The grand final brawl that bonded Panthers stars Spencer Leniu and Stephen Crichton forever

Seven years ago they were on opposite ends of a junior rugby league grand final brawl. Now Panthers stars Spencer Leniu and Stephen Crichton will play their final games for the club.

Stephen Crichton will play his final game for the Panthers in the NRL grand final. Picture: Jonathan Ng

They may have been on opposite sides of a junior grand final brawl, but it was the moment that forever bonded them as Penrith teammates.

A scuffle was escalating after full-time had blown in the under-17s decider between the St Clair Comets and the Minchinbury Jets in 2016 when a heated Stephen Crichton began to race in.

That was until Spencer Leniu, playing on the other team, quickly intervened, knowing the pair were due to trial for the Panthers’ under-18s representative team the following week.

Leniu dragged Crichton out to save them from any potential repercussions.

“I knew we had SG Ball season coming up and I was just like, ‘Oh man, it’s not worth trying to have a fight now,” Leniu recalled.

Spencer Leniu and Stephen Crichton were on opposite sides of a junior grand final brawl, before going on to become Panthers teammates. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Others could see tensions between the bitter rivals bubbling for most of the game.

“It got pretty massive, and we did our best to split things up,” recalled Jason Pettit-Young, who was Crichton’s coach at the Comets.

“But then we all saw Spence come in and grab him.

“When they get to that rep level, that’s when they start creating that friendship. And to have that mind that ‘I’m going to play with this guy’, and separate it, it’s awesome.”

Crichton, who had attended school with Leniu but hadn’t known him before that time, initially didn’t take kindly to his future teammate’s intercession.

“Not at the time, no. But now, looking back, everything happens for a reason,” he said.

“We weren’t really that close, and we’d just known about each other. But he knew we were going to be teammates that year.

“Even a little gesture like that, it goes a long way. Now looking back, it means a lot to me.

“Those are the type of moments where you look back and where you build your friendships.”

Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu also played alongside each other at Patrician Brothers Blacktown.

The pair went on to climb through the junior ranks side-by-side at the Panthers, so close was their development entwined that they even made their first grade debuts together in 2019.

Four years on and Sunday’s emotional decider will mark their final games for the club, with Crichton joining Canterbury, and Leniu departing for the Sydney Roosters, next season.

Their exits will be especially bittersweet for Penrith fans, who have already lost a host of big names during their premiership run in Viliame Kikau, Matt Burton and Api Koroisau.

But none of those losses came from the area.

“Crichton’s one of the most humble guys you’ll ever meet,” said Pettit-Young, who still coaches at the Comets.

“He still brings garbage bags full of footballs down to the club at St Clair. Anything you do, he’d do it in a heartbeat for you. This year he sent video messages to our grand final teams.

Stephen Crichton is a big hit with Panthers fans. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“All the young kids that I’ve had a little bit to do with, knowing when they watch TV and see Stephen Crichton from the Comets, or Jarome Luai from St Marys, or Spencer Leniu from Minchinbury, it’s a big thrill to see those guys play for the local club.

“The impact the boys all still have out in the community, the programs they do — off the back of their own money — they’re just a great bunch of guys.”

Even Leniu, who, having forged his own reputation as the Panthers’ powderkeg off the bench, explained why he didn’t rush in to join the brawl all those years ago.

“Not to rub it in, but we won. So I didn’t need to be a hothead,” he said.

“It’s how it comes full circle. We grew up here, now we’re on the big stage together. Started together, now we’ll end it together.”

Originally published as The grand final brawl that bonded Panthers stars Spencer Leniu and Stephen Crichton forever