Panthers reign supreme after dominant NRL Grand Final win

The Penrith Panthers won the 2022 NRL Premiership on Sunday night in a comprehensive 28-12 win over the Parramatta Eels. The Panthers have followed in the footsteps of some great teams that have played for the Brisbane Broncos and Sydney Roosters to win back-to-back premierships, but are now beginning to establish their own dynasty.

Not only were the Panthers able to win the NRL Premiership, they also won the NSW Cup (before winning the interstate challenge against the Norths Devils), the under-19’s SG Ball Cup and under-21’s Jersey Flegg Cup. The only Panthers side that did not win a premiership was the under-17’s Harold Matthews Cup team which was knocked out in the semi-finals having lost only one game in the regular season.

Dylan Edwards was clearly the best player on the field in the NRL Grand Final and his efforts were rewarded with a Clive Churchill Medal. Edwards carried the ball for 291m, assisted in scoring a try, broke nine tackles and a defensive line, set up another three line breaks, completed two offloads and made no errors in a display deserving of an Australian Kangaroos call up.

The Eels were playing to break the longest drought in NRL history, having not lifted the Provan-Summons Trophy in 36 years. Parra did themselves no favours with their poor discipline as their back five alone had 10 errors compared to the Panthers eight errors for the whole team.

The Panthers’ success in the first half, and the match, was only achieved through their hard work and remarkably high possession rate. Penrith made the Eels do an immense amount of defensive work, carrying the ball for over 1100m compared to the Eels’ 500m at one point in the first half alone.

The battle in the middle third of the field was seen on multiple fronts as both forward packs strove to assert their dominance early. The Eels were also hyperaware of Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary, as the kick pressure applied to him early was enormous.

The Panthers opened the scoring in the 11th minute after a lazy defensive effort from Marata Niukore gave Stephen Crichton space to produce another incredible individual effort to score. It only took another six minutes for the Panthers to score as their dangerous left edge was given time and space to draw and pass, giving Brian To’o an empty edge to cross in the left corner.

From there it was almost one-way traffic as the Panthers held their work ethic, work rate and intensity at higher levels than the Eels for longer periods in the game. This was most evident when Cleary kicked behind the Eels’ defensive line without a Parra player in sight as forward Scott Sorenson scored an uncontested try to take the Panthers to an 18-point lead.

As valiant as the Eels were in defeat, the case can be made they were also hard done by when it came to the To’o try in the 45th minute. Mitchell Moses was in the Eels’ defensive line and only had eyes for the ball when Viliame Kikau contacted Moses on his outside shoulder and denied him the opportunity to shift to his right.

The final scoreline flattered the Eels greatly after late tries to Clint Gutherson and Jake Arthur in the dying minutes put them on the board, but there was far too much work to be done by that stage.

The evening could not have been a better send off for some Panthers players who are bound for new clubs in the 2023 season. Kikau is headed to the Bulldogs to join some former teammates, while Api Koroisau is headed to the Tigers in hopes of helping them bounce back from their wooden spoon season.

The Eels are also farewelling players heading into the 2023 season. Reed Mahoney is also headed to the Bulldogs, while much has been made in recent weeks about Isaiah Papali’i and whether he will honour his contract and go to the Tigers to join Koroisau.

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