Penrith Panthers' ultimate revenge in Melbourne Storm ‘absolute war’

The NRL world has seen one of the all-time resurrections as the Panthers did the unthinkable against the record shattering Storm.

Penrith are into the decider against Souths. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The Penrith Panthers have set up a Grand Final clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs after classic 10-6 victory over the defending premiers the Melbourne Storm.

It was the ultimate revenge for the Panthers after the Storm beat Penrith in last years’ Grand Final.

The match was one of the great Grand Final qualifiers with the Panthers pulling off the stunning victory in a match that saw both sides walking wounded and exhausted by the end of the match.

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It was a monumental victory for the Panthers, especially as the Storm had lost just three games leading up to the preliminary final, tallying the second highest amount of points in rugby league history.

The match truly had it all — controversies, incredible attack met with brutal defence in what commentators called “an absolute war”.

The Panthers celebrate the win. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

At full-time, Panthers club legend was blown away by the quality of the match.

“That was an incredible game,” Alexander said. “Both teams were the favourites all year. Everyone thought that would be the Grand Final and that lived up to what everyone thought a decider would be. It was a brutal game and I don’t think I’ve seen two sets of players as exhausted as both of them. The Storm couldn’t mount an attacking raid because they had no gas left and Penrith could barely defend. It was a monumental effort from both sides and Penrith were able to hang on.”

The loss will sting for the Storm, particularly after the gutsy effort after losing both prop Christian Welch and Brandon Smith through head injuries in the opening half.

The Panthers led 6-0 at the break, as only a brilliant piece of vision from Nathan Cleary saw Stephen Crichton score in the corner after the half chipped the ball to the unmarked winger.

The Panthers’ Brian To’o scored two minutes into the second half to make it 10-0 but it was far from over.

15 minutes to go, the Storm have made it a four-point game with Ryan Papenhuyzen scoring next to the posts.

The Storm had been struggling to get any shot at the line and it’s taken a innocuous kick from Cameron Munster than beat Viliame Kikau for Papenhuyzen to close the scoreline to less than a converted try.

What could have been for the Storm. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

The Storm have been right up against it with Brandon Smith and Christian Welch already out of the game and the Storm had been looking tired.

With less than a converted try between the sides in the final minutes, the Storm pushed hard for the win but weren’t able to get through the resolute Storm defence.

no joke though revenge for last year feels so fucking good #NRLStormPanthers

— Alex McKinnon (@mckinnon_a) September 25, 2021

Game of the season. Unreal. #NRLStormPanthers

— Scott Bailey (@ScottBaileyAAP) September 25, 2021

Revenge! Brilliant game! Beyond excited. The footy team I’ve followed for the last 18 years is off to another grand final! Let’s bring home the silverware this year! Up the mighty @PenrithPanthers! #NRLStormPanthers

— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) September 25, 2021

Two great teams who did a pretty good job of disrupting each other. Feel for Storm fans - win 19 in a row and not in the GF. What a strange season. #NRLStormPanthers

— Bill Woods (@bmrwoods) September 25, 2021

Huge game. Well done @PenrithPanthers. Bad luck @storm. #NRLstormpanthers

— Dave Hughes (@DHughesy) September 25, 2021

Cleary said this game was crazy.

“Last week was tough but it just went to another level this week,” he said. “Things weren’t perfect but we just kept turning up and having each other’s back and that’s what it’s all about.”

The Panthers have a chance to go one step further. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Storm skipper Dale Finucane said he was disappointed by the result and said Melbourne “didn’t give ourselves a genuine chance”.

“We went into half time at 57 per cent completions,” he said. “It was only 6-0 down, but we let ourselves down with completions tonight. I’m obviously not taking anything away from the Panthers, they were outstanding and have been all season. But it’s a disappointing way to finish our season.”

Speaking on ABC, Cameron Munster didn’t hold back, saying: “It was one of the worst performances of the year, and unfortunately it was on the biggest stage.”

However, there will be plenty of questions from the match after Nathan Cleary was reported over a lifting tackle, despite not many people believing there was much of an issue, despite an accidental high shot from Cameron Munster went completely unpunished on field.