The 2024 NRL season is officially over and in hindsight, we should’ve known all along how it was going to end.
A system purpose-built for finals football and orchestrated by the best player in the game has proven the winning formula for four years running and these Penrith Panthers are showing no signs of slowing down.
Big games are often won by little moments, and the 2024 NRL Grand Final was no different.
While Melbourne had their chances, too often the Panthers came up with the right answer in defence before icing a select few moments of their own with the ball in hand.
Let’s take a look at a few of those moments from Sunday night.
Deciding Moments
Harry Grant TRY – Melbourne icing half-chances
We spoke on the Neds Unpopular Opinions Podcast last week about Melbourne’s ability to nail even the slightest opportunities, particularly after soaking up pressure with their defence.
That’s exactly what they did in the lead up to Harry Grant’s opening try; a yardage penalty provided the Storm with half a chance and they took it, four tackles later.
Asking Penrith’s right edge to make repeat defensive efforts throughout the set, Grant finally punished that fatigue when Nathan Cleary was left on the ground following a Shawn Blore carry.
While the Panthers edge defenders slid out to check the threat of Cameron Munster, Grant was able to target the space left by Cleary to sneak past the markers and score – classic Melbourne Storm.
Sunia Turuva TRY – Penrith adjusting on the run
Just minutes after Melbourne landed the first blow, Penrith replied by punishing a Will Warbrick kick defence error with trademark efficiency.
In one of the Panthers earlier attacking sets, they fired a shot through Jarome Luai, Paul Alamoti and Turuva down their left edge.
Alamoti’s quick hands beat the jamming edge defence on that occasion, but it was a cue for Cleary and the Panthers to adjust.
They set up with similar shape in the lead up to Turuva’s try, only this time Alamoti acted as pivot in a wrap-around variation of the earlier block-shift.
With Nick Meaney stuck in the mud at two-man and Warbrick left stranded on the wing, Alamoti and Luai created the overlap to put Turuva over untouched.
Sunia Turuva reached a high-speed moment of 30.6kmph to score for the Panthers! 🔥#TelstraTracker pic.twitter.com/xiHXyJQDKi
— NRL (@NRL) October 7, 2024
When people talk about Cleary’s footy IQ or intelligence as a playmaker, this is it in the flesh.
The Panthers system ensures all players are in the right positions around him while Cleary plays conductor; asking questions of the defence, reading their response and then asking a different question to get them somewhere else.
A joy to watch.
Eli Katoa try saver
A Ryan Papenhuyzen error from the ensuing kick off gave Penrith another look and the best in the business very nearly punished it accordingly.
A beautifully weighted Luai grubber kick almost put Turuva over for an early double, only for Eli Katoa to come from nowhere and produce a try saving cover tackle just metres off his own line.
Ryan came up with a beauty of a stat on the poddy last week; Penrith have kept three of their last four grand final opponents to 14 points or less. They only needed three tries on Sunday to beat the best attacking spine in the NRL thanks to their efforts without the ball – Isaah Yeo said as much in the post-match.
Katoa was immense in a losing side, consistently winning moments like this on both sides of the ball to be Melbourne’s most productive forward on Sunday.
Liam Martin TRY – Panthers asking the right questions
If you don’t believe me, believe James Graham, Gordon Tallis and Brandon Smith on The Bye Round Podcast this week.
Martin’s try before half time looked like ‘eyes up’ footy but came courtesy of a principle Penrith have played to for five years now; turning the ball back in towards the ruck.
Not only does it promote fatigue into your opponent’s middle, it also repeatedly tests your opponent’s willingness to not switch off for a single moment.
When the ball went left to Luai, young Jack Howarth stopped for a fraction of a second while Cameron Munster kept moving on his inside.
That disconnected eventually became the space for Martin to pour through two passes later, once Penrith switched the ball back across the ruck.
Caught out of position, Howarth was forced to overcorrect in the line and Cleary punished him for it.
No team in NRL history has asked the right questions and produced the right answers as consistently as this Penrith Panthers juggernaut.
Jack Howarth NO TRY – Penrith’s kick defence
Right from Melbourne’s first attacking kick we saw the Panthers back three very passive while defending the high ball.
They repeatedly allowed Xavier Coates and Will Warbrick a free play at attacking kicks, instead positioning themselves to catch the Storm wingers or defend the tap-back – just as they did for Jack Howarth’s no try.
Given how lethal Melbourne have been on fifth tackle inside their opposition’s 20m line this year, Penrith’s unusual kick defence tactic proved a masterstroke on Sunday. In the Howarth example, their effort to get bodies in the frame ultimately put enough doubt into The Bunker and was rewarded with the correct decision by the letter of the law (and I lost three stakes on Melbourne, by the way…).
Hard workers get lucky and nobody works harder than the four-time champs.
Paul Alamoti TRY – Penrith’s kick chase
In contrast to their defensive tactics under the high ball, the Panthers consistently earned an advantage from their aggressive efforts on the kick chase.
Liam Martin led all comers with his ability to hit Xavier Coates or Ryan Papenhuyzen as soon as they came down with the ball, restricting how Melbourne worked out of their own end.
He was finally rewarded with a highlight reel involvement late in the piece, winning back possession for Alamoti to put the result beyond reach.
Shoutout to Moses Leota and his habit of appearing in the most unexpected – and important – areas on the field.
That’s two try involvements from the big prop in consecutive Grand Finals, simply because he never stops moving.
Key Takeaways
There was an inevitable sense of deflation across social media following Penrith’s historic achievement.
While Panthers fans are understandably – and deservedly – celebrating, ‘tall poppy’ syndrome has well and truly set in across the wider rugby league community.
The average punter either can’t or doesn’t want to appreciate what Penrith and the Cleary’s are doing right now, and they are already crying out for a different flavour in season 2025.
Unfortunately, there’s every reason to believe we’ll be back here again in 12 months time.
James Fisher-Harris is an enormous loss and could be the metaphorical straw that breaks the camel’s back next year.
Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva will also leave gaping holes, but we’d be foolish to assume Penrith won’t find a way to replace them, particularly with Isaiah Papali’i and Blaize Talagi arriving over the summer.
The Penrith Panthers will be thoroughly deserving of outright favoritism in the 2025 NRL premiership market.
For the Melbourne Storm, a fairly inexperienced grand final squad was probably understated in the lead up to this one.
Their star-studded spine made for the bulk of media content last week but very little was made of the fact that most of that Storm team was playing in their first decider.
Add another few big bodies (g’day, NAS and Stef) and another 12 months of experience to that same side, and Melbourne will be right to expect a different result.
They loom as Penrith’s greatest rivals again next year and appear unlikely (touch wood) to suffer the same curse that has crippled the Panthers last three grand final victims…
I’ll be tuning in once a week over summer to recap highlight moments from NRL 2024 and to keep a running tab on any breaking news leading into next season.
Jump into the comments and let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to preview/review over the offseason!
Chur,
Oscar JP
RLWAPPAREL.com