Cometh the Hour: Cleary-willed comeback secures Panthers three-peat

The Penrith Panthers are the NRL premiers once again after storming home to erase a 16-point Broncos lead and claim their third consecutive title in front of a full house at Accor Stadium on Sunday night.

A Nathan Cleary masterclass saw the 25-year-old become just the third player in premiership history to win multiple Clive Churchill Medals.

The star half scored the match-winning try in the dying stages after setting up the previous two, kicked a crucial 40/20, and ran for 167 metres with four tackle breaks and two line breaks.

Halves partner Jarome Luai succumbed to a shoulder issue with a half-hour to play which brought journeyman playmaker Jack Cogger into the fray.

Isaah Yeo and Scott Sorensen both spent time sidelined in the second half for HIAs whilst Izack Tago was also unable to finish the encounter.

Broncos five-eighth Ezra Mam put together one of the most dazzling 10-minute displays in Grand Final history scoring three tries to boost his side to a 24-8 lead mid-way through the second period.

Trailing by 16 with less than a quarter to play and exhibiting a defensive line that was completely void of their trademark resolve and discipline, Penrith’s three-peat dream appeared destined to go up in smoke until Cleary kicked into gear to send the Western Sydney faithful into delirium.

Penrith enjoyed the territorial advantage in the first half; however, their only points came via a pair of botched Brisbane dropouts.

Mitch Kenny snared his first try of the season after a Herbie Farnworth bat-back whizzed past his Brisbane teammates and into the waiting arms of the workhorse rake.

They extended their lead to eight thanks to a gift penalty goal a half-hour in with Reynolds’ dropout sailing into touch.

Thomas Flegler barged over off interchange hooker Tyson Smoothy on the stroke of half-time to make it 8-6 – a scoreline the Broncos would have been rapt with.

Mam came into his own on the other side of half-time and looked a Churchill Medal certainty after one try became two and then three.

The first, he caught the ball on his own side of halfway and split Tago and Lindsay Smith before burning Dylan Edwards to dive over next to the left corner post.

The second, he took advantage of some second phase play from 30 out by beating Yeo and Cleary with a ferocious left-foot step and, the third, he was a beneficiary of a Reece Walsh break.

The manner in which momentum had shifted the way of the Broncos had onlookers under the belief that the Provan-Summons Trophy would be boarding a flight north later that night.

With Luai, Yeo, and Sorensen all off the field, Cleary turned the tide with a break down the right edge to send Moses Leota – who was sensational all night long finishing with 163 metres from 16 carries and 19 tackles – over before nailing a 40/20 to put the Panthers back on the front foot.

He threw the last pass for a Stephen Crichton try – which saw the Sāmoan centre become the first player to notch a fourth-consecutive Grand Final try since Johnny King in the ‘60s – and slotted the conversion from out wide to cut the deficit to four.

His crowning moment, however, came with 3:24 on the clock when he came off the left foot to dart back in behind the ruck and dive over behind the sticks for a premiership-winning four-pointer that will not soon be forgotten.

Legendary NBA coach Rudy Tomjanovich’s phrase, ‘don’t ever underestimate the heart of a champion’, had never been so applicable with the Panthers having now etched their name next to the the biggest comeback in Grand Final history.

With their squad having lost key members after each of their Grand Final wins and injuries rearing their head throughout the journey, the Panthers, driven by unmatched steel, have remained unphased.

They are now unquestionably the greatest team of the modern era and, with the story far from its final chapter, will have more history to make.

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