Nathan Cleary shrugs off dust-up with NRL's Warriors

Nathan Cleary has made light of his mid-game dust-up with Warriors forwards Josh Curran and Demitric Sifakula, declaring physical confrontations part of the spectacle of rugby league.

Cleary laid a heavy tackle on Curran during the last 15 minutes of Penrith's 18-6 win, leading the Warrior to grab at the Panthers captain's shirt and spark a fracas between the two teams.

Things escalated when Sifakula, playing only his second NRL game, entered the fray and appeared to strike Cleary's chin with an open palm.

"I don't even remember what happened," Cleary said when asked about Sifakula's involvement.

Referee Todd Smith sent Sifakula to the sin-bin, putting a serious dent in the 12-man Warriors' hopes of recovering from 14-6 down.

Sifakula faces a nervous wait for the match review committee's charge sheet on Sunday morning but Cleary held no ill will towards the rookie post-game.

"Sometimes those things happen when two teams are wearing their hearts on their sleeve," he said.

"That's the way the game has gone. I think that's what makes footy so great and such a great spectacle for the fans, when two teams are going hard at it like that. 

"They're the fun games to play in."

Warriors coach Andrew Webster questioned whether Sifakula had struck Cleary - a sin bin offence under the NRL rules - or just pushed him.

"I felt like his hand was open. I felt like he was pushing him in the face," Webster said.

"You could see Nathan's face move but he was going to push him. And next thing he's in the bin."

Jackson Ford could join Sifakula on the charge sheet after the Warriors second-rower found himself sin-binned for a hip-drop tackle on Spencer Leniu.

Panthers prop Moses Leota could also attract scrutiny for an apparent high tackle on Tohu Harris that went unpenalised on field.

Harris claimed to have missed seeing a replay of the shot while Warriors trainers attended to him, but Webster made himself bite his tongue when asked about it.

"I'm going to take a hat around and get you guys (the media) to pay for my fine," Webster quipped.

"If you all want to chip in, I'll give you whatever you want.

"I saw that."