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AAP
AAP
Jasper Bruce and Scott Bailey

No haze for Cleary as urge to carry Penrith takes over

Nathan Cleary with the Panthers' Provan-Summons Trophy after his masterly grand final display. (Mark Evans/AAP PHOTOS)

Nathan Cleary calls it an urge to take the game on.

The moment when, with 20 minutes to play, he realised it was on him to lift Penrith to a third straight premiership.

A moment when he looked back on his disappointment of the 2020 grand final loss to Melbourne, and refused to be in that position again against Brisbane on Sunday night.

"I just think when things weren't going right I just dropped my head and was in a haze," Cleary said of the 2020 defeat.

"What happened in 2020 readied me for tonight.

"Tonight when things weren't going right, I was playing well. I still felt clear in what I needed to do. 

"I felt this urge within me to take the game on. Where in 2020 I was probably shying away from it a bit just trying not to make mistakes."

Having fallen six points short of a miraculous comeback from 26-0 down in 2020, Cleary's determination was evident on Sunday night. 

It was there in a steely look in the 25-year-old's eyes that has not been seen at any other point in his career.

After missing tackles in the lead up to two of Ezra Mam's three tries that gave Brisbane a 24-8 second-half lead, it was Cleary who willed Penrith back into the match.

He was the only man to celebrate Moses Leota's 63rd-minute try, after he bust through the line himself and put the prop over.

While only a few Panthers even reached the end of the field to pat Leota on the back, it was Cleary who had the belief when he rushed to retrieve the ball and slot over the conversion.

That determined look was in his eyes again moments later, as he barked instructions after nailing a third-tackle 40-20 with co-captain Isaah Yeo and five-eighth Jarome Luai off the field.

And it was there most evidently when he darted back through the defence with three minutes to play, capping the biggest grand final comeback in history and one of the great individual performances.

Cleary's father Ivan also saw it, noting a far clearer and different look on his son's face when Penrith fell 24-8 down in the second half after his missed tackles.

"Sometimes things feel s**t at the time, like they did in that 2020 game, but I think it's made me who I am today," the halfback said post-match.

"I wouldn't say I was rattled (against Brisbane). I was probably disappointed with what I was doing. 

"I mention that 2020 grand final again, I was rattled that night. I reckon that's helped me in a moment like tonight."

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