It is tough watching a replay of a Grand Final the team you support loses.
I remember when this game happened, the Storm had been good for so long, they were led by the great Cameron Smith, and a very, very young Penrith Panthers team, who looked like they had a great future ahead of them, had made the big dance in what at the time seemed to be ahead of schedule.
When it happened, Penrith gave away a penalty try early. A good call too. That made the game 6-0. The Panthers kept making a lot of errors as you would expect from a young side in the Grand Final. They also gave away a couple of penalties. Soon enough it was 10-0 to the Melbourne Storm. You can’t give the Storm a 10-0 lead. For me personally watching the game, it was already over at the 26th minute.
The Melbourne Storm weren’t done though. The Panthers were so rattled, you could see it, this game was flying past them and the Storm were on. It was 22-0 at halftime, and the biggest loss in Grand Final history was not out of the question for the Panthers.
The second half starts and just 5 minutes in Ryan Papenhyuzsen scores a run away try. 26-0. A nightmare! It wasn’t too long after that though that things started to turn around.
Now let’s keep in mind, if you’re up 26-0 in a Grand Final, you’ve won it. The Storm are going to play a little differently at that point. They were just 35 minutes away from celebrating their triumph, and that needs to be kept in mind.
Still, something a little strange happened. This young Panthers side steadied their game, and started making a comeback.
The first try, a consolation obviously. 16 minutes later, about. 3 minutes after that, the Panthers crossed again. All of a sudden the Storms lead was cut to 26-16 with 9 minutes remaining. It forced the Storm to step things back up again, but the Panthers were coming after them.
The Storm managed to hold the Panthers out until the 79th minute. The Panthers turned down the conversion, leading just seconds remaining with the scoreboard showing the Storm leading 26-20. The
The Penrith Panthers got the ball from the kickoff and threw it all around the field, but an intercept by the Storm ended the match.
We didn’t know it at that stage, but we had just seen the making of one of the greatest teams of all time. The Storm celebrated a well deserved Premiership, and it felt like this Panthers side would be pretty good again the following season.
Looking back on this game though, the comeback by the Panthers probably showed us more than we realised. It wasn’t just a team coming home with a wet sail against an opponent that had switched off, it showed how this Panthers team would never give up as they continued their journey.
It also makes you think about how close we came to the Panthers winning the 2020 Grand Final too. Had they not given away such a gigantic lead to the Storm of all teams, would that comeback they went on have been enough?
It’s interesting to think about at the very least.
Here are the highlights of that match:
