Rabbits star’s read ‘ricochets’ in ugly start

Penrith are champions of the NRL for the first time since 2003 after an iconic NRL Grand Final that was absolute heartbreak for Rabbitohs fans and halfback Adam Reynolds.

Reynolds had a late conversion attempt from the sideline to tie the game up, but his kick sailed wide — triggering the Panthers’ celebrations a few minutes later.

It was euphoria for the Panthers at full time as they erased their own heartbreak from 12 months ago when they lost the decider to Melbourne.

It was an absolute thriller that came down to the final play where Reynolds had one final chance to attempt a long-range, two-point field goal, but his pressured kick dropped short, giving the Panthers a 14-12 victory.

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A Nathan Cleary penalty goal was the only thing that separated the two teams as they headed into the dressing rooms with the score 8-6 after an explosive first half.

The Rabbitohs then tied it up at 8-8 with a controversial penalty goal that left the scores locked with 15 minutes to play.

It was only late that the critical moment of the contest arrived when Stephen Crichton scored from an intercept pass that appeared to break South Sydney’s backs as they watched the Panthers take a 14-8 lead with 10 minutes to play.

There was more absurd drama late when South Sydney came back from the dead to score, setting up a grandstand finish in the dying moments.

Alex Johnston scored in the corner but Reynolds couldn’t nail the conversion from out wide, leaving the Bunnies two points adrift.

The Souths halfback has played for the Rabbitohs for his entire career but Sunday night marked his final game for the club, as he heads to Brisbane next season.

It was also Wayne Bennett’s final game coaching the Rabbitohs, losing back-to-back Grand Finals after appearing in his 10th career Grand Final as coach.

Penrith held on with their lives to win the epic contest.

Reynolds was devastated when interviewed after the game.

He said during his concession speech: “To Wayne and the coaching staff and the players, keep your head held high lads.

“Sorry we couldn’t get the job done tonight. Gave it our all. I love every one of you. Lastly, to all our fans and our members, I love you guys from the bottom of my heart. It has been one hell of a journey. Sorry we couldn’t get the result done tonight. No doubt the boys will be back fighting next year.”

It was the exact opposite for Penrith’s No. 7 with Cleary awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as the best player in the Grand Final. He couldn’t wipe the smile off his face when interviewed after the game.

“It honestly feels like a dream,” he said.

“We have been working so long to get to this moment. Everyone back in Penrith it is for you guys and I can’t wait to party when we get back. We did it.”

He said in his speech: “We did, it we climbed Everest.”

Cleary and his dad Ivan have become the first father-son combination since John Lang and Martin Lang won a premiership with Penrith in 2003.

It could so easily have gone against them.

The Rabbitohs were brave, but their bravery was matched by the cool, clinical performances from Penrith stars.

Nathan Cleary repeatedly put his throat on the Rabbitohs with his silky kicking game keeping the Rabbitohs pinned down the wrong end of the field.

His dominant performance helped the Panthers forwards win the arm-wrestle in the middle of the field, with the Rabbitohs looking exhausted late in the first half as a result of their lack of possession.

The Panthers finished with 1788-combined run metres while South Sydney had 1429m between them.

Dylan Edwards, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o all ran for more than 200m, while Thomas Burgess (136m) was the only Rabbitohs player to make more than 110m.

The Rabbitohs have won the league’s admiration for their ability to stay in the contest, but the Panthers won the thing that counts.

Read on below to see how all the drama unfolded.

Heartbreak as Reynolds misses Grand Final equaliser

Adam Reynolds has missed a sideline conversion with five minutes left to play in a kick that would have tied the game up at 14-14.

Reynolds, who is playing his last game for South Sydney, had an instantly iconic moment when his kick sailed across the face of the goal and couldn’t swing back inside the post.

His kick came after a late try to Alex Johnston that brought South Sydney back from the dead.

Cody Walker earned some redemption when he played a huge part in the build-up to Johnston’s try which went through the hands of Dane Gagai before Johnston dived over in the corner.

One NRL commentator described Reynolds’ heartbreak as “just cruel bad luck”.

Crichton intercept puts Panthers in front

Stephen Crichton has scored the biggest try of his life to put Penrith ahead with less than 15 minutes to play.

Crichton picked off a Cody Walker cut out pass near the 50m line and was able to stroll over the line untouched.

Walker’s pass almost found an unmarked Alex Johnston on the wing, but Crichton’s play turned the Grand Final on its head.

It put Penrith ahead 14-8 with 11 minutes to play.

Second half: Gould blows up over huge controversy

There has been huge drama early in the second half with South Sydney losing its captains challenge over an NRL rule book Phil Gould has described as “stupid”.

Adam Reynolds attempted to put a bomb up just inside the half way line when he was tackled by a Panthers forward in a motion that saw the Steeden rebound of the defender and bounce over the sideline.

Replays showed the ruling was correct under the interpretation of the rule book. It resulted in the contact with the ball being ruled “not played at”.

Despite the correct decision ultimately being made. Gould was blowing up when speaking on Channel 9.

“How can that be.” he said.

“It is the stupidity in the rules. Absolute stupidity in the rules, and it is a technicality that you don’t want to be bringing out now. If he passed the ball into his arm, making a tackle, it is six again.

“The fact he has kicked it, it is still got to be six again if he is trying to pressure the kick, surely, he is playing at the ball.

“Penrith get the advantage, but that is a stupid rule, a stupid interpretation of it.”

There was drama earlier in the second half also when Cameron Murray cleverly milked a penalty by positioning himself between a Panthers forward and Dylan Edwards as the fullback was returning a kick.

Murray used the position to exacerbate the contact he had that prevented him from tackling Edwards.

Andrew Johns said on Channel 9 it looked like Murray had been getting “acting tips from Russell Crowe”.

Panthers star’s brutally honest half-time reveal

Nathan Cleary gave a surprise admission in his half time interview when he said he was the reason South Sydney was able to score.

Video replays showed Cody Walker’s amazing solo try was the result of his ability to step inside tired Panthers forwards, but Cleary says is was his error that led to South Sydney’s only points of the half.

He said, “One defensive lapse from me” was the reason South Sydney only trailed by two points at half time.

First half: ‘Gone’ Souths star finally escorted off

Penrith has edged in front with a penalty kick late in the first half.

The Panthers were able to turn the screws on South Sydney after dominating possession and field position.

The Rabbitohs were out on their feet late in the half and were lucky to only trail by two points heading into the second half.

Silky tries by Matt Burton and Cody Walker were the highlights of the opening 40 minutes.

Burton scored first when he took advantage of a poor defensive read by Campbell Graham. He only needed a simple dummy pass before slicing through the defensive line after Graham’s misread gave Penrith an overlap.

However, just four minutes later, Walker produced a moment of magic when he ran 50m by himself to score under the posts.

Walker caught a retreating defensive line off guard when he stepped back inside towards the centre of the field. He then streaked through and stepped around Dylan Edwards.

Earlier, South Sydney suffered two concerning moments with star players taking ugly hits.

Dane Gagai was forced from the field after he took heavy contact to his head while attempting to tackle Paul Momorovski.

Gagai went low and got his head in the wrong place.

Rugby League immortal Andrew Johns immediately recognised Gagai was in a bad way, however, Gagai continued to play for several more minutes before he was taken from the field by a medical official on the ground.

“Gagai is gone. He’s stumbling,” Johns said.

Earlier South Sydney forward Cameron Murray’s head snapped back in the first tackle of the game while attempting to tackle James Fisher-Harris.

Murray stumbled briefly after the tackle was completed but was able to rejoin his team’s defensive line.

Johns said on Channel 9: “Cam Murray got shook up on that big tackle”.

Veteran commentator Ray Warren said: “It was an absolute cannonball. The shoulder, and his head went ricocheting from head to head like a pinball. I hope he is OK.”

Penrith rolls the dice on injured star

Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards has proven his fitness in the pre-game warm-up and has been named in the Panthers’ official team for the Grand Final.

Edwards’ foot injury was the biggest talking point on Sunday after he was spotted at the team’s training walk at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday morning resting on crutches and wearing a moon boot.

Edwards has managed a foot injury in recent weeks and has previously worn the moon boot in the lead up to the Panthers’ earlier games in the finals series.

Former Panthers supremo Phil Gould posted on Twitter Edwards will have received a pain-killing injection in the minutes before the opening kick-off.

“He hasn’t trained for a few weeks. Gets needles to play,” Gould posted on Twitter.

“Tough kid. He will need injections again today.”

Penrith’s official team sheet showed one surprise with Viliame Kikau moving to the bench and Liam Martin replacing him in the second row.

South Sydney has not made any changes to the 17-player team announced on Tuesday.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary on Saturday dismissed Edwards’ foot problem as a concern.

“Dylan’s fine – he’ll be right,” Cleary said.

“He’s started the week on crutches and a moon boot for the last three weeks – it’s just to take weight off the foot. “He was one of our best last week, he’s very important to our team. I’m sure both teams that are carrying injuries, we certainly have.”

Originally published as NRL Grand Final: Penrith win after Reynolds’ heartbreak