of the burden as they support each other preparing for the loss of such a gorgeous little girl, their Nicola.”