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Penrith 14 South Sydney 12
Panthers - Burton & Crichton tries; Cleary 2 conversions & penalty
Rabbitohs - Walker & Johnston tries; Reynolds conversion & penalty
Fulltime
40th minute - Reynolds has a hack at a two-point field goal from the 40, but it's short and Penrith only need to hold on for their seven-tackle set.
Yeo surrenders in a tackle and final siren sounds on Penrith's Grand Final victory. After losing to Melbourne Storm last year, the Panthers have bounced back for a championship title.
Great final, but Souths just could not find a way to win.
39th minute - Cleary kicks long and Souths have one last chance. Souths shift left, but Walker is tackled.
38th minute - Gagai hobbles away from a tackle and the play is reviewed for a high shot, but he's falling into the tackle.
Fisher-Harris deflects a pass and Souths have another six tackles. Walker sends Graham into space.
37th minute - Souths are hot on attack, but Walker's pass is deflected into touch. Ball goes to Penrith - big call.
36th minute - Less than five minutes left for Souths to find another score. They shift the ball from their own goal-line.
34th minute - TRY to Johnston
Souths win a penalty in midfield and Reynolds takes a tap. They move the ball left, where Walker and Gagai gives their tryscoring winger space in the corner.
Reynolds lines up a vital sideline conversion to level the scores, but he can't bend it back enough, PEN 14-12
33rd minute - Yeo reaches halfway. Johnston takes a high ball and Taaffe runs off him up midfield. Gagai busts a couple of tackles and Souths are on a roll.
32nd minute - Taaffe takes another high ball and Souths try to build from their own half. Graham gives Paulo some space and Burgess takes Cleary deep in the Penrith half.
31st minute - To'o reaches halfway and Fisher-Harris rampages into Souths territory.
30th minute - Luai chips towards Taaffe, who is tackled on the 20. Benji Marshall is on the field for Souths, who need some magic now.
29th minute - Souths kick off and Burton runs it back.
27th minute - TRY to Crichton
And that could be the match! Souths mount an attack from their own half, but Walker's long pass to the winger is picked off by Crichton and no-one will catch him with that start.
Cleary converts, PEN 14-8
26th minute - Graham barely retains the ball in a tackle and Nicholls is rocked back.
25th minute - Luai kicks high to Paulo and Burton tackles him into touch. More pressure from Penrith.
From the centre of the field, Penrith go right, but Edwards is halted. May knocks on and lets Souths off the hook again.
24th minute - Reynolds throws a speculator pass and Gagai has to tidy up. Walker threatens from broken play, but Penrith recover.
23rd minute - May has to hurry a kick and Taaffe runs it back to the 40, good field position for Souths.
22nd minute - Tatola reaches halfway for Souths and Reynolds kicks high to Edwards.
20th minute - Leniu drives through a tackle, Penrith move left, where Luai finds Burton running off him on an angle, but Burton loses the ball in a two-man tackle.
19th minute - May reaches halfway for Penrith and Cleary kicks high to Paulo, who has the ball dislodged a tackle and Taaffe has to scamper behind his goal-line to recover for a dropout.
18th minute - To'o gathers a kick behind him and chartes over the 20.
17th minute - Penrith move right, but a tap-on by Edwards is ruled forward.
16th minute - Cleary's high kick is bobbled back to Burton and Penrith have six more near the Souths line.
Cook reels from a tackle, after copping an elbow. Koroisau darts towards the posts and To'o is dragged down short of the corner.
15th minute - Quick hands from Souths and Walker takes a half gap. Burton takes a high kick.
14th minute - Cleary kicks to the corner, where Burton deflects it back to Sorenson, but he dies with the ball.
Souths move the ball right.
13th minute - Panthers on attack and defenders swarm on Luai, who grabs his head.
12th minute - Penrith into Souths territory. Cleary kicks to the corner, but Graham is high to claim.
11th minute - Reynolds' kick is charged down by Leniu and the ball bounces into touch. Possession is given to Penrith, because the forward was not playing at the ball.
10th minute - Luai kicks from the 40 and Taaffe is underneath. Souths move the ball left and Johnston races over halfway.
Ninth minute - Reynolds kicks high, but Edwards rises to claim the ball.
Eighth minute - Burgess lowers his shoulder and Su'A bumps off a tackle.
Seventh minute - Cleary almost busts through and pops the ball up for Kikau to score, but it goes forward.
Sixth minute - From the kickoff, Burgess crashes the ball up. Su'A spills the ball in a tackle, gifting Penrith good field position.
Meanwhile, Arrow has been ruled out with delayed concussion symptoms.
Fourth minute - Cook darts to halfway, but is monstered by Kikau. Edwards takes a high kick and Burgess tackles him high. The penalty goes to Souths for a shepherd on the tackle, with Capewell impeding Murray, who milks it for all it's worth.
Reynolds slots kick at goal, 8-8
Third minute - Yeo reaches halfway for Penrith and Cleary kicks high to Taaffe, who is safe.
Second minute - Reynolds runs on the last tackle, but a pass is tapped behind the winger by Gagai and into touch.
First minute - Penrith kick off for the second half and immediately concede two set restarts to give Souths momentum.
Halftime
40th minute - Cleary finds Edwards with a no-look pass. Penrith keeps the ball alive and Koroisau grubbers, smothered by Walker.
The half ends with Gagai tackled and Souths showing fatigue. Time to catch their breath.
39th minute - Souths back in possession, Cooks sends Reynolds on a run and Paulo makes metres, before the ball is dislodged in a tackle.
38th minute - Momorovski finds room for a dash and Crichton ducks over halfway. Luai almost carves through the defence.
37th minute - Souths make halfway through Reynolds, who moves the ball right.
36th minute - Souths break over halfway, Reynolds kicks high and Cleary controls the bounce. Leota runs over a defender and Cleary kicks to Taaffe.
35th minute - Cleary kicks high again and it bounces, Taaffe scampers.
34th minute - Martin charges from his own line, as Souths kick off.
32nd minute - Souths concede a penalty beside their own posts, after Arrow impedes a play-the-ball.
Cleary slots the penalty, PEN 8-6
31st minute - Graham and Taaffe conspire to turn the ball over inside their own 20, so a prime attacking opportunity for Penrith.
30th minute - Edwards takes a low kick and spins through a tackle. Penrith storm inside the Souths 30, but Johnston forces Edwards into error.
29th minute - Cleary kicks high, Johnston is safe.
28th minute - Cook kicks long and Edwards keeps it in the field of play.
Sorenson gets an offload to Koroisau, who cribs an extra few metres.
27th minute - Cleary kicks towards the posts, but Graham rises high to snatch the ball.
26th minute - Arrow is back on the field too, so look out for some fireworks between him and Kikau.
Jinking run from Crichton brings Penrith back to halfway.
25th minute - Fisher-Harris makes halfway, cleary kicks to Taaffe, who is safe on his line.
24th minute - Burgess reaches halfway, Reynolds spots a half gap, but Edwards takes a high kick behind the posts to defuse the attack.
23rd minute - From the kickoff, Burgess takes a hitup. Souths get a set restart and receive news that Gagai has passed his HIA.
21st minute - Arrow loses the ball in a tackle, but Kikau is put on report for a high challenge. Arrow's leaving for a head check and he's not happy with his counterpart.
TRY to Walker
From the penalty, Souths are into Penrith territory and run left, where Walker fends off one tackler 0 Cleary - and runs under the crossbar to score. Reynolds converts, 6-6
20th minute - Cleary's high kick is allowed to bounce and it bounces at right angles, recovered by To'o, but he's tackled on the last.
19th minute - Fisher-Harris takes another big hitup from the kickoff and lines up for a second in the set.
17th minute - TRY to Burton
Cleary and Yeo take on the defence, before the ball moves left, where Luai holds it up, Martin runs a decoy and Burton takes the gap to score. There's a suggestion Martin takes out a defender, but he's taken the inside shoulder and is allowed to stand.
Cleary converts from wide left, PEN 6-0
16th minute - Penrith get six more on the Souths 10.
15th minute - Reynolds kicks long, but infield. Momorovski reaches halfway for Penrith.
Cleary's kick to the corner comes off Paulo's shoulder and Taaffe recovers the deflection behind the goal-line for another dropout.
14th minute - Souths get a set restart inside their own 10, they're struggling for metres.
13th minute - Penrith attacking left, To'o ducks under a high tackle, but he's dragged down short on the last.
12th minute - Reynolds kicks high to To'o, who accepts it easily. No sign of Reynolds' injury so far.
Gagai is leaving for an HIA - he looks ok though. Benji Marshall comes on.
11th minute - Cleary puts up a high kick, but Taaffe slides to take it on the full. Tatola reaches halfway.
10th minute - Panthers trying to break out of their own 20 and Gagai puts in a big tackle that has him reeling.
Ninth minute - Cleary kicks from his own half and Johnston claims it. Reynolds reaches halfway, Cook goes left and Tatola has to dive on a loose ball.
Eighth minute - Souths into Penrith half and Paulo has a big run down the right, but a loose balls is snaffled up by Martin.
Seventh minute - Fisher-Harris takes another hitup, but loses the ball in the tackle to Nicholls.
Sixth minute - From the dropout, Fisher-Harris has another big carry. He takes them into the red zone on the fourth tackle and they go left, but Burton is wrapped up.
Cleary kicks to the goal area and Souths force the loose ball for another dropout.
Fifth minute - Penrith on the front foot and Burton dashes several metres. Edwards is collared by Walker, Cleary kicks high for Taaffe, who is driven back over the goal-line for a dropout.
Fourth minute - Souths have their backs up against their own goal-line, but Cook darts from dummy half to give them some breathing room for Reynolds' hurried kick.
Third minute - Mistake from Luai, but Penrith challenge the knock-on call. Replays suggest he keeps control of the ball in a tackle and Luai wins the challenge.
Second minute - Reynolds kicks high and long to Edwards, both coming through their initial injury checks.
First minute - Souths kick off and Fisher-Harris takes the first hit-up for Penrith.
Yeo reaches halfway and Cleary kicks high to Taaffe.
9:27pm - Just one late change to the named teams, with Liam Martin promoted to the staring line-up and Viliame Kikau moving to the interchange.
Penrith fullback Dylan Edwards has been seen hobbling around on crutches and a moonboot in recent days, but seems like he will take his place in the line-up, while an injury cloud hangs over Souths half Adam Reynolds.
Let's face it, at this stage of the season, everyone is injured, but they're not prepared to miss the Grand Final.
*****
Kia ora, good evening and welcome to Newshub's live coverage of the NRL Grand Final between Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
While many anticipated a continuation of the verbal sparring between coaches Ivan Cleary and Wayne Bennett, both have been reasonably cordial towards each other this week - apart from Bennett's reminder that an NRL championship is incredibly hard to win, but he's won seven of them.
Instead, the most drama has come from Queensland's most recent COVID-19 outbreak and threat of an imminent lockdown that would cause a postponement or relocation of the Grand Final, with Townsville standing by and Perth also putting its hand up.
The two teams have already met three times this season, with Penrith taking both regular season encounters by a total of 57 points, but Souths toppling them 16-10 in the first week of playoffs.
Most NZ interest surrounds Benji Marshall's bid for a second career championship, after starring in Wests Tigers' 2005 triumph, while the Rabbitohs line-up also includes Auckland-born Jaxson Paulo and Christchurch-born Jaydn Su'A.
Panthers will field Kiwi connections James Fisher-Harris (born in Northland), Jarome Luai (Māori mother), Spencer Leniu & Moses Leota (both born in Auckland), and Scott Sorenson (nephew of NZ Kiwis legends Dane and Kurt Sorenson).
Of course, Cleary played for and coached NZ Warriors in two losing Grand Finals, while son Nathan spent his formative years in Auckland.
TAB odds: Penrith $1.66, South Sydney $2.18
Penrith: 1-Dylan Edwards, 2-Stephen Crichton, 3-Paul Momirovski, 4-Matt Burton, 5-Brian To'o, 6-Jarome Luai, 7-Nathan Cleary, 8-Moses Leota, 9-Apisai Koroisau, 10-James Fisher-Harris, 11-Viliame Kikau, 12-Kurt Capewell, 13-Isaah Yeo
Interchange: 14-Tyrone May, 15-Scott Sorenson, 16-Spencer Leniu, 17-Liam Martin
South Sydney: 1-Blake Taaffe, 2-Alex Johnston, 3-Dane Gagai, 4-Campbell Graham, 5-Jaxson Paulo, 6-Cody Walker, 7-Adam Reynolds, 8-Mark Nicholls, 9-Damien Cook, 10-Tevita Tatola, 11-Keaon Koloamatangi, 12-Jayden Su'A, 13-Cameron Murray
Interchange: 14-Benji Marshall, 15-Jacob Host, 16-Thomas Burgess, 17-Jai Arrow
Marshall comes full circle, 16 years after first NRL Grand Final appearance
James Regan
Kiwis icon Benji Marshall last made the NRL Grand Final 16 years ago - and even he can't quite believe it.
The former NZ captain will line up for South Sydney Rabbitohs in Sunday night's NRL showpiece against Penrith Panthers.
"It's hard to comprehend at the moment, it's been so long I've forgotten what Grand Final week was like. I'm just really grateful to be in this position and have this opportunity.
"There's probably been a couple of times in the past five years where it looked like my career was over."
From the kid who starred in Wests Tigers' 2005 win to the Kiwis legend preparing to bid for a second premiership, Marshall, 36, has come full circle.
"To be able to be here at this great club, who have shown me a lot of support, especially the players, with Wayne [Bennett] to get me here... I've really felt the love being here and I'm really enjoying myself."
At the start of the year, Marshall didn't even have a contract, but was thrown a lifeline by the Rabbitohs. Since then, he's made every minute count.
He's enjoyed his time at Souths so much, he has no intention of retiring just yet.
"Put it this way, I feel like the way my body feels now, I could play next year if I wanted to, but I'll weigh all those things up at the end of the season"
"I've had five shoulder reconstructions at a young age, so to bounce back from that for me is something I'm most proud of."
After their Preliminary final win over Manly, Bennett predicted Marshall would retire after Sunday's Grand Final, but his x-factor bench player saw the funny side of those comments.
"I just laughed, I haven't even discussed retiring with Wayne at the moment."
Marshall's been instrumental in Souths' run this year, helping the team win 13 of their last 14 games.
"No matter what he does after this, it's been a special moment to be able to play alongside him and he's definitely one of the greatest players to play this game," says teammate Damien Cook.
Marshall's just as stoked to play in another Grand Final as his Kiwi fans, who performed a haka for the World Cup winner at training.
"Just reflecting on that, it's an honour when someone does a haka for you, so to have those boys and girls from the old school that I went to was really special."
Marshall will hope there's a winning haka as well on Sunday, if he can help lead the Rabbitohs to victory over the Panthers.
