NRL Finals 2021: Nathan Cleary, Mitchell Moses battle rekindles memories of Greg Alexander and Peter Sterling

For only the second time in a semi-final, western Sydney rivals Penrith and Parramatta will face-off in a battle to keep their season alive and two gifted halfbacks will take centre stage.

GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA – JULY 14: Mitchell Moses of the Blues offloads the ball during game three of the 2021 State of Origin Series between the New South Wales Blues and the Queensland Maroons at Cbus Super Stadium on July 14, 2021 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Almost 40 years after two legendary halfbacks faced off in the first semi-final on the western front, Nathan Cleary and Mitchell Moses take centre stage in the battle for bragging rights.

For all their storied rivalry, Saturday night’s sudden-death clash will be just the second time Parramatta and Penrith have met in the finals – the first coming when Greg Alexander and Peter Sterling were feeding the scrums way back in 1985.

In those days, Alexander and the Panthers were trying to catch up with Sterling and the high-flying Eels, who had won three straight premierships from 1981-83.

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Now Moses and the Eels are trying to do the same with Cleary and the Panthers as the neighbourhood rivals write a new chapter in their battle for western Sydney supremacy.

“The rivalry was fierce and it was born out of us trying to make our mark on the game and they already had, they were the champs,” Alexander said. “We were the minnows at that stage. There was no win that was anything like beating Parramatta.”

Panthers great Greg Alexander always enjoyed getting a win against the Eels. Picture: Mark Evans

Penrith needed to win a playoff with Manly on the Wednesday night just to make the finals, and they ran out of gas in their third match in seven days.

The Eels cruised to a 38-6 win, with Sterling putting on a typical masterclass at halfback — Alexander might have been the Dally M player of the year, but the Parramatta man was still the benchmark for playmaking excellence.

“I grew up admiring Sterlo, we went to the same school and he was a hero of mine,” Alexander said. “To play against him in my early days, to get a run against Peter Sterling, it was unbelievable, so much so that it was almost daunting.

“He wasn’t a sledger, he always played clean — I don’t know if you enjoy playing someone but I enjoyed playing Sterlo because we just went out and played.

“That was probably our grand final — going from an extra time game on a Wednesday night into another game on Saturday, against the Eels who were a great side? We weren’t ready for them.”

Greg Alexander was a big admirer of Eels great Peter Sterling.

This time around it’s Penrith who are the established powerhouse and Cleary who is judged to be the best halfback in the competition, even though there’s not much between the Blues halfbacks on the stat sheet.

“If Mitch can replicate the game he played last week it’ll go a long way to putting the Eels in with a massive chance to win the game,” Alexander said. “It was the best running game he’s played this year.

“A lot of what the Eels did came through Mitch — if he wasn’t setting up the breaks, it was off the back of his quick play-the-ball.

“Nathan’s had a great season, the contributions around him just need to be there. He played in a side that was well-contained by South Sydney last week but he’s, without doubt, the most important man on the field for Penrith.”

Cleary and his cohorts have achieved so much over the last two seasons, but defeat will condemn them to the same fate as last year — a glorious, record-breaking regular season that ends short of the ultimate prize.

Nathan Cleary is the key cog in the Panthers’ team. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

“When you do lose it’s natural just to want to get out there and perform better, that’s been the whole focus this week,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said. “We’re in great shape. We’re feeling good. Last week was just a hiccup. We just need to play better.

“There’s always challenges. That’s just part of evolution. We just have to play better as a team, and that’s on all the individuals.”

Parramatta are dealing with a different kind of expectation after falling at the week two hurdle in each of their last three trips to the finals.

But not once in those three years did Moses played with the composure or command he showed in last week’s win over the Knights and it’s why Eels coach Brad Arthur has backed his side to be in the battle to the very end.

“I’m sick of talking about last year,” Arthur said.

“I’ll be really happy if, in the 78th or 79th minute, if we’re still in the fight, either in front or in with a chance to win the game.

“It’s not getting over-excited, it’s being happy with what works for us. And when it’s not working and we have to fight and scrap for it, just persist for longer than the opposition.

“(Mitch is) a big reason of why we’re able to do that, on the back of his kicking game.”

Proof Moses critics have got it wrong

— Paul Crawley

This is the inside story that reveals just how brave Parramatta’s much maligned halfback Mitchell Moses really is.

In the countdown to Saturday night’s sudden-death NRL final against Penrith, NSW coach Brad Fittler and chief adviser Greg Alexander have lifted the lid on what was undoubtedly one of this season’s most courageous stories.

The Blues’ brains trust have opened up about the full details of how Moses survived 73 minutes in his State of Origin debut playing with a fractured back.

Mitch Moses played most of Origin III with a fractured back.

And Fittler says what he remembers above all else is how the halfback, who is often accused of being a flat track bully, never complained once.

In fact, the Blues coach says he wasn’t even aware of how serious the injury was until well after the match.

“No, I didn’t know. Not to that extent,” Fittler revealed.

“But at the end of the day he never complained once.

“He never complained after the game, and then we find out a week later that he has got a fracture.

“So it only adds to why we picked him, because I know what he is about.”

The injury occurred in just the seventh minute when Moses, who had been called up to replace the injured Nathan Cleary, was smashed in a tackle by Queensland enforcer Felise Kaufusi.

Alexander said he went into the dressing sheds at halftime and saw Moses getting treatment from the team physio.

“And I went up to him and said, ‘Mate, are you all right? Is everything good?’,” Alexander continued.

“And he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I just got whacked in the back and it is feeling a little uncomfortable but I’m good to go’.

“And no one knew until after full-time.

“The Doc picked it.

“Nathan Gibbs said, ‘I think he’s got a fracture of the transverse’. And a day later after his scans that was the case.”

Which is why in the aftermath of the Blues’ shock game three defeat Alexander went into bat for Moses as criticism mounted that he had failed to record a single run.

“Well, I did stick up for him,” Alexander added.

“Not knowing how serious his back was but I just knew he was a better player than what he played that night.

“And he showed that on Sunday (in the first-up 28-20 finals win against Newcastle).

Brad Fittler said he was unaware of the extent of Mitch Moses’ injury.

“That’s what Mitchell should be playing like.

“He scored that try. He made another clean line break.

“But even when he wasn’t making clean line breaks he was troubling them by running the ball and getting quick play the balls.”

Alexander agreed it is like Moses is finally starting to believe in himself.

And while the Penrith director doesn’t hide from the fact he’ll be cheering his beloved Panthers on Saturday night when Cleary goes head-to-head with the player who was called up to replace him in Origin, Alexander also had some advice for the player considered the fastest halfback in the league.

“He has got a great kicking game,” Alexander said.

“But you can’t continue to survive passing and kicking.

Nathan Cleary presents a massive challenge for Mitchell Moses.

“You’ve got to be able to run.

“If you’re a halfback that doesn’t run, well, you are a halfback that doesn’t threaten.

“And therefore that increases the pressure on those around you if you don’t run.”

Fittler says he has no doubt this game against the Panthers is Moses’ biggest match yet.

“Absolutely given what he did last week,” Fittler said.

“It will be interesting how they try to expose each other.

“Not just the halfbacks but the two teams.

“I think it will be very physical so they won’t be able to avoid that.”

Originally published as NRL Finals 2021: Nathan Cleary, Mitchell Moses battle rekindles memories of Greg Alexander and Peter Sterling