The biggest roar in the Panthers sheds after the grand final came when Nathan Cleary walked over to dad and coach Ivan Cleary to add the final missing piece to their “Undisputed” championship belt.
The belt was only introduced during the finals series by Cleary as a motivation tool – and it certainly did the trick as the premiers produced one of the greatest comebacks in the modern era to defeat Brisbane 26-24.
This masthead was inside the Accor Stadium sheds when a proud Cleary addressed the playing group.
“Firstly, I want to thank everybody in this room and anyone who has ever supported us,” Ivan Cleary said.
“It’s been a long journey. I know this year’s team has been an incredible team, that’s one thing, but this is also part of three in row.
“There are people here who have done so much for this team and club – players, coaches, staff members, they’re all a part of this three-peat.
“This group, man, I love you guys so much. That tonight was unbelievable. We played a way that would have beaten most other teams. But the Broncos didn’t go away.
“When we were down 24-8 and in all sorts, I thought we accelerated. We need to finish off our belt.”
Nathan then walked over, was handed a gold medallion, and stuck it in the last remaining slot on the front of the belt. The results from their first two emphatic wins during the finals, against the Warriors and then Melbourne, also featured on the belt.
Stephen Crichton with the undisputed championship belt on Sunday nightCredit: Bradley Kanaris/Getty
“Dad came up with it,” Nathan said afterwards, as three-time surfing world champion and Panthers super fan Mick Fanning bounced around the winning dressing room.
“We have a theme each year and this year it’s the ‘Undisputed’ theme. From the outside looking in, people might think it’s a bit lame but for us, it gives us a purpose.
“He’s not really a wrestling fan so I don’t know how he came up with it. I think he was just looking at different athletes and teams from all sorts of different sports. Just champions, teams that keep winning.”
The Panthers trailed 24-8 just after the hour, had Isaah Yeo and Scott Sorensen off the field undergoing head injury assessments, and lost Jarome Luai to a shoulder injury. Luai refused to remain in the sheds at half-time, but only lasted another 10 minutes before succumbing to the pain.
Cleary stepped up with a linebreak before he put Moses Leota over for a try, kicked a 40/20, then scored the winning try with some excellent footwork.
Even some good judges in the Broncos sheds were hailing it the greatest 25 minutes in a grand final – ever.
“That is the best 25 minutes you’ll ever see in a grand final from an individual,” Darren Lockyer told this masthead.
“When he set up Leota, I’m pretty sure Yeo and Luai were both off the field. I was sitting there as a Bronco thinking, ‘if we keep Cleary quiet, we’ve got this’.
“Most of the Broncos players knew that, but we couldn’t stop him. We didn’t do a hell of a lot wrong in that final 25 minutes, we just couldn’t get the footy back.
“The Leota try was out of the blue, then came the 40/20, the repeat sets, more tries … we just couldn’t get the ball back.”
For all the love for Nathan Cleary, rival halfback Adam Reynolds was struggling knowing he had lost a second decider to the Panthers in three years. He lost in 2021 while still at Souths.
Reynolds injured his hip pointer in the 25th minute, planned to offload most of the kicking duties, but refused to leave the field.
“I could feel the hip from that moment in the game, it just felt yuck and didn’t feel right,” Reynolds said.
As for Cleary, Reynolds told this masthead: “I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. Without him there tonight, they don’t win. He’s the best halfback in the game and got them home tonight.”
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