The top eight teams in Australasia battled for the coveted grand final victory. This is how it unfolded,
First round: The top four sides met with the winners earning a bye and the other two going into knock out games the following week. The top two finishers in the league got the bye, that is the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers. Fifth to eighth faced knock out games, the Manly Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys progressing in tight contests.
Quarter Finals: The Sydney Roosters and Cronulla Sharks dusted themselves down after their first round losses and progressed at the expense of the previous round's winners. This meant the top four from the league made the semi finals.
Semi Finals: The top two from the league showed why they earned those places as they were clearly the two best clubs in the competition. It set up a hard to pick grand final.
Grand final: Penrith had been to the last four grand finals, losing in 2020 and winning the last three held. Could they make it four in a row? In contrast, Melbourne defeated the Panthers in their last grand final in 2020 but failed to make an appearance since.
It proved to be a tight, absorbing final with Penrith deservedly prevailing in the end but only just, 14-6. Melbourne took the lead midway through the first half but that proved to be their only scoring for the night. Gradually the Panthers came back and then got in front and held on for an incredible fourth straight grand final victory.
You can watch brief highlights of the final by clicking here.
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