Crossland was referred directly to the judiciary without a charge or grading, meaning only the length of his ban was in question. The 26-year-old's fate was effectively sealed when Cleary's left leg was twisted in a hip-drop tackle during the first half of Sunday's preliminary final.
Cleary, the Panthers halfback, suffered a compound fracture of his ankle and faces months of recovery after undergoing surgery. Crossland said he had phoned Cleary, as well as Cleary's father and Penrith coach Ivan Cleary, to apologise on Monday.
"I had to apologise first and foremost to make sure he's doing all right," Crossland said. "It's a horrific incident and he's our best player. I reached out to his dad as well. I apologised to him."
Crossland, who became emotional when asked about missing a grand final, said the fallout had been devastating. "He's my favourite player by a mile so to be the reason he's in hospital ... it's killing me," he said.
He takes full responsibility for a tackle gone wrong while he was trying to save a try. The ban places him on an unfortunate list of players to have missed grand finals through suspension, including Cameron Smith in 2008, Latrell Mitchell in 2021, Steve Roach in 1988 and Arthur Beetson in 1969.