Nathan Cleary has completed one of the most dominant NRL finals campaigns in history with a 20-minute blitz in the NRL grand final to help the Penrith Panthers claim their third straight premiership.
Winning the Clive Churchill Medal for his efforts, it was a verdict that all four of Zero Tackle's judges agreed within our MVP race, awarding him a perfect 20 votes.
The votes mean Cleary claimed 57 votes out of a possible 60 during Penrith's three finals games, and he is the run-away winner of the finals MVP.
All told, he takes a 22-vote win over Reece Walsh, who claimed five votes in the grand final to finish second. Isaah Yeo, Payne Haas, Patrick Carrigan and Stephen Crichton were the next four on the leaderboard as players in grand final teams benefited from excellent performances over the last month.
James Tedesco was the best of the rest, following 21 votes which were recorded during the Sydney Roosters' two finals games.
Here are the votes from the grand final, as well as the top ten.
NRL grand final: Penrith Panthers vs Brisbane Broncos
| Matt Clements | Scott Pryde | Dan Nichols | Jack Blyth | |
| 5 | Nathan Cleary | Nathan Cleary | Nathan Cleary | Nathan Cleary |
| 4 | Ezra Mam | Stephen Crichton | Ezra Mam | Ezra Mam |
| 3 | Reece Walsh | Ezra Mam | Dylan Edwards | Stephen Crichton |
| 2 | Stephen Crichton | Dylan Edwards | Thomas Flegler | Reece Walsh |
| 1 | Payne Haas | Payne Haas | Stephen Crichton | Liam Martin |
Top ten
| PLAYER | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nathan Cleary |
20 | 57 |
| 2 | Reece Walsh |
5 | 35 |
| 3 | Isaah Yeo |
0 | 32 |
| 4 | Payne Haas |
2 | 31 |
| 5 | Patrick Carrigan |
0 | 25 |
| 6 | Stephen Crichton |
10 | 24 |
| 7 | James Tedesco |
0 | 21 |
| 8 | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad |
0 | 20 |
| 9 | Kalyn Ponga |
0 | 19 |
| 9 | Brian To'o |
0 | 19 |
