Penrith Panthers

The old adage about a team needing to lose a grand final to win one may be a myth, but there has rarely been a case of third time lucky for a side beaten in back-to-back premiership deciders. 

“We finally did it,” Nathan declared. “We’ve climbed Everest.”

The Panthers had to do it the hard way and their 14-12 triumph over South Sydney was built on the lessons they learned from last year’s grand final loss to Melbourne.

Grand Final Week officially kicked off on Sunday evening with Brisbane City Hall, King George Tower and the Hilton lit up with iconic images from the season, tributes to Penrith and South Sydney, the game’s fans and a thank you to the Queensland community for their hospitality.

King George Square in the Brisbane CBD is being renamed King Wally Square in honour of Queensland Immortal Wally Lewis as part of a two-day NRL Fan Fest on Thursday and Friday, culminating with the appearance of both teams on Friday afternoon.

Grand Final Week officially kicked off on Sunday evening with Brisbane City Hall, King George Tower and the Hilton lit up with iconic images from the season, tributes to Penrith and South Sydney, the game’s fans and a thank you to the Queensland community for their hospitality.

King George Square in the Brisbane CBD is being renamed King Wally Square in honour of Queensland Immortal Wally Lewis as part of a two-day NRL Fan Fest on Thursday and Friday, culminating with the appearance of both teams on Friday afternoon.

Will Adam Reynolds' last game in his beloved cardinal and myrtle jersey produce a second grand final ring for himself? Can Bennett in his farewell to the Rabbitohs win an eighth premiership at a third different club? 

Both men are heading to Queensland next year but in different directions so this is their swansong with South Sydney. Bennett hasn't forgotten how the Broncos showed him the "exit door" three years ago - and now he gets the chance to win a premiership right in front of their noses at Brisbane's home ground.

Ivan Cleary's men will go in search of the club's first premiership since 2003 when they tackle Souths in Brisbane next Sunday after a committed defensive effort restricted the Storm to their lowest score of the season.

The Panthers took the early advantage when Nathan Cleary laid on a try for Stephen Crichton in the third minute with a pinpoint cross field kick out of dummy half.

The Storm lost Christian Welch and Brandon Smith to failed HIAs early in the game and committed 10 errors in a poor opening stanza as Penrith seized control.

Centres are always crucial and even more so in big games where defence comes to the fore because those in the No.3 and No.4 jerseys control a lot defensively.

You control that line. If you want to push up and tighten things up in defence it always ends with you. As a centre, you get to make that call. It's been known as one of the toughest positions to defend and decision-making is a big part of that.

You have to be alert to what's around you. There's a lot of decisions to make in attack too if you have a two-on-one or there's any type of overlap.

The Eels were on the attack in the dying minutes of the semi-final when the incident took place.

The NRL has issued the Panthers with a breach notice proposing the penalties against the club and their orange shirt trainer Pete Green, who would be banned from accessing the field of play and sideline for the remainder of the 2021 season after an alleged breach of the game’s operations manual.

The manual makes it clear that a head trainer can only stop play after making an initial assessment that a doctor is required to enter the field of play.

The grinding 8-6 win over Parramatta on Saturday in Mackay was an energy-sapping encounter and the Panthers haven't got the luxury the Storm have enjoyed - virtually 14 days of rest to soothe some of their aches and pains. 

Then again, revenge is a hungry beast and the Panthers appetite is still there to knock the team, that beat them last year, out of this year's finals.

These are the best two teams from the 2021 NRL club competition - 21 wins each from 24 matches.

The Panthers have only scored one try in each of their two finals matches but a 40th minute Nathan Cleary penalty goal proved the difference in a gripping contest that left the shattered Eels preparing to return home after exiting in the second week of the play-offs for the fourth time since 2017.

Cleary’s men must now face the Storm next Saturday at Suncorp Stadium, after losing to South Sydney last weekend, for the right to face the winner of Friday night’s Rabbitohs-Sea Eagles clash in the premiership decider.

Mackay will be the venue for their week-two semi-final on Saturday night with the Panthers coming off an upset loss to Souths and the Eels building momentum after a gutsy win over Newcastle.

The Panthers have had a smooth run throughout most of the season but they were brought undone by the Rabbitohs in week one of the finals.

Parramatta have been much more inconsistent throughout the season and have a recent history of finals fade-outs counting against them.​