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Jarome Luai failed to finish the grand final after again succumbing to his troublesome left shoulder injury.
That setback should have ended any hopes of an historic three-peat. Instead, it allowed halves partner Nathan Cleary to etch his name into folklore.
Luai cut a disconsolate figure as he trudged off Accor Stadium in the 52nd minute. A minute later, Ezra Mam scored the second of his three tries. Isaah Yeo and Scott Sorenson also spent time off the field before passing head-injury assessments, but not even those setbacks were enough to prevent the biggest comeback in grand final history.
Luai defied all medical expectations in returning from a dislocation so quickly. The Samoan international suffered the injury in the final game of the regular season and was back for the preliminary final, a layoff of less than a month.
He was given an early mark in last week’s commanding win over Melbourne, but this time the pivot had no say in the matter. The 26-year-old could only look on helplessly from the bench as the action unfolded without him. Yet when the hooter sounded, he was the first to congratulate the teammates who achieved the seemingly impossible without him.
“I tried needles at half-time,” Luai said.
“I did my best, but I injured it again.”
Asked what the win meant to him, Luai said: “No one has done this before, coming back [from so far back] in 20 minutes. It’s a testament to the boys, testament to this team.”
Cleary stood up in Luai’s absence. The halfback set up a try and then kicked a 40-20 to give his side a chance. And when the game was on the line in the dying minutes, he stepped through the fatigued Broncos defence to steal the game.
Luai will continue to be a big story in the weeks to come. Off contract at the end of next season, rival clubs will be able to begin tabling offers from November 1.
Due to salary cap constraints, the Panthers can currently only offer Luai – who currently doesn’t have a manager – about $800,000 a season. Given the dearth of playmakers, there would be rival clubs that would be prepared to go to about $1.2 million. Perhaps even more.
Nathan Cleary scores the match-winner for Penrith.Credit: Getty Images
“That’s part of the decision that I have to make when it comes,” Luai told this masthead during the week.
“I don’t know what’s in front of me yet, what other clubs are yet to say. I’ve spoken to a lot of managers and got their opinion, what they think I’m worth.
“That was a few months ago and that’s on the backburner anyway.”
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Penrith turned over the ball just once in the opening half. Given they had 57 per cent of possession, the statistics suggest they were close to perfect. However, that was far from the case.
On 23 occasions, the defending champions played the ball in the opposition 20-metre zone. The Broncos enjoyed just five. Yet Penrith’s only try came off a botched drop-out, which fortuitously found Mitch Kenny.
All that dominance counted for nought when the Broncos shot out to a 16-point lead with 24 minutes left on the clock. But then Cleary totally took over to create history.
