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Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Nathan Cleary celebrates after scoring a field goal during the Panthers’ 29-28 win over the Roosters.
Penrith is one win away from his first grand final in 17 years after a Nathan Cleary masterclass made the Sydney Roosters’ shooting on a treble even more difficult.
Cleary scored a hat-trick in the first half and kicked a crucial field goal as the Panthers held on to win 29-28, leading to a second-half comeback from the first two defending titles.
And while Cleary finished with 21 points, his halves teammate Jarome Luai was just as good in his opener of the final with one hand on four of Penrith’s five attempts.
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But all was not easy for the Panthers, with Viliame Kikau facing a possible suspension for a dangerous tackle that threatens his preliminary final availability.
For the Roosters, they must now do it the hard way through a sudden death semifinal between the Canberra winner and Cronulla.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Jerome Luai of the Panthers falls near the test line.
After Penrith led 28-10 with 27 minutes to go, the Roosters scored two tries in 11 minutes through James Tedesco and Josh Morris to get back in the game.
A Clearly field goal seemed to seal the game with two minutes to go 29-22, but Penrith gave away a penalty kick off and Angus Crichton scored.
The Panthers were able to hold out, with Liam Martin making a last-minute tackle on Morris and Kikau poking a finger on a 40-meter field goal attempt by Luke Keary.
“I could feel the energy in the group that we were coming back,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“I knew we were coming, I knew we would win the second half. We just had to keep going and moving on.
“We just ran out of time.”
While Jared Waerea-Hargreaves reportedly finished the match, the comeback at least gave the two defending prime ministers a much-needed boost after last week’s flogging from South Sydney.
They are also likely to have Sonny Bill Williams (neck) and Jake Friend (concussion) back next week, where if they progress they will face the winner of Melbourne and Parramatta in week three.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Joseph Manu of the Roosters is tackled by Stephen Crichton of the Panthers.
Meanwhile, the end of the game wasn’t the first time the Panthers had to bounce back.
After Morris and Freddy Lussick scored early, Penrith faced his biggest deficit as they were forced to rally to upset the Roosters in the first round.
With just 74 minutes behind on the scoreboard in his 1,450 on the field since the competition restart, it was fair to ask if Penrith would have the answers.
But when it mattered, they had more than enough.
It started on defense when Josh Mansour, Luai, Edwards and Stephen Crichton teamed up to force Morris off the touchline.
From the second tackle from the scrum, the Roosters were caught offside. And from there, it was all Penrith.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Panthers fans celebrate their team’s victory in the NRL qualifying finals over the Roosters.
Mansour scored first when Luai and Kikau combined, before Cleary scored all three of his attempts.
The highlight was his second, diving into a Luai starter to catch it off Tedesco and score.
And when Luai returned a Cleary bomb after the break for Tyrone May to put Stephen Crichton in, the game gave up before the Roosters’ near-comeback.
“My heart was racing a little bit,” said coach Ivan Cleary.
“There were doubts about how we were going to handle the semifinals and I think the beginning and the end showed it.”
