Nathan Cleary has become just the third player to win a second Clive Churchill Medal after piloting Penrith to an incredible grand final comeback on Sunday evening.
Cleary and the Panthers were at one point behind by 16 points with just 18 minutes to go, but Cleary would play a role in each of the final three tries for the men from the foot of the mountains to claim their third straight NRL title.
In an incredible performance, Cleary scored the last try on his own and kicked all three goals in the dramatic comeback which completed a 26-24 victory over the Brisbane Broncos.
Cleary likely edged out teammate Stephen Crichton for the winners, while Ezra Mam was the best for the visitors after scoring a hat-trick within 20 minutes to put Brisbane into their considerable lead.
But in the end, there was no decision with Cleary, despite missing two of the tackles for Mam's tries, the key reason Penrith were able to pull a win out of the fire.
Cleary wound up with a try, four goals, a try assist and four tackle breaks to go with a staggering 660 kicking metres in a performance that puts him in rare air.
He joins Bradley Clyde and Billy Slater as the only other players to win more than one Clive Churchill Medal since it was introduced way back in 1986 when Peter Sterling was the inaugural recipient.
