Panthers survive brutal Bunny attack
MALIGNED Penrith coach Ivan Cleary finally smashed his 10-year title hoodoo as the Panthers withstood a brave Rabbitohs fightback to sink South Sydney 14-12 and claim the club’s third premiership.
On a night of pulsating grand-final drama before 39,322 at Suncorp Stadium’s historic maiden decider, Penrith avenged their heartbreak of last year’s loss to Storm to celebrate two years of regular-season dominance.
This grinding, gripping Queensland decider exploded in the final quarter, with the Panthers appearing to have sealed a breakthrough title when Stephen Crichton
latched onto a Cody Walker intercept for a 14-8 lead with 13 minutes to play.
But the Panthers sweated until the final seconds. Souths crossed via winger Alex Johnston with five minutes to play, but Adam Reynolds’ inability to land a sideline conversion broke Rabbitohs hearts and sent Penrith into premiership dreamland.
It was hard to miss the seductive narrative, and outcome, for respective coaches Cleary and Souths counterpart Wayne Bennett.
While Bennett suffered his second consecutive title loss in his record 10th grand-final appearance, Cleary finally broke through. He was labelled the next Brian Smith,
but in his 370th game as an NRL coach, Cleary has his maiden premiership ring. Third-time lucky.
It was a fitting result for the Panthers. They were the most consistent team for two seasons and emphatically buried the pain of last year’s 26-20 grand-final loss to Melbourne by holding out the gutsy Rabbitohs.
Penrith were always calm and controlled. Defence has been their bedrock for two years - and it delivered Penrith to their third premierships after triumphs in 1991 and 2003.
Souths maestro Walker will forever rue his ultimate bittersweet performance.
His night began with a
bang when the Rabbitohs’ five-eighth dangerman scored one of the great grandfinal tries to ignite a thrilling Suncorp decider.
With Souths trailing 6-0 in the 21st minute and Penrith firmly in control, Walker produced a flash of instinctive brilliance, straightening the attack, fending off Nathan Cleary and streaking 25 metres to level scores at 6-all.
But with the game in the balance at 8-all in the 67th minute, Walker faced his death-or-glory moment.
Seeing space, he went for broke, throwing a long ball, but was left heartbroken as Penrith winger Crichton intercepted.
Crichton raced 45 metres
to score. It was a crushing moment for South Sydney.
South Sydney showed enormous defensive courage to trail by only a Nathan Cleary penalty goal at the break.
By rights, Penrith should have converted pressure into more points and led by at least 10 points. They had 58 per cent possession in the opening stanza, and enjoyed 13 tackles in the red zone to Souths’ zero.
The Rabbitohs’ resolve was underscored by Cameron Murray, the tireless lock racking up a staggering 30 tackles by half-time. He finished with 51. Murray was so brave he could barely walk after 60 minutes.