Penrith Panthers 10–6 Melbourne Storm — Preliminary Final, 2021 NRL Finals Series
25 Sep 2021 · Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD · Attendance: 29,011
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2021 NRL finals series: Penrith Panthers 10–6 Melbourne Storm, at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, QLD on 25 Sep 2021.
Sourcing caveat: Precise try/goal minute marks were not consistently identified in sources found. No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture.
Scorers
| Penrith Panthers | Tries: Crichton; To'o Goals: Cleary (1/2 conversions) |
| Melbourne Storm | Tries: Papenhuyzen Goals: Papenhuyzen (1/1 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Penrith Panthers | Melbourne Storm | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Edwards | Fullback | Ryan Papenhuyzen | 1 |
| 2 | Stephen Crichton | Wing | George Jennings | 2 |
| 3 | Paul Momirovski | Centre | Reimis Smith | 3 |
| 4 | Matt Burton | Centre | Justin Olam | 4 |
| 5 | Brian To'o | Wing | Josh Addo-Carr | 5 |
| 6 | Jarome Luai | Five-eighth | Cameron Munster | 6 |
| 7 | Nathan Cleary | Halfback | Jahrome Hughes | 7 |
| 8 | James Fisher-Harris | Prop | Jesse Bromwich | 8 |
| 9 | Apisai Koroisau | Hooker | Brandon Smith | 9 |
| 10 | Tevita Pangai Junior | Prop | Christian Welch | 10 |
| 11 | Liam Martin | Second Row | Felise Kaufusi | 11 |
| 12 | Kurt Capewell | Second Row | Kenny Bromwich | 12 |
| 13 | Isaah Yeo | Lock | Dale Finucane | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Tyrone May | Harry Grant | 14 | |
| 15 | Scott Sorensen | Tui Kamikamica | 15 | |
| 16 | Viliame Kikau | Nelson Asofa-Solomona | 16 | |
| 17 | Spencer Leniu | Nicho Hynes | 17 | |
| Ivan Cleary | Coach | Craig Bellamy | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Gerard Sutton |
Match report
This 2021 Preliminary Final between Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers was played at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane — one of several finals relocated to Queensland that year due to COVID-19 border restrictions in New South Wales. The match, a rematch of the 2020 NRL Grand Final, lived up to its billing as a brutal defensive arm-wrestle. Penrith led 6-0 at halftime through an early Stephen Crichton try converted by Nathan Cleary, before Brian To'o extended the lead early in the second half. Melbourne's only response came from fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, who scored and converted his own try late in the game, but the Storm could not find a second try. Penrith's defence held firm to secure a 10-6 win, sending the Panthers through to the Grand Final against South Sydney and ending Melbourne's bid for back-to-back premierships.