Penrith have pulled off a sensational upset win over Melbourne to set up a NRL grand final clash with South Sydney but star halfback Nathan Cleary is facing a nervous wait on his availability for the game.
The Panthers’ playmaker was placed on report midway through the first half of Saturday’s stunning 10-6 preliminary final win at Suncorp Stadium for a lifting tackle on Kenny Bromwich.
Cleary will be eagerly awaiting Sunday’s judiciary report from the match review to discover if he will be charged for the incident, potentially placing his spot in the decider in jeopardy.
Panthers’ coach Ivan Cleary had another halves concern moments later when Jerome Luai left the field after copping a stray Cameron Munster arm to the back of his head following a linebreak.
The Panthers were livid when Munster escaped unpenalised as a groggy Luai left the field, but the Penrith five-eighth returned after the halftime break to play out the game.
Tipped to be under the cosh against well-rested defending champions and minor premiers Melbourne, the battle-hardened Panthers’ flipped the script from the outset as they exacted revenge for last year’s grand final defeat.
A heads-up kick from dummy half by Cleary found an unmarked Stephen Crichton out wide to score untouched in the second minute and leave the Storm rattled.
Shortly after that Storm prop Christian Welch left the field following an earlier collision with Matt Burton, the Queensland State of Origin star subsequently being ruled out of the game after failing his HIA.
Melbourne were down to just two players on the interchange bench by mid-point of the half when Brandon Smith also came off with a HIA as well as a shoulder issue.
The hooker was also subsequently ruled out by medical staff, putting huge pressure on the Storm’s remaining 15 players.
The Panthers clearly came with a plan and rattled Melbourne with stirring defence as the Storm finished with a plethora of uncharacteristic errors.
Some of those were especially costly with George Jennings and Reimis Smith both dropping the ball as the Storm threatened the tryline.
Some sensational Panthers’ defence also kept the Storm out in the opening half with Crichton and Burton pulling off separate try-saving efforts to deny Justin Olam and Jahrome Hughes.
Penrith made the most of another error at the start of the second-half by the Storm, extending their lead when a sweeping move to the left allowed Brian To’o to score and put the Panthers 10 points clear.
The Storm battled their way back into the match when a Cameron Munster grubber in the 63rd minute deflected off Viliame Kikau and into the hands of a grateful Ryan Papenhuyzen who converted his own try to set up a grandstand finish.
A Kurt Capewell error followed by a penalty with three minutes to play gave Melbourne one last shot at saving their season.
But the Panthers’ resolute defence held firm to send them to a second straight grand final and rematch with their conquerors in the opening week of the finals.
AAP
