IS Nathan Cleary the best teenage talent to hit the rugby league scene in the last 50 years?

It’s a huge call when you look back at the likes of the brilliant Brad Fittler (18) the powerhouse Greg Inglis (18) and the dynamic Jarryd Hayne (18), all of whom were teenagers when they burst onto the scene.

Plenty of good judges believe the 19-year-old Penrith playmaker and organiser is a better equipped player than all of them and better than Johnathan Thurston at the same age.

Some have gone so far as to rate Cleary the best teenage talent to arrive on the rugby league scene, at least since Fittler made his first grade debut for Penrith while he was still at high school in the late 1980s.

Round 19

The debate’s even more interesting considering Fittler played for Cleary’s club, Penrith.

Fans can experience the 2017 Finals on FOX LEAGUE with every game during the month of September LIVE, ad break free during play and in HD all on a dedicated channel.

Live stream the 2017 NRL Telstra Premiership on FOX SPORTS. Get your free 2-week FOXTEL NOW trial and start watching in minutes. SIGN UP NOW >

He won a premiership with the Panthers in 1991 when he was only 19 — again, symbolically the same age Cleary is now.

Fittler was of German decent while Cleary’s ancestry traces back to Croatia — another interesting synergy between the pair.

The ice-cool Cleary has taken his game to another level in his second NRL season and he is already being widely tipped to walk into next year’s NSW Origin side in the No.7 jumper.

I certainly have not seen a player so young with the maturity, composure and skill set the son of former prolific point scoring utility, Ivan Cleary, possesses.

“He’s the most outstanding young halfback prospect I’ve ever seen,” said a well-regarded former rugby league recruitment scout who’s witnessed the arrival of most of the game’s best during the past three decades.

“He does everything. He’s brave, he’s courageous. He passes both sides of his body, he can see things, he steers a side around and he’s amazingly composed under pressure.

“He can score tries, kick field goals and he converts kicks at 90 per cent.”

Little wonder Penrith are trying to lock him away from rival clubs with an extended long term multimillion-dollar deal until 2024, which would elevate him up the game’s elite on the pay scale.

All this for a kid yet to play 50 games of NRL. There’s no doubt about Cleary’s potential.

After scoring three tries in 15 games in 2016 he has topped the NRL’s point scoring list in his second season with 11 tries and 91 goals.

Compare that to Fittler’s one try in his debut season and eight tries in his second year out.

Despite being heavily targeted, young Cleary has guided Penrith into the finals like Sir Colin Davis conducted the London Symphony Orchestra, never missing a beat.

Nathan Cleary has been a standout for the Panthers this season. Source: AAP

Players who have great first years, often fall victim to second year syndrome because they are heavily targeted.

But in Cleary’s case, he has not only backed it up in 2017, but he has played immeasurably better.

Even at the tender age of 19, it is hard to find a fault or a weakness in Cleary’s game for someone so young.

He’s had a great family upbringing with his father’s guidance and experience having played 186 games and coached another 288 in the big league.

He was able to help his son come into first grade without any hype and fanfare when he made his debut against Melbourne in June last year.

One of his rivals this weekend and in the future, Brisbane’s Dragons-bound utility Ben Hunt, has some understanding of the pressure Cleary has had to cope with after being a “boom” youngster himself at the Broncos early in his career.

Hunt was earmarked as the player to replace legend No.7 Allan Langer and battled high expectations when he started his NRL career.

“He’s pretty extraordinary isn’t he,” Hunt said of young Cleary.

“To be that young and be so dominant in the game is something we don’t see much of.

“You see splashes of it from different players, but he is so consistent.

“He’s the leading point scorer and the difference between his best and worst game is almost non-existent, which is a big thing to say about a player so young.

“He is such a grounded kid I don’t think he reads any of the hype about himself or thinks too much about anything other than what his coach and players want.

“All we can do is get up on him and try and take his time away, that’s all you can do to the good players like the Thurstons and co.”

“You just have to be ready for anything. He’s a good runner, passer, kicker, he’s got the full kit.”

Friday’s night’s clash with Penrith could be Hunt’s 185th and last for the Broncos where he’s been since he was 15 years old

“It’s do-or-die for me and the club,” Hunt, who will play hooker, told foxsports.com.au.

“I don’t want this to be my last game for the Broncos so I will be doing my very best out there to get the win.”