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The Sydney Roosters took out the Holden Cup in a thrilling come-from-behind win, chasing down the Penrith Panthers to win by two points.
All the wash-up from the NRL grand final:
» LORD: Gallen leads Sharks into history books
» PRICHARD: 13 extra seconds, but the Sharks did it
» Five talking points
» Ten best tweets from the match
» Sharks player ratings
» Storm player ratings
» Match report: Sharks’ wait over
» Re-live the match with our live blog
Final score
Penrith Panthers 28
Sydney Roosters 30
For the second year in a row, the Penrith Panthers will attempt to take out the Holden Cup and go back-to-back, as they take on an exciting Sydney Roosters outfit at ANZ Stadium to kick-off the biggest day in rugby league. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 1:35pm (AEDT).
The Panthers finished at the top of the ladder, having won 18 and drawn two of their 24 matches.
Incredibly, three of their four losses came in the last six weeks of the competition, meaning at one point they had won 15 of 18 matches.
More impressively, though, they scored a massive 851 points throughout the season, which is 70 more than any other side, and came in with an average of 35.4 per game, which even by Holden Cup standards is outrageous.
In a competition that is not big on defence, the Panthers are the team that stand out – they let in just 382 points during the season – about 15.1 per game.
The kicking game of Tyrone May and Dean Blore is accurate, but the way they are able to run and pass, setting up points on a regular basis, is fantastic.
With a forward pack that is led by Oliver Clark and some explosive runners including fullback and Australian under 20s representative Dylan Edwards, it’s not hard to see why the Panthers have done as well as they have.
The Roosters, on the other hand, finished the regular season in fifth place with 14 wins, and really had to fight hard to make the decider.
After wins against the Canberra Raiders and Cronulla Sharks, they took on the more fancied St George Illawarra Dragons coming away with a hard-fought six-point victory.
Their key man is centre Joseph Manu. The way he runs the ball and targets the Panthers edge defence is of paramount importance, although the position and time he has on the ball will be decided by halves Paul Momirovski and Jesse Marschke, along with hooker Grant Garvey, who all have massive roles to play.
The sides faced off twice during the season, with both matches ending in blowout wins for Penrith. The first was in Round 7, which finished 50-4, while the second was a slightly closer 40-22.
Prediction
The Panthers won the competition last year, and it’s hard to see them not doing it again. They have been the best team all year by the length of the straight, and the Roosters will be no match.
Panthers by 20.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of the National Youth Competition grand final from 1:35pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to get involved by dropping a comment below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde