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It was a Grand Final for the ages, capped off with a moment rivalling Kyle Feldt’s last minute try for the Cowboys in 2015, or Darren Albert’s miracle four-pointer in 1997.
The roar around Accor Stadium when Nathan Cleary crossed in the 76th minute to win the game for Penrith was deafening.
With the try and subsequent conversion, Cleary had not only brought the Panthers back from the dead to win the season decider but had put the icing on one of the most memorable 20 minute periods of his career.
There was only 18 minutes left on the clock when Cleary decided to take the game by both hands and deliver a performance that will be talked about for decades to come.
A smart play to set up a try for Moses Leota, a 40/20, a clever decision to force a penalty from a Brisbane drop-out and his own personal four-pointer were the highlights of his heroics.
Earlier, the Grand Final appeared gone.
With the game precariously
placed at 8-6 to Penrith early in the second half, Ezra Mam stepped up in an unstoppable 10 minute period to put Brisbane into a Premiership-winning position.
Mam scored three straight tries – carving up the Penrith defence with blistering speed to give the Broncos a 24-8 lead.
It should have been enough.
"It's just hard to get your head around what actually happened. It's very disappointing," Brisbane coach Kevin Walters said. Somehow the Broncos went from a commanding lead with Mam's name on the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal to a brutal collapse that will sting for the entire off-season.
Nobody could have seen Penrith's comeback on the horizon.
Not when inspirational co-captain Isaah Yeo was forced from the field for a Head Injury Assessment and Jarome Luai's shoulder finally gave way in the midst of Mam's hat-trick. Scott Sorensen, too, was forced from the field after a head knock.
The momentum just shouldn't have turned, and yet it did.
“I must say I was a little worried half-way through that second
half,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said post-match.
“One thing I’d never doubt is these boys’ ability to keep fighting. There was still a long time to go and that was the important part. If they had have jumped to 24-8 with 15 to go I don’t think we would have come back.”
It had been a pulsating opening half to the Grand Final but nobody could have imagined what would unfold in the second 40 minutes.
Brisbane had talked up their big game experience all week despite it coming from other arenas like Origin, but nerves were evident in the opening period. They put themselves under pressure with a raft of errors, but Penrith struggled to capitalise.
The opening try came in the 17th minute when a short drop-out somehow bounced into the hands of Mitch Kenny who scored his first try of the season. With Cleary getting attention in back play, Stephen Crichton grabbed the conversion to give Penrith a 6-0 advantage.
It became 8-0 in the 29th minute when Cleary resumed the kicking duties and potted a penalty goal, but Brisbane started to get into the game more in the period closing in on half-time.
When Thomas Flegler barged his way over in the 38th minute, it felt like a reward for Brisbane’s entire season more than anything else – they had toiled and toiled, and finally got what they needed.
Ivan Cleary admitted post-game, the 8-0 lead should have been bigger.
“The first half, I reckon the way the season has been going... we probably would have been up by more than 8-0,” he said.
“But they just weren’t going
away. When they got the ball back they were striking, they really backed themselves from all over the field and were a constant threat which took a lot of gas out of our team.
“We knew we had a battle at halftime. I don’t really know what to say after that.”
In the end it was the 29th minute penalty goal that proved the difference. Both teams scored four tries, and landed four conversions.
Dig deeper though and it is likely Penrith’s 97 per cent completion rate – freakish in any game, let alone a Grand Final – that ensured they were still within a chance of winning and sending the more than 81,000 fans at Accor Stadium into a state of disbelief.
Brisbane made 11 errors to Penrith’s one, likely having a impact on their fatigue late in the game.
For Penrith, the victory ensured their place in rugby league folklore – a third straight Premiership, the first team in the NRL era to achieve such a feat.
It was the perfect farewell for Stephen Crichton, Spencer Leniu and Jack Cogger.
Meanwhile, for the Broncos it’s a long off-season of pondering what could have been.
And for both clubs, a new rivalry – one that in the past has barely caused a ripple – has been born.
Penrith 26 (Tries: Mitch Kenny, Moses Leota, Stephen Crichton, Nathan Cleary. Goals: Nathan Cleary 4/4, Stephen Crichton 1/1) def Brisbane 24 (Tries: Ezra Mam
3, Thomas Flegler. Goals: Adam Reynolds 4/4). Crowd: 81,947.
Three Penrith Grand Final winners have been named in the Australian team for the upcoming Pacific Championship.
Nathan Cleary, Liam Martin and Isaah Yeo were all picked to represent the Kangaroos in the tournament, which gets underway on October 14.
However, Cleary is understood to be in some doubt after picking up an injury in the Grand Final.
James Tedesco was confirmed as Australian captain and has held on to his fullback jersey.
Superstar Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards has missed out on selection in the squad.
“These players have all been exceptional this season and should be very proud to play in the green and gold colours. It’s the ultimate achievement in our game,” ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys said at Monday’s announcement.
“The Commission is excited to see further growth in the Pacific through this tournament, highlighted by the strength of the squad assembled to represent the Kangaroos.”
Kangaroos Coach Mal Meninga congratulated all of the players on their selection in the squad.
“The quality we saw in the regular season, the State of Origin series and the Finals Series means we have been able to put together an outstanding squad,” Meninga said.
“The squad has a healthy blend of representatives from last year’s World Cup, as well as others who have performed extremely well over the course of the season.”
Meanwhile, four Penrith players have been named in the Samoa squad.
Stephen Crichton, Spencer Leniu, Brian To'o and Izack Tago all feature, while Jarome Luai was not considered for selection due to injury.
Penrith’s Premiership-winning front rowers James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota will represent New Zealand.
“This series is exciting for the game in New Zealand and also a chance for us to start our journey to the next World Cup in 2025,” said New Zealand coach Michael Maguire.
The Pacific Championships gets underway on Saturday, October 14 when Australia take on Samoa at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville.
Papua New Guinea and Cook Islands meet on Sunday, October 15 to complete the tournament’s opening weekend.
New Zealand and Samoa meet on Saturday, October 21 at Eden Park while Fiji and Cook Islands face-off on Sunday, October 22.
The hotly anticipated clash between Australia and New Zealand will be played on Saturday, October 28 at AAMI Park in Melbourne, while Papua New Guinea and Fiji play on Sunday, October 29.
The tournament then moves into the Finals.
All games will be broadcast on Fox League.
Penrith attracted plenty of media attention in the lead-up to Sunday’s Grand Final, with the major TV networks all keen to soak up the atmosphere in the city.
We were at passionate fan Anthea Strathdee’s home on Sunday morning, capturing all the fun of the ‘Today’ show doing a live broadcast.
Passionate Penrith fans gathered at Jamison Park on Grand Final morning for what’s become an annual tradition: a car parade.
Hundreds of cars decked out in Panthers colours kicked off a tour through Penrith from Jamison Park.
Thousands of people gathered to watch the start of the event, with Penrith jerseys and flags out in full force.
Channel Seven reporter Michelle Bishop and Channel Nine stalwart Mike Dalton were both on hand to capture the action for the major television networks.
Photos: Megan Dunn
In his debut Grand Final, Gee was praised for letting the game flow with a low penalty count and strong game management.
Gee is now in the box seat to referee the biggest games next season, including the State of Origin series.
He was appointed to the season decider after both Ashley Klein and Gerard Sutton were involved in Finals controversies.
Panthers legend Greg Alexander celebrated with the current-day players on the field after Sunday’s Grand Final win. He hugged halfback Nathan Cleary before embracing co-captain Isaah Yeo (pictured), the emotion clearly overflowing.
‘Brandy’ was also on the field after the 2003 and 2022 deciders, lapping up the enjoyment of Premiership success.
Alexander captained Penrith to their historic 1991 Premiership win and is currently on the Board of the club. He ventured back to Panthers after the game, joining the official after party at the EVAN Theatre.
Brisbane forward Payne Haas was the only player charged by the NRL Match Review Committee following the Grand Final on Sunday.
He was hit with a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact charge for an incident involving Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary in the 10th minute.
The powerful Broncos forward opted to take an early guilty plea, and incurred a financial penalty of $1,800.
This November, The Western Weekender will release a commemorative 40-page magazine honouring the Penrith Panthers’ three-peat.
The magazine will feature some of the best articles and pictures from Penrith’s 2021, 2022 and 2023 Premierships as well as all-new original content.
This is a Western Weekender original, and will not be available anywhere else.
It’s the perfect collector’s item – with exclusive Weekender photos, interviews with the players and memories from an incredible period in Penrith’s history.
Pre-order now.
The magazine costs $19.95 including postage and will be dispatched in mid-November.
Visit www.westernweekender.com.au/threepeat.
How’s this for some rugby league trivia: Just like the NRL decider, the NRLW Grand Final at Accor Stadium last Sunday also featured a
hat-trick of tries from a player on the losing team.
Jaime Chapman scored three tries for the Titans, giving them a shot at the title,
but the Knights roared home to win 24-18.
It marked back-to-back Premierships for Newcastle, with Tamika Upton the star.
“That last 20 minutes was the best performance by a halfback in a Grand Final.”
The thrilling Premiership decider between the Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos attracted a record Australian Grand Final streaming audience with 605,000 on 9Now –the largest for a rugby league game in history.
The Grand Final scored a national average audience of 2.916 million viewers on Linear TV (Metro: 2.045 million / Regional: 870,000) and a Live BVOD figure of 605,000 taking the TotalTV audience to 3.521 million viewers.
Viewers flocked to 9Now, with the game attracting a record BVOD Live average audi-
ence that was up a whopping 56 per cent yearon-year.
“The incredible NRL Grand Final reached 4.6 million and further highlighted 9Now as the No.1 destination for big event live sport with a 56 per cent year-on-year uplift,” said Hamish Turner, Nine’s Director of 9Now and Programming.
“We have experienced fantastic year-on-year growth for 9Now this season as Nine continues to offer the biggest reach of any broadcaster in the country.”
Astunning final 20 minutes has not only secured Penrith its fifth Premiership, but allowed Nathan Cleary to enter a rare class of dual Clive Churchill Medal winners.
Cleary joins Canberra’s Bradley Clyde (1989, 1991) and Billy Slater (2019, 2017) as a two-time winner of the player of the match award.
The 25-year-old grabbed the Grand Final by both hands in its dramatic climax, scoring the winning try and setting up another in a frantic finish to the game. He finished with a try, four goals, two line breaks, a try assist, a 40/20 and four tackle breaks.
“It honestly doesn't feel real right now,” Cleary said after being presented the award by NRL legend Cliff Lyons.
“It was the hardest game I’ve ever played.
“We’ve worked so hard for this, and we’re still just getting started so let’s go!”
Cleary won the Clive Churchill Medal two years ago after his
outstanding performance in the thrilling win over South Sydney at Suncorp Stadium.
Ironically, both of his Medals have come when facing Adam Reynolds in the opposite jumper.
What made his performance in the final 20 minutes even more remarkable is that he’d struggled to make his mark on the contest earlier.
“I think the 20 minutes before it was close to the worst I’ve ever played,” he said.
“To be honest I think my experience from the past particularly in that 2020 Storm Grand Final helped me to be in the game at the end of this one. Sometimes it feels shit at the time like it did in that 2020 game, but I think it’s made me who I am today."
In the post-match press conference, Cleary said the environment at Penrith is a joy to be involved in.
“It’s an enjoyable group to be a part of. Everyone is allowed to be themselves and it’s fun, and that’s how it should be,” he said.
“We grew up loving playing rugby league and now we get the opportunity to do it on the biggest stage and the biggest night.”
A TING A MEMORABLE F AREWELL IS AN AR T
We’ve collected some of the best postmatch comments from Sunday’s NRL Grand Final between Penrith and Brisbane. Here’s what was said in the aftermath of a pulsating season decider...
“It’s just hard to get your head around what actually happened.”
“It means a lot. It’s my last year here and to win a game like that for my last game, words can’t describe the feelings I’m feeling right now.”
“We had our moments, we were good in patches… but we just didn’t find a way in the end to get it done.”
“It honestly doesn’t feel real right now. I can’t wait for it to set in. To the Broncos boys… that was the hardest game I’ve ever played. To our boys… it’s nothing but love. We’ve worked so hard for this and we’re still just getting started.”
“I can’t remember a greater second half performance in a Grand Final from a halfback like I’ve seen tonight. I was just mind blown.”
“All of our hard work throughout the year, always training us for the big moments and we knew that we were three tries down and we knew that we just had to dig deep. We knew that it was there. We just had to give ourselves the chance.”
Nathan ClearyKevin Walters
“I love this group of boys, we are never out!”
Jarome Luai
“This is the best thing ever… Nathan Cleary is the greatest athlete on Earth. Seriously… he’s the greatest athlete on Earth!”
Mick FanningJonathan Thurston Spencer Leniu Adam Reynolds
“He’s a future Immortal. In a short career he’s done effectively what everyone else has done in their whole careers.”
“Stop the fight. End the debate. After all the talk about where Nathan Cleary stood in the pecking order of elite halves, 20 minutes at Accor Stadium sealed his greatness.”
Brent Readsays he wants to be the greatest, and he has produced one of the greatest performances we’ve ever seen. Don’t anyone ever doubt Nathan Cleary again.”
“That was an incredible game, what a contest, one of the best Grand Finals. I’ve never seen such a comeback. Well done Penrith Panthers. Never give up, that’s what it takes.”
“I actually said to him (Nathan Cleary) yesterday if I married someone else, he would’ve been a pretty shit player. I’ve got to thank his Mum for everything that he’s got because it’s certainly not from me. I’m so proud of him.”
“We just had to keep believing… keep believing in each other. We know our process. I thought if we could just jag one [try] and then we’d be back in the fight. It turned out that’s what happened.”
Dylan Edwards“It was dire straits out there. It was ‘The Ezra Mam Show’ for a period in that second half… but we’re just never out of the fight. Just such a tough group here, we’re just never out of it.”
! End of beer hill: More detail has been revealed about the upcoming refurbishment to Penrith Stadium. The Western Grandstand will be demolished and re-built, while a stand will be constructed at the southern end of the ground – effectively ending the ‘beer hill’ era. That will upset a lot of fans who love the atmosphere of that end of the ground, but you can’t please everybody. The Western Stand re-construction will include a much larger Chairman’s Lounge. Let’s hope the Panthers look after those long-term members in the Western Stand with seats in the new stand, and that it doesn’t become too focused on corporate supporters. Penrith will move out of the stadium at the end of 2024 but will be back for the start of the 2026 season.
! Premier’s own goal: NSW Premier Chris Minns has plenty of work to do to win back the people of Penrith after his bizarre backing of the Broncos in the Grand Final. His refusal to throw his full support behind the only team from NSW in a radio interview on 2GB last Friday was utterly odd, particularly given Penrith proved to be a vital seat in the NSW election earlier this year. Minns was rather quiet about the Grand Final all week – failing to take the chance to talk up Sydney as the event host. It was strange all-round.
! Erin’s farewell: Popular Pantherette Erin-Louise Camilleri (pictured) has hung up her pom-poms, opting to finish up with the club's cheer squad this year. Her last performance was at Sunday’s Grand Final. !
Spotted: Penrith Panthers recruitment manager Jim Jones enjoying a Grand Final day breakfast with his family at Percy Plunkett last Sunday morning.
! Panthers back in Parramatta: Last year the Panthers avoided staying in Parramatta the night before the Grand Final given they were playing the Eels in the season decider. They’d stayed there for the Preliminary Final the previous week but sensibly avoided all the Eels fanfare for the big one. Last week, with no such rivalry in place, they bunkered down at the Park Royal. Interestingly, they actually wanted to stay at Sydney Olympic Park but Brisbane, as the visiting team, get first choice of hotel.
! New documentary coming: The Panthers have once again partnered with Channel Nine to produce a documentary detailing the club’s ride to a third straight Premiership. Officials were considering releasing the documentary even if Penrith hadn’t won on Sunday, but now won’t have to make that call. It’ll stream on 9Now later this year.
! Broncos go off early: A couple of Brisbane staffers headed down to the team’s dressing room after Ezra Mam’s third try to begin setting up for the post-match celebrations. Like most at the ground, they thought the Broncos had it won.
! Fanning rides Panthers wave: Surfing champion Mick Fanning played a big role in Penrith’s post-match celebrations at Accor Stadium last weekend (pictured below with James-FisherHarris). Fanning, a life-long
Panthers fan, has been in the inner sanctum through the Finals series. He was partying with the players after full-time on Sunday night –soaking in Penrith’s incredible victory over Brisbane.
! End of an era: One of the most recognised major sponsorships in Australian sport is now over with OAK finishing up as the club’s principal partner following last week’s Grand Final. My Place will take over as the front of jersey sponsor for 2025, which keen-eyed readers may have noticed I revealed cryptically a couple of months back.
! Paper back on board: The Western Weekender has signed on as a corporate partner of the Panthers for the 2024 season, extending the paper’s long-term sponsorship of the club.
! See you next year: I’m taking a few months off but I’ll be back ready and raring to go for the 2024 NRL season. Thanks for reading the column this year. Let’s make it four in ‘24!
Itried to Google it but couldn’t find any term which defined winning four Premierships in a row. So, I’m just going to call it a ‘four-peat’ and leave it at that.
For now, the Panthers team and supporters are just happy celebrating a ‘three-peat’ on Sunday after a thrilling 26-24 NRL Grand Final win over the Brisbane Broncos.
It was a game for the ages and both teams came ready to play. Brisbane were outstanding and they made every Penrith supporter white knuckle it until the very end.
The game had barely finished when the Triple M radio crew, who called the game, started asking the question, can the Panthers win fourin-a-row next year? The response from former NRL player Wendell Sailor was so fast, host Dan Ginnane barely had time to ask it.
“No,” said Sailor emphatically.
And that’s a fair answer. it seems impossible to the neutral supporter that the Panthers could possibly win a fourth straight Premiership, given they were almost beaten this year.
Almost… but not quite.
I’m not going to review every pivotal moment of the Grand Final, that’s been done to death already.
I am here to ask a legitimate question though.
Can the Penrith Panthers take out the NRL Premiership in 2024 and really make it rare-air, if it isn’t already. Can they achieve a ‘four-peat’?
All I can say to that is, even if it doesn’t happen, I believe the players think they can do it.
I can’t imagine for a moment that coach Ivan Cleary and the team will turn up for pre-season training in December and just say; ‘Yeah a fourpeat is impossible. Let’s just have a cruisy season, I mean we’ve achieved so much already.”
No chance in hell will that happen.
This team is special. This team is led by some very special players like Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards, James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota and Jarome Luai. They won’t let the team standards drop, if anything I expect they’ll raise the bar even higher.
In an ominous warning to other teams, Nathan Cleary said after his remarkable Grand Final heroics that; “We are just getting started.”
Now while both Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu are leaving the club along with several other players. I have no doubt that coach Ivan Cleary will tinker with the line-up, change the game plan and keep the Panthers machine rolling.
Now I’d just like to finish my final column
of 2023 on a personal note. I’m so proud to be a Panthers supporter and to have lived and worked in the area for over 50 years.
Over the last four years alone I’ve watched Penrith lose and win a Grand Final with my nephew and Weekender journalist, Nathan Taylor. I also just watched an incredible threepeat victory with my eldest daughter Sierra.
And I believe in my heart, that my beautiful mum, who sadly passed away last November, was watching from above and smiling when the full-time buzzer sounded last Sunday.
So, you know what, as hard as it will be to win four Premierships in a row, I’m going to dare to dream, for if you believe in dreams…. miracles can happen.
See you next year.
BE PREPARED WITH LIFEVAC Learn more at:
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE PENRITH PANTHERS ON WINNING THE 2023 GRAND FINAL Hertz are proud supporters of the Penrith Panthers
It’s time for our annual Western Weekender Extra Time Awards. Here’s our year’s best:
Player of the Year: Stephen Crichton
In his final season at the club, it’s hard not to go with the ‘human highlight reel’ for our Player of the Year for 2023. Whether it was for Penrith or the NSW Blues, Crichton was simply outstanding this season, appearing in 24 games for the Panthers and scoring 15 tries and 21 goals. The 23-year-old also took out Centre of the Year at the Dally M Awards last week and scored a pivotal try in Penrith’s Grand Final triumph over the Broncos on Sunday. After 100 games in Panthers’ colours, Critta leaves the club with a bucket load of memorable moments and three Premiership rings.
2022 winner: Dylan Edwards
Rookie of the Year: Sunia Turuva
What can you say about the man everyone calls ‘Tito’. Sunia Turuva wasn’t meant to play much first grade in 2023, but an injury to Taylan May in the pre-season saw Turuva elevated into coach Ivan Cleary’s starting side for Round 1 and he remained there ever since. The Fijian flyer played 26 matches for the Panthers this season, scoring 12 tries including three in the Finals. What made Turuva’s season so special is no task was too big for him. No matter who he matched up against or how many bomb kicks were sent his way, the 21-year-old winger handled everything with ease. The NRL also recognised Turuva with their Rookie of the Year award at last week’s Dally M’s 2022 winner: Taylan May
Win of the Year: v Broncos, Grand Final
The greatest Panthers game of all-time has to take out our ‘Win of the Year’, right? No matter how many years pass by no-one will ever forget Penrith’s incredible victory over the Brisbane Broncos at the 2023 NRL Grand Final. Penrith led Kevin Walters’ men 8-6 at half-time before Ezra Mam laid on three scintillating tries to give
the Broncos an almost untouchable 24-8 lead. With their backs against the wall and with less than 20 minutes to go, halfback Nathan Cleary orchestrated the most remarkable comeback in Grand Final history. Tries to Moses Leota, Stephen Crichton and Cleary himself put the Panthers in front in the dying stages and the rest they say is history. A win that will be hard
to top in the years and seasons to come for Penrith.
2022 winner: v Rabbitohs, Round 23
Moment of the Year: Nathan Cleary’s 76th minute try
How often do we see it? Champion players in champion moments. While Penrith scored dozens of special tries this season, Nathan Cleary’s Grand Final-winning try stands above them all. Not only was the four-pointer crucial in Penrith’s ultimate three-peat, but it was mind-blowing at the same time. It was a moment of individual brilliance that fans of the game will remember forever. Along with Royce Simmons’ try in ’91 and Stephen Crichton’s intercept three decades later, Cleary’s 76th minute miracle will go down as one of the most important tries in Panthers history.
2022 winner: Panthers go back-to-back
Headline Event of the Year: Panthers secure historic three-peat
It took 40 long years for another team to do it, but Penrith winning three consecutive NRL Premierships is the story of the year. Many said a three-peat couldn’t be done during the salary cap era, but in stepped those mighty Panthers. With Ivan Cleary steering the ship and Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo doing what they do best, Penrith lived up to the hype to notch up their third NRL Premiership in as many years and their fifth title overall. They became the first side since Parramatta in the early 1980s to secure the honour.
2022 winner: Panthers win all four grades
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Contact the membership coordinator for dates & times: 0 0407 278 384
Date: 18th November 2023
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