NRL grand final: Nicholas Tadros and Ivan Cleary share a moment after epic victory

Watch the touching moment between SeaWorld helicopter crash survivor Nicholas Tadros and the three-time premiership-winning coach Ivan Cleary in the Panthers dressing room Sunday night.

“Thank you.”

They’re the two words from Nicholas Tadros, the brave young boy who survived the SeaWorld helicopter crash, that melted Ivan Cleary’s heart.

This masthead captured the touching moment between Tadros and the three-time premiership-winning coach in the Panthers dressing room last night.

As Penrith superstars celebrated their historic three-peat, Cleary made sure to give some of his time to Nicholas and his father Simon.

The Panthers, in particular Jarome Luai, became a source of inspiration and played a vital part in the 11-year old’s recovery from the helicopter crash that also took the life of his mother Vanessa, and three other people, in January.

As the two chatted away in the sheds, Nicholas stopped, looked up at Cleary and said: “Thank you”.

The words had an immediate and visible effect on the coach, who without hesitation embraced Nichols in a tight hug.

“He’s become a very special member of our Panthers community and it’s so good to see him so happy,” an emotional Cleary said.

“What Nicholas and his father have been through is unimaginable.

The Panthers welcomed Nicholas Tadros and his father Simon into their room after the grand final.

“I want us to be a source of community pride and if we can put smiles on people’s faces and make them feel good, that’s a pretty privileged position to be in and we take that seriously.”

Nicholas also had a heartwarming encounter with the Luai, the Penrith star responsible for converting the youngster from a Sea Eagles fan into a full-fledged Panther.

Luai was seen embracing Nicholas after Sunday night’s win against the Broncos in the sheds at Accor Stadium.

The moment was made even more memorable for Nicholas when Luai took off his premiership ring and handed it to the youngster to try on.

Nicholas suffered multiple life threatening injuries in the fatal crash on the Gold Coast 10 months ago.

After waking up from a coma to find out he’d lost his mother, and also had his right leg amputated, Nicholas refused to speak.

That was until he met Luai.

“When Nicholas was born I tried to make him a Sea Eagles support but once he knew what football was, nothing was going to stop him from supporting the Panthers,” Simon said.

“When Nicolas was in hospital he was in a bad space, we reached out (to Penrith) and Jarome answered the call.

“Before Jarome came to see Nicholas he wasn’t really talking to anyone.”

Now Nicholas will proudly tell anyone who asks about his favourite football team and star player.

“I saw a video of him (Jarome) on YouTube and I started to watch Panthers games, I saw they were such a good team so I decided to go for them,” Nicholas said.

“He’s my favourite player, I love him.”

Originally published as NRL grand final: Nicholas Tadros and Ivan Cleary share a moment after epic victory