The Penrith Panthers have booked a spot in their fifth straight NRL grand final, with a fourth premiership to go on the line next weekend after a strong performance against the Cronulla Sharks at Homebush on Saturday afternoon.
The three-time defending premiers were anything but perfect against a brave Sharks' side, but errors and fatigue would eventually see the Panthers go through to the grand final.
Apart from Penrith looking slightly clunky, there is also a major issue, with Nathan Cleary appearing to re-injure his shoulder just under ten minutes from fulltime before he was taken from the park a few sets later.
Cleary returne1 from a previously shoulder injury during Week 1 of the finals, and while it was believed the week off after a win in that game against the Sydney Roosters would help his chances of not suffering a re-occurrence, he will still likely need surgery at the end of the season.
That will now undoubtedly be the key storyline over the coming week leading into the grand final, where Penrith will meet the Melbourne Storm in a repeat of the 2020 and 2021 grand finals.
Errors - as they have done throughout the finals - again hurt the Sharks, although the final 26 points to 6 scoreline felt unfair for the men in black, white and blue.
Two errors in their first four sets was the start of the poor discipline for Cronulla, who let in a sixth minute penalty goal, and the only try of the first half when Paul Alamoti scored in the 22nd minute.
A Cronulla penalty goal in the 17th minute, followed by another penalty goal in the 35th minute for the three-time defending premiers saw the Panthers lead 10 points to 2 at halftime.
The hard fought first half continued in the second, and a clunky Penrith couldn't find their way over the line despite being predominantly on the front foot.
Cronulla's grind eventually paid off with a try for Sione Katoa - the club's first try against Penrith in their last three games - but it was one-way traffic from there.
Despite a number of questionable decisions throughout the contest, Brian To'o, Paul Alamoti and Liam Martin all scored in the final 20 minutes of the game to put the contest away.
Penrith's back five won the battle of possession and territory throughout the contest, while they also completed at 80 per cent and held 53 per cent of the ball to surge into next week's grand final.
The Panthers will face the Melbourne Storm in the grand final next Sunday evening at Homebush.
