Broncos and Panthers at full strength for NRL grand final

Brisbane Broncos and Penrith Panthers will be close to full strength for the NRL grand final on Sunday, with both clubs escaping their preliminary finals with a clean bill of health.

The Panthers were magnificent in thrashing the Melbourne Storm 38-4 in their preliminary final on Friday night, with both Jarome Luai and Izack Togo getting through the clash after returning from injury.

Luai in-particular had heavy doubt surrounding his participation in the finals, with the Storm even intimating that they would target him as a weak link, but the star playmaker managed to get through 58 minutes of the game before sitting out the rest.

“Very courageous, not just physically but mentally, the way he has approached this whole injury,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said in the post-match press conference.

“From the moment he came off that night, saying all the positive things. That’s the thing, everyone was talking about it this week, but for us he wasn’t really in doubt.”

The only player on the Panthers’ injury list is Taylan May, who has missed the entire season with an ACL injury.

The Broncos were also brilliant in their preliminary final, dismissing New Zealand Waratahs 42-12, with no real injury concerns coming out of the contest.

The only player, pending fitness, that could come into consideration for the grand final is Xavier Willison, although he is more likely to come into the line-up on the bench.

The Panthers have been installed a $1.62 favourite with NRL betting sites to win the grand final, with the Broncos priced at $2.30, also receiving some love from punters.

Penrith is gunning for their third successive NRL premiership, with the last team to achieve this feat being Parramatta in 1981, 1982 and 1983.

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