Nathan Cleary is yet to dominate Origin. A series victory could change his legacy, and his future

Not just for NSW and their coach Laurie Daley, but also the bloke in the No.7 jersey who has climbed every mountain in rugby league ... except one.

Cleary, who missed the media session on Monday at the NSW Centre of Excellence because he and his teammates were flying back from Brisbane after playing the last game of Magic Round, comes into Origin with his future in the spotlight.

Nothing is off the table and it makes you wonder whether this year’s Origin series will have a bearing on his thinking.

Should the Blues win Origin and Cleary play a starring role, what is there left to achieve aside from Immortality.

Everything else will have been ticked off. Cleary has four premierships to his name. He has won a World Cup and an Ashes. He will likely win a Dally M Medal this year and that leaves just Origin to conquer.

If there is a cloud that hangs over his stellar career it is rugby league’s interstate cumulus nimbus. Cleary’s record in the series has been adequate, but it doesn’t scream dominance.

He has been part of two winning series but won only 47 per cent of his games in a sky blue jersey.

By contrast, Cam Smith won 61 per cent of his games, won man of the match on seven occasions and took home four Wally Lewis Medals as player of the series.

The bloke the medal was named after — Immortal Wally Lewis — went one better in winning eight man of the match awards and snaffled an identical percentage of games. Queensland coach Billy Slater won two medals as well.

Cleary is yet to secure Origin’s most prestigious gong. He enters this year’s series in brilliant form — he easily leads the Dally M Medal count — and if the Blues are to win the series, he will be a short-priced favourite to be named player of the series.

Then what? His glittering resume will be complete and it may be the precursor to a change of scene and perhaps even codes.

The hot tip around the game is that Cleary will go to market on November 1 and see what is out there for him.

The PNG Chiefs will come in hard but the greatest threat may come from overseas, where Super League clubs and rugby union are expected to take a gander.

Cleary has apparently been offered as much as £2 million ($3.7m) a year by a Super League club, believed to be Hull FC.

Immortal Andrew Johns has also confirmed that Warrington and their deep-pocketed owner Simon Moran would love to tempt Cleary.

Then there’s European rugby union clubs, who could put just as much money on the table. His head is likely to be turned, especially with partner Mary Fowler ensconced in England with Manchester City.

Cleary won’t be short of options but before then, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome in the NRL. The most significant is Origin.

All the great players of the modern era have owned this stage at some point in their careers. Lewis made a mockery of NSW for years. Johns had his moments on the game’s biggest stage. Smith towered over Origin for an eternity. So did Slater, Johnathan Thurston and Greg Inglis.

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They made it their personal playground and while Cleary has won two man of the match awards, he hasn’t taken out the ultimate honour or taken a series into his own hands.

It says much about Cleary that Dally M aside, it is the only honour that has eluded him. Greatness isn’t necessarily dependent on Origin, but it helps.

Cleary has already done enough in his career to be talked about in the same breath as the best to lace on a boot. If he caps it off by dominating Origin, what is there left to achieve?