The Penrith Panthers are reportedly “dumbfounded” over Nathan Cleary’s injury issues on NSW Origin duty, hot on the heels of an injury setback to Mitchell Moses that has left a sour taste in the mouth of the Parramatta Eels.

Cleary was a depleted figure in Origin II, playing with heavy strapping on his right thing and conceding goal-kicking duties to Zac Lomax. Channel 9 reported on Wednesday night that Cleary had been reduced to “kicking by visualisation” during the Blues’ final training session.

CODE Sports reported that there were whispers of Cleary being on a reduced training load during camp, and that Panthers officials were shocked when contacted during the game about an apparent injury.

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Moses suffered a calf injury in Blues Origin camp last week. That’ll keep the halfback sidelined for up to six weeks, a huge blow for an Eels team fighting to keep their season alive.

CODE Sports has reported that Moses has carried a calf complaint for a couple of weeks and had been managed at Eels training.

It’s understood that the Eels expected Moses’ training load would continue to be managed in Blues camp.

The team is said to be very frustrated with the situation given Moses picked up the injury just a couple of days after entering Blues camp for Game II.

Moses has already missed several games for Parramatta this season because of a foot injury.

MOMENT WHICH SHOULD WORRY BLUES FANS

The moment Brian To’o suffered a fresh hamstring injury has come to light after a Blues doctor revealed the star winger has been managed ahead of Game II in Perth tomorrow.

According to Blues doctor Nathan Gibbs, To’o picked up the injury for Penrith in their club game against the Tigers nine days ago.

To’o seemed to come down awkwardly before briefly grabbing at his hamstring after going up for a bomb.

The setback caused coach Laurie Daley to call up Bulldogs flyer Jacob Kiraz to fill in for To’o at Blues training last week.

To’o missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury but according to Gibbs, To’o is dealing with a new issue.

“Brian had a twinge in his hamstring insertion, which is up near his glute, just before halftime against the Tigers, but he finished the game, only to find it was a bit irritable afterwards,” Gibbs told the SMH.

“We’ve had to manage him all week, and the physios have treated him from a soft-tissue point of view all week.

“He trained on Saturday, did about 3km or 4km of running, and got to 80 per cent speed. He’ll do everything on Monday, and will be OK for Wednesday.”

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In good news for Blues and Penrith fans, it’s believed that To’o would have played for the Panthers if they had a game this past weekend/if the winger wasn’t apart of Blues camp.

To’o’s injury won’t be missed by a desperate Maroons side looking to save the series, with the winger set to be targeted with high kicks from Queensland halves Tom Dearden and Cam Munster.

To’o says he expects a barrage of bombs to come his way after a couple of hiccups in the opener.

“It’s a no-brainer for me. I knew they were always going to target me in game one, and all I can do is look forward to the challenge again. I love the pressure,” To’o said.

“It’s my job to catch those high balls, and I’ll be working on that.”

GRANT FIRES BACK AT GUS CLAIM

There is growing belief that star hooker Harry Grant will start on the bench for the Maroons in Game II.

The Maroons are winless when Grant starts (0-4), but have won six of eight when he comes off the pine.

NSW’s greatest ever coach Phil Gould is of the opinion the Maroons will make a late switch and push Grant to the bench to instead start 32-year-old Origin debutant Kurt Mann.

Veteran journalist Brent Read also expects coach Billy Slater to bring Grant off the bench.

“I don’t think Harry will start the game,” Read said on NRL360.

“We’ve shown it a couple of times, but the record when Harry comes off the bench, it’s a lot better than when Harry starts.”

While Mann is the likely man to start if Grant is benched, Read believes Cowboys star Reuben Cotter is a left-field selection to play hooker.

Cotter has been named at second row for Wednesday night’s must-win clash, but Read opined that club teammate Jeremiah Nanai will start on an edge, with Cotter a chance to start in Grant’s place.

“I think Nanai will start on the edge, move Cotter to hooker and that’s a much better starting line-up,” Read said.

“I think it’s an option.”

Grant faced the media earlier in the week to respond to the reports he may come off the pine.

“Performances are different and each game’s different,” Grant said.

“I think I can take a bit of experience from being on the bench and starting.

“They’ve all been different circumstances, different teams and different personnel. So I think I can’t really reflect too much on that, and (focus) more on what we have here now and making sure we make this count.”