A Sunday afternoon arm wrestle at BlueBet Stadium saw the Penrith Panthers out last a spirited Newcastle Knights 22-14, with Penrith stars, young and old, standing out for the mountain men.
Nathan Cleary was able to take the game by the horns and show he is a clutch player, injecting himself at the right moment to put a halt to the Knights Crusade, which saw them come close and keep the Panthers fans on the edge of their seat for the majority of the game.
It was the Knights who showed resolve on their line early, thwarting the pressure from the Panthers' attack. And it was the Knights who struck first after a high ball from Tyson Gamble was fumbled by debutant fullback Isaiah Iongi. Taking advantage of field position, Daniel Saifiti stormed over, and it was 6-0 after Kalyn Ponga's conversion in the 7th minute.
But the Panthers pounced right back off the kick-off after the Knights made an error early in their set of six from the kick-off. Matt Eisenhuth hit the line, drawing the Knights defence in only to offload, and the Panthers went left, sending Casey McLean over in the 11th minute for his second NRL try, levelling the game 6-6 after Nathan Clearys' conversion.
The next 25 minutes of the game was an arm wrestle as both teams gained good territory, but both were conceding penalties, giving their opposition reprieves from line attacks.
The deadlock finally broke when Izack Tago made a break down the Panthers right around Greg Marzhew and opened up space for Brian To'o, who gained ground and then came back in to find Tago in support to go over for his first try in eight games for the Panthers. Clearys' conversion in the 27th minute put the score at 12-6
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary's interchanges around the 22-minute mark may have paid off, as in the last 10 minutes of the half, the Knights just seemed to be hanging on. A ‘No Try' to Tago in the 33rd minute saw no letup from the Panthers, and their pressure saw Jack Hetherington go high, gifting two points to round out a big half 14-6 for the Panthers.
The half ended with Ponga only going for 23 meters at the back while his opposite, Isaiah Iongi, had run over 100 metres. The Knights were being vanilla in their end-of-set kicks, while the Panthers were not letting up in intensity.
The second half started as a slogfest, with each side probing for space or an error. Liam Martin went full beast mode with a scamper down their right edge only coming to a stop as Ponga put his body on the line.
Tyson Gamble came up with a big play just after this to put some wind behind the Knight's sails with a cheeky 40/20. But the Panthers were showing up in defence, and the Knights asked no hard questions at the end of their sets. We were at another stalemate, and each team was waiting for the other to break.
And as a credit to the quality of footy that was being played, the error in play didn't come till the 55th minute when Sunia Turuva failed to handle a fumbled ball from a Knights attack. The resulting scrum Gamble saw a sprinting Tyson Frizell hitting a gap, and he went over to put the Knights within two points after Pongas' successful conversion made the score 14-12.
There was a definite spring in the step of the Knights after this try and the game was having all the hallmarks for a blockbuster ending.
Another ‘No Try' came after the Panthers turned defence into attack, with Tago slamming Ponga in a no-look pass and To'o running off to the try line. But it was ruled high and the Knights got a chance with good field position to come back. But it was a second high shot, this time on Phoenix Crossland, that gifted the Knights a two-point penalty conversion in front, bringing the game level at 14-14 in minute 66.
Crossland had to go off for an HIA and was replaced by a competent Jack Cogger. But the sniff of a victory against the NRL heavyweights took a blow after Daniel Saifiti went high in a tackle, giving the Panthers a ticket to do down the field.
This was finished off when Nathan Cleary showed how much of a clutch player he is, tacking on the Knight's defence with a big right step and plenty of intestinal fortitude to go over in the 70th minute. He gets the conversion and it's a six-point game.
The last ten minutes saw the Knights get another chance at the Panthers' line, only for Gamble not to put any polish on a grubber behind the line, giving the Panthers the ball back and an easy set out of their half.
A final Panthers raid on the Knights line saw another head-high tackle penalty awarded and Nathan Cleary out over the two points on the buzzer to take the game and bring up 1500 points in his career in the NRL.
Both coaches were pleased with their respective team effort, wth a good show put on for the Sunday afternoon fans. Newcastle coach Adam O'Brien felt that ill-discipline let them down and not being able to make anything out of the last tackle. He did praise his teams' efforts, as he said with the loss of Jacob Saifiti before the whistle already put their backs against the wall, but they rose to the occasion.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary felt it was a hard-fought victory and was impressed that Isaiah Iongi finally got a chance to play in the NRL, where he sees the kid having a bright future. Coach Cleary was also proud of the big play moment from son Nathan to score the final and winning try.
The Panthers will look to secure a top-two spot in a game against Parramatta next round and possibly the Minor Premiership since the Strom dropped the ball against the Dragons in the Saturday round of games. While Newcastle still has a few fingers gripping onto their run to the finals, which sees them take on the Wests Tigers at home next round.