Melbourne Storm hold off late Penrith charge in grand final to claim fourth NRL premiership

It started with an illegal outstretched leg and finished with a frantic flourish that was very nearly a Penrith comeback for the ages. Ultimately, though, Melbourne Storm confirmed they are the dominant NRL team of the 21st century.

The Panthers were less than four minutes into their first grand final in 17 years when Tyrone May’s stuck out his right limb, which stopped Justin Olam burrowing under him and over the line. Josh Addo-Carr had kept the ball in play with a smart flick at the corner but, for the few moments after on-field referee Gerard Sutton ruled this a “no try”, May had seemingly done his job.

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Seconds later the indefatigable Cameron Smith had made the first of three conversions – he finished the 80 minutes with 14 points – in the Storm’s 26-20 triumph, a turbo-charged, sometimes grotesque, often spectacular affair. The scoreboard at ANZ Stadium read 22-0 at half-time; the Panthers scored three times in the last 12 minutes.

That early penalty try was the first since one was awarded to Jamie Lyon in 2013. These oddities tend to happen in season-deciders. Just utter the phrase “six again” and every Canberra Raiders fan will understand its significance.

Yet in the strangest of seasons, and after a 16-team competition somehow side-stepped a pandemic, order was, in a sense, restored via Melbourne's sixth grand final win – albeit the 2007 and 2009 titles were stripped due to salary cap breaches. And while Penrith must wait at least another year to add to their 1991 and 2003 premierships their counterparts, displaced amd living out of suitcases since June due to Covid-19, ensured their era of superiority continued.

This was the Storm’s 10th grand final in 23 years, and one up against the youthful vitality of the minor premiers. But it was their first premiership without the other two-thirds of the big three in Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, and may yet send the last out on a high, should 37-year-old Smith retire. He refused to shed any light on the subject on the night.

It was also an individual triumph for coach Craig Bellamy who, at 61, is the oldest coach to win a decider, overtaking super coach Wayne Bennett who was 60 when he guided St George Illawarra to glory over the Roosters in 2010. And while Bellamy’s charges were pushed until the death – not to mention the late sin bins for Brandon Smith and Jahrome Hughes – the brutal first-half dismantling they had already inflicted proved a fine safety net in a game where little is safe.

There was a sense in those first 40 minutes that luck was on the Storm’s side. Olam’s penalty try was the start. Then, Josh Mansour’s seventh-minute try was disallowed for Stephen Crichton’s obstruction. Soon thereafter Crichton himself thought he had touched gold only to be told he had only made contact with a bit of air. Smith kicked two penalty goals.

There were also periods – before the frenetic finale – during which the Panthers’ play warranted a 19th straight win, when set after set and wave after wave had the Storm stretched thin, their every sinew strained. But there were others, too, like when Nathan Cleary misdirected a pass and had the misfortune of watching the intercept fall for Suliasi Vunivalu. The Fijian took it to ground, then he flew, melting away 80 metres at 33km/h as mere mortals in black chased vainly in his wake.

This turn of events had a distinctly Houdini flavour - the Panthers appeared to have buried themselves alive despite their clear capacity to get themselves out of a bind. Except that, instead of emerging intact, Ivan Cleary’s men never resurfaced. The whole escapade wreaked of Vaudevillian wickedness, headlined by a Cameron Smith caricature.

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The veteran of “will he or won’t he?” fame made another cut 60 seconds before the break, right when Penrith needed to stem the bleeding. The initial call was “no try”, on the assumption Smith had dropped the ball before retrieving and dashing through an opening. But replays showed Apisai Koroisau had knocked it from his hands, and another conversion later it was 22-0.

“Obviously it didn’t go quite to plan in the first half, but I think it’s important we score next,” coach Cleary said at half-time. “Doesn’t have to be straight away. We can’t concede another point, another try.”

Five minutes into the second half, Clive Churchill medallist Ryan Papenhuyzen sprinted 70 metres after the break to score untouched from a scrum. The game looked gone, but it was not the death knell it should have been.

With 28 minutes to play, Penrith raced from 26-0 down, reducing the margin to six with three seconds remaining and one final play to level it from the kick-off after a late Cleary try. But after a cross-field back and forth the ball landed in Felise Kaufusi’s hands to wrap up Melbourne’s fourth title.

“This is unbelievable,” Papenhuyzen said being named player of the match. “I’m pretty speechless. I got pretty emotional after the game. It’s been a bloody tough year. We didn’t know where we were going. We were sitting on the tarmac at Bankstown Airport and we didn’t have a clue where we were going. We just stuck together, we overcome and adapted and we got history.”