The fortunes of each team on Friday night at Accor Stadium were ultimately going to rest with their star playmaker.
Nathan Cleary was near perfect, Cameron Munster was nearly invisible.
Jarome Luai came into the game with question marks over his dodgy shoulder after suffering a dislocation less than a month ago but it was his rival wearing No.6 for other team who played like he was wearing a dinnersuit.
Munster at his best is the game’s most damaging five-eighth with the ability to break the line from close range with a combination of size, strength and pure will to get the Steeden over the stripe.
Where has that player gone?
If you see his photo on the side of a milk carton please contact the Melbourne Storm offices to let them know you have located the player they paid massive coin to keep from the Dolphins’ clutches at the end of last season.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The Storm went into the match with a plan to attack down Munster’s left edge to pit Justin Olam against Izack Tago, who looked rusty in defence after playing just once in the past two months due to leg and hamstring problems.
It worked in the 10th minute when Olam scored Melbourne’s first points after Tago came up with a ginger grab on the PNG powerhouse.
Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes, also not 100% fit after a week out with a knee injury, often took the ball deep into the Penrith defensive line to cop a bruise as he passed wide to support players surging into the space he’d created for them.
But while he took the attack to the Panthers, his halves partner was benign.
Munster ran the ball just three times in the first half, less than any of his backline comrades, and was far too happy to catch and pass. He managed eight hit-ups in the second stanza but all up, he gained just 68 metres for his side and a solitary tackle break from his 11 runs while passing 43 times.
Ratio, as the self-professed cool kids write in the Twittersphere (or is that Xsphere now?).
(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
The Queensland star is renowned as a big-game player and they don’t come much more important than a preliminary final against the premiers but he failed to fire, which became an all too frequent proposition in 2023.
After the Storm were flogged 26-0 by the Broncos at the start of the finals series, Munster said he couldn’t remember the last time he’d played too bad games in a row, partly as a way to motivate himself for their sudden-death stoush with the Roosters.
He improved big time as the Storm snuck past the Roosters, conjuring up the kick for the match-winning try, but his hot-and-cold run continued with a tepid display when it mattered most against Penrith.
Munster is no longer in the conversation for the best player in the NRL. The superstars perform at a high level all the time.
If he needs to see a living, breathing example of that then all he needed to do was glance across at his Kangaroos halves partner from last year’s World Cup success.
Cleary orchestrated Penrith’s dominance with his kicking, passing and organising but was not afraid to roll his sleeves up to do the hard yards.
He won his team a penalty by running out of dummy-half at an offside defender, defused a Storm break by rushing back to reel in an intercept (from Munster’s clutches) and had a hand in all three first-half tries as Penrith established an 18-4 buffer.
And when Liam Martin brushed off a feeble Munster tackle in the 54th minute, Cleary sprinted up in support to seal a 20-point advantage and effectively end the contest a long way from full-time.
Dylan Edwards touched down soon after before Cleary, now bandaged after a head clash with Josh King, created the play for Brian To’o to notch his hat-trick and complete a clinical 38-4 thumping.
The Panthers, now into their fourth straight Grand Final and one more win away from a rare premiership three-peat, have reached a stage where opposition coaches have given up trying to bring them down with tactics and bring out the old-fashioned roughhousing.
Melbourne man mountain Nelson Asofa-Solomona was charged with the assignment of unsettling the Panthers early by any means possible and he was lucky to avoid the sin bin for his 17th-minute cheap shot on Cleary.
Big NAS was sat down by Craig Bellamy straight afterwards but referee Adam Gee should have done so first.
While Immortal halfback Andrew Johns described it as stupid on Nine commentary, Gee explained to the Storm forward that the only reason he was not being binned was because it was just a push.
But it was still, late and forceful with the potential to injure a playmaker when he was least expecting it as well as happening a few minutes after Gee had threatened the captains that he would start using the sin bin if the niggling incidents continued.
Gee then claimed it was a “line in the sand” moment when repeating his warning to the skippers after a minor melee followed the NAS hit.
Defenders will now think they have sin bin immunity if they send a playmaker sprawling as long as they only push them down rather than attempt a tackle.
In reality there was little the Storm could do, legally or otherwise, to prevent the Panthers’ potency.
Even though they botched a couple of try-scoring chances, there was a sense of inevitability about the result from the mid-point of the first half when To’o touched down for his second try to open up a 12-4 lead.
“You cannot rest physically or mentally,” Johns added in commentary as he watched on in awe about Penrith’s precision.
For the Broncos or Warriors to have any chance next Sunday, they will probably need to play the perfect game.
And even that may not be enough.
matth
Roar Guru
Agreed, just look at how Munster and Cleary go in State of Origin behind more evenly matched packs
Panthers
Roar Rookie
No. Seriously. I may use some banter . I don’t support either club & I know you like to take some shots at the Panthers . Then I remember Ray Chesterton putting a story in the paper in 2003 , the day before the GF. Saying ‘The Roosters will win the GF & everyone else can have a nice day’. I’ll just leave it at.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
You were cheering for the Bears though, am I right?
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Well done to South Sydney, on their NSW Cup Win.
langparker
Roar Rookie
How many clubs would make a prelim final the year after they lost 4 international forwards from their pack. Doesn’t matter that they were mostly getting on in years, experience counts in clutch games. When the Storm won premierships with the big 3 (or Big 4), Bellamy turned journeymen into a good support cast, however that was before the tackle restart rule was introduced & the game is now much faster & more taxing with lengthy periods of the ball in play. That tires the journeyman players & fatigue creates opportunity for quality players. Last night shows how much.
London Panther
Roar Rookie
And Cam Smith, Tino and Vunivalu the year before. They have done very well to continue to be so competitive overall.
London Panther
Roar Rookie
Agree. They have been ravaged by the salary cap. Part of it is having such a great spine there is less money to go elsewhere. It does also mean you need value from your spine. Obviously what is happening with Paps is heartbreaking for him personally, but also a huge challenge (and piece of the cap) for the Storm to overcome. Hughes has been in and out of the team recently with injury (albeit he generally looks great when playing) and I think both Grant and Munster look injured/fatigued. Could have done with a rest a different stages this year, but unfortunately the way the Storm is built is that they need to be on the field as much as possible.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
I’m not so sure? The Storm next season will have the North Sydney Bears as another feeder club, in NSW Cup. To add to Brisbane Easts & the Sunshine Coast Falcons in Queensland. Their Jersey Flegg team has actually been on the up, only barely missing the finals. With players such as Sualauvi Faalogo to no doubt play first grade next season. He looked like another Walsh.
Phil
Roar Rookie
Putting it simply, Melbourne need some rep class forwards, at least three, two props and a 2nd rower. They don't have the muscle to trouble the big boys anymore. As well as forwards their centre stocks could do with some boosting too. Although they made it to one game short of the GF, they lost games a top four team should not have lost. Five games they dropped to bottom 8 sides by a combined score of 155 - 86. Overall their season can be described as successful but they sure do need some heavy artillery. For all the commentary on Munster, his low par performances of late show an injured player. That knee does get a lot of strapping.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Seve had 3 handling errors and 2 penalties, which just kill you when playing Penrith.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Yep, halves naturally go missing if their forwards don’t aim up. There are some pretty average forwards in their squad at the moment, blokes like Kamikamica, Welch, Loiero, King, Eisenhuth and Sims have been treading water this season and don’t trouble any of the top teams. But to be fair to Bellamy, he was tipped to fail after losing the Bromwich brothers, Felise Kaufusi, Brandon Smith and effectively having Papenhuyzen out for the season. The year before they lost Dale Finucane, Josh Addo-Carr and Nico Hynes, so Bellyache has been dealing with a massive change in the roster. All things considered, they probably overachieved by finishing 3rd.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Munster is a fantastic player. But tell me when he last played to his high standard. It is well over a month.
Col in Paradise
Roar Rookie
I suspect also that Munster has been carrying a injury for tyhe past 3 weeks - his form has been off due to that...but as per comments above I agree aprat from the 3 - Munster, Grant, and Hughes they others are a level lower than them and most of the Panthers...
tommy42069
Roar Rookie
Just have a look at the running metres: Kamikamica: 66, Welch 65, Loiero 60, King 91, Katoa 90, Eisenhuth 37, NAS 40, Sims 44 By comparison, Leota 121, JFH 150, Sorenson 147, Martin 112, Yeo 210, Leniu 105. Blaming a half for that seems odd. Switch the halves and I doubt it makes much of a difference to the result. The love child of Sterlo, Johns, Alfie, and Stuart wouldn't have done much behind that pack.
RLFan
Roar Rookie
For a halfback to shine their forward pack needs to hold its own and last night that was not the case, the Melbourne pack is not as dominant now and Penrith had the upper hand. Cleary keeps getting better, but the criticism on Munster a bit harsh I thought.
paul9998
Roar Rookie
Storm need centres who can run and pass accurately at speed, set up their (good) wingers plus defend reliably. They also need props who are mobile and have some fear factor (like Penrith). Welch and Tui are slow and clumsy, NAS is big, lazy and ineffective (remember Manly's Tony Williams!). They also need a (focussed) captain who commands respect (like Smith) and takes his responsibilities seriously instead of being the "knowing", mister nice guy.
Tony
Roar Guru
Storm might need to do some recruiting for the first time in a while
Albo
Roar Rookie
Yep ! King has been fantastic for the Storm all year. The rest of the pack have battled. They lost their experience and power this year when the Bromwich boys, Kaufusi and Smith left. Their 3 stars in Grant, Hughes and Munster had enough class to win many Club matches throughout the year, but they were steamrolled in those big matches against the Panthers , 3 times this year, and Broncos last week. Furthermore , to Munster, I am sure he is still injured to some degree. He has had that knee bandaged for weeks. And last night he had one of the best defensive combos around his neck in Martin and Cleary, that gave him no room to move.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
The Storm forward pack were never going to be anywhere near case effective without Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi and Brandon Smith. A diminished forward pack was always going to be the Storm's biggest hurdle in 2023, along with Meaney filling in for Papenhuyzen.
SSTID
Roar Rookie
Agree with all 3 comment thus far. I would only add that, like Souths, Storm are on the downward slide. The team as a whole don't look as dangerous or lethal as they did a couple of years ago and I can't pin it down to any one thing or player. Time marches on and teams start to lose their lustre and just fade away to come back again another time.