There were wild scenes inside the Penrith dressing rooms after they became just the second club in the NRL era to win back-to-back titles on Sunday night.
Bottles of champagne and goggles were waiting inside KFC buckets on the dressing room floor and Jarome Luai was one of the first to arrive, draped in a Samoan flag.
Spencer Leniu came walking down the tunnel yelling “let’s go” Tom Brady style, and about an hour after full-time the entire squad was back inside the sheds.
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Champagne showers ensured and the candy necklaces came out as the beers were flowing.
Luai wasted no time bringing out the boombox and the music was pumping as family as friends piled into the rooms.
A noticeably relieved Ivan Cleary arrived after his press conference and cracked a beer straight away.
Cases of Tooheys New and Hahn Super Dry flanked the walls and they were emptied into an esky in the middle of the room which required regular top ups.
One of the walls of the dressing room had a huge print out photo of the club’s NSW Cup side celebrating winning the premiership a week earlier.
Top Gun posters were also up as Cleary revealed the hit movie had played a role in their season and was a recurring theme throughout.
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The Provan-Summons trophy was set up in the corner as players posed for photos alongside their children. The Cleary family got a photo together.
Brian To’o found a Samoan flag of his own and was conducting interviews wearing it around his shoulders, telling journalists that Nathan Cleary is “the GOAT” and joking the halfback is “half Samoan” and could join his side at the World Cup next month.
Viliame Kikau was walking around holding his child and soaking up his final moments as a Panther, with the star second rower to join the Bulldogs next season.
Api Koroisau was in a similar boat as he’s off to the Wests Tigers and the departing hooker was donning sunglasses and a huge smile.
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The Panthers walked back out onto the turf just before midnight to soak up the victory in the middle of the field minus the 82,415 fans.
They set up for a group photo but Isaah Yeo was missing and moments later he came sprinting out of the tunnel as his teammates chanted his name.
J’maine Hopgood briefly commandeered a golf buggy from the side of the field and started driving in circles around the group while beeping the horn.
The majority of the players stayed out in the middle of the field taking photos and drinking beers until almost 12:30am.
Nathan Cleary was the last to leave the field and took a video selfie of himself inside the empty stadium just before heading back up the tunnel.
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