A leaked photo of Nathan Cleary’s bloodied ankle has exposed the full horror of his devastating leg break.But the Penrith champion has put his own ordeal aside to defend Phoenix Crossland, urging trolls to stop abusing the Newcastle player whose tackle left him needing emergency surgery.Cleary suffered a compound fracture and dislocated left ankle during Sunday’s preliminary final defeat to the Knights, with bone piercing his skin during Crossland’s hip-drop tackle.The graphic photograph shows blood covering the halfback’s foot, providing a confronting picture of the injury that ended his season.Cleary’s foot was left pointing in a different direction, with bone protruding from the inside of his ankle.A Penrith source likened the injury to a ‘bullet wound’ because of the bleeding as Cleary was moved onto the medicab. Cleary suffered a compound fracture and dislocated left ankle during Penrith’s preliminary final loss to Newcastle The Panthers halfback needed emergency surgery after bone pierced the skin around his left ankle The Penrith champion urged trolls to leave Phoenix Crossland alone after the Knights hooker received vicious online abusePanthers medical staff reportedly helped paramedics keep Cleary’s lower leg straight and stable amid fears the injury could compromise blood flow to his foot.Several club sources described it as the worst leg break they had seen.There were also concerns about possible syndesmosis damage, although that additional injury has not been confirmed.Cleary could face up to six months on the sidelines, provided there are no complications with surgery.He also needs an operation on his right foot after playing with a broken fifth metatarsal, an injury Penrith had previously described as a ‘stress-related bone issue’.Despite his ordeal, Cleary intervened after Crossland became the target of vicious online abuse.The Newcastle hooker shared a video showing abusive comments directed at him, adding the question: ‘Would you want your kids reading this?’The abuse reportedly included accusations that he deliberately injured Cleary and threats to maim him. Cleary described the tackle as a ‘complete accident’ and revealed Crossland had contacted him to apologiseCleary made his feelings clear in an Instagram statement on Monday night.’Please don’t be one of these people writing comments like this to Phoenix, it was a complete accident and he doesn’t deserve this unwarranted hate,’ he wrote.’He reached out to apologise and I have nothing but respect for him.’He’s a competitor and our game is made up of split second moments that sometimes lead to unfortunate circumstances. Comments like this are so unfair. Spread love not hate.’Crossland was sent off in the 35th minute, leaving Newcastle to complete their extraordinary 22-14 victory with 12 players.He was referred directly to the judiciary on a dangerous contact charge, with his hearing scheduled for 6pm AEST on Tuesday.His availability for Sunday’s grand final against the Sydney Roosters remains unresolved.Knights director of football Chris James backed Crossland while expressing concern for Cleary. Crossland was sent off in the 35th minute before Newcastle held on for a 22-14 victory’We need to go down there and present a case to them, but it is a horrible accident at speed under fatigue,’ James said.’Phoenix Crossland has made more tackles in the NRL than any other player and he got one wrong.’He got one wrong and it was a horrible injury for Nathan but that’s not Phoenix’s go. If you’ve ever met Phoenix Crossland, he’s one of the great men of rugby league.’James said Newcastle would support their hooker through the fallout.’Horrible for Nathan, the thoughts of our club go out to Nathan.’He’ll go down as one of the greats of the game and we hope he has a speedy recovery, but we’ll also wrap our arms around Phoenix and make sure we look after him this week too.’Paul Gallen questioned the send-off, arguing Victor Radley’s hip-drop tackle on Friday was worse.’At the end of the day, Crossland’s hip was on the ground… we don’t want to see anyone injured but I don’t think he deserved to be sent off,’ he said. Cleary faced a recovery of up to six months, provided there were no surgical complicationsFor Cleary, the immediate focus is recovering from an injury that left his family and teammates shaken.His father and coach Ivan described an emotional half-time visit after Nathan was taken from the field.’I went and saw him [Nathan] at half-time and saw the whole crew, my family, in there. That was hard and a bit emotional,’ he said.Nathan nevertheless struck a determined tone when he shared a photograph from hospital after surgery.’Yesterday sucked but it’s all part of the journey and it’s made me even more grateful for the people I have around me,’ he wrote.’I’ll be back.’READ MORE: Cleary faced a recovery of up to six months, provided there were no surgical complicationsREAD MORE: Glimmer of hope for Nathan Cleary after hip-drop tackle left Panthers superstar with horrific ankle injury