MELBOURNE Storm gave Penrith a lesson in ruthlessness in a 26-20 grand final triumph at ANZ Stadium on Sunday that will provide skipper Cameron Smith with the opportunity to retire on a fairytale note.
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Smith, 37, has resisted announcing his future plans, but it would be no surprise if the former Test captain and future Immortal decided to bow out in similar fashion to legends Ray Price, Mick Cronin, and Mal Meninga, with a premiership victory.
It was Smith's seventh grand final appearance and his fifth victory, although Melbourne have since been stripped of their 2007 and 2009 titles for salary-cap breaches.
Even in the twilight of an illustrious career, Smith was a dominant force last night, scoring a try and kicking five goals for a personal tally of 14 points.
It was a bitterly disappointing finish for minor premiers Penrith, who won 17 consecutive games to reach the grand final but then appeared to suffer stage fright on the biggest night of the year.
The match started in frantic fashion when Melbourne fumbled the the kick-off, allowing Penrith to go on the attack.
Melbourne regained their composure to defend the set and then scored the opening try three minutes later in remarkable circumstances.
After a pass from winger Josh Addo-Carr, centre Justin Olam dived for the line, only to lose the ball in a sliding challenge from Penrith's Tyrone May.
The video-referee bunker ruled May had illegally kicked the ball from Olam's grasp and awarded a penalty try, which Smith converted for a 6-0 lead.
Those same officials delivered further bad news for the Panthers five minutes later, when winger Josh Mansour dived over in the left corner, only to receive a no-try ruling after a Stephen Crichton obstruction.
Crichton came within inches of scoring in the 17th minute when he was held up over the line.
Two Smith penalty goals in quick succession made it 10-0 after 27 minutes.
Melbourne dealt the Panthers a devastating blow in the 31st minute when winger Suilasi Vunivalu intercepted a Nathan Cleary pass, beat an attempted tackle, and raced 75 metres to score.
Then in the final minute of the first half, Smith scored a fortutitous try from dummy-half after the ball was knocked out of his hands.
His converstion left the Panthers facing a 22-0 half-time deficit. When Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen raced away to score in the 46th minute, the premiership trophy looked as good as in the bag.
Then came a second Vulivalu try before the Panthers finally opened their account in the 53rd minute, through winger Brian To'o.
A Crichton try, converted by Cleary, gave Penrith a glimmer of hope at 26-12 with 11 minutes to play, especially when Jahrome Hughes was sin-binned soon afterwards.
Tries from Mansour and Cleary took the game down to the wire, but the Storm were able to hold on.
When Brandon Smith was sin-binned in the final minute, Melbourne finished the match with 11 men on the field.