Sometimes in sport, you have to sit back and applaud.

Typically it isn’t while you’re also playing at the same time, but for some of the Panthers players, that’s what they felt like doing as they watched Nathan Cleary almost single-handedly turn a 16-point deficit into a two point lead to deliver a third consecutive Premiership to the foot of the mountains.

It wasn’t just that Cleary did it, either. It was that they all thought that he would.

“If there’s anyone who believes and trusts in him the most in the world it’d be me,” said Panthers co-captain Isaah Yeo.

“We’ve been lucky enough to play in a lot of games, tight games, big games, and I know how hard he works and how diligent he is.

“I’ve always got the belief that he can conjure something up for us and I was proved right tonight.”

Yeo was on the sidelines when Cleary kicked into gear, undergoing a HIA, and Jarome Luai had departed too with a shoulder complaint.

Knowing that it was all down to him was what spurred Cleary on, according to winger Sunia Turuva.

“It’s mad, seeing him do his thing,” said the Fijian.

“When Romey and Yeoy went off, it ticked it off for him and he got to work. We always have trust in that guy. Backs to the wall and he’ll come through.

“It’s crazy. The last 15 minutes were crazy. We’re down by 16 and up by two, what a mad 20 minutes. Fucking crazy.”

It should silence the critics, said Yeo, and proved the vindication of the faith that the Panthers have in their halfback and each other.

“Romey goes off, I go for my HIA and Nath stands up and puts on a clinic to win us the game,” he said.

“I feel like, whatever, it is tall poppy syndrome because he’s won so much. He’s still got his doubters out there – and he continues to shut them up on the big stage.

“We were taking ‘trust the process’ to the absolute extreme tonight. 

“We got the footy we wanted at the start of the game, it was really hot, they weren’t completing well and we were, but we just weren’t getting the points off the back of it. We were sort of hoping they’d fall over and they didn’t.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 01: Nathan Cleary of the Panthers poses with the Provan-Summons Trophy after winning the 2023 NRL Grand Final match between Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos at Accor Stadium on October 01, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

“It was dire straits for a minute there but we’re never out of the fight, and that’s why I’m so proud of this group. 

As bad as things were looking, we work so hard for each other and when you do that, good things happen.”

Much as the lock heaped praise on Cleary, Turuva pointed to the messaging that coach Ivan Cleary and Yeo, as captain, had installed in the team – revealing that at the interval, the co-captain had told them to stick to their systems.

“Ivan said to start the second half like we started the first half – we did the total opposite!”

“Ezra Mam carved us up, but the boys never gave up. Yeoy said at the start of the game that we have to back the work we did in December.”

“I’ll enjoy this moment for the next couple of weeks and come preseason, we have to flush it. It’s all memories.”

Yeo himself never wavered in belief, and stuck to keeping the mood up as a leader.

“We wanted to play a little the same, complete well and grind the middle over, but we also had to play a bit freer,” he said.

“We were playing a little too sideways sometimes. We wanted to stay composed – obviously that didn’t happen to well! We had a few defensive breakdowns.

“But the talk behind in the huddle wasn’t too terrible, we still had belief. That helps – and you have to play footy as well. When things stick, that’s nice.

“When you’ve got momentum and you’re completing, but also playing footy, that’s when you win games.”