One of the all-time great grand finals has seen the Penrith Panthers come from behind, scoring three tries in the final 18 minutes of the game to take their third-straight premiership.

It means Penrith are the first team in the NRL era to win three straight grand finals, but for a long period, it looked as if it simply wasn't going to happen.

After a first half where the Panthers controlled the action but couldn't push away on the scoreboard, an Ezra Mam hat-trick put the Broncos well ahead heading into the final 20 minutes of the game.

At that point, Penrith's body language was poor and the game looked all but over.

A critical error from the Broncos though saw Penrith able to march down the field and score in the next set with Nathan Cleary looking to begin his redemption after missing two tackles for tries.

He put Moses Leota away for the first of those tries, before a spread to the left-hand side minutes later saw Stephen Crichton, in his final game for the Panthers, burst through for a try.

The Panthers were still behind, but with just three minutes to go, Nathan Cleary went through to score an incredible try on his own, with Penrith then hanging on through the final two minutes to take home another Provan-Summons trophy.

The early turnaround in the second half came after Brisbane had spent most of the first half on the back foot, with Brisbane turning the ball over regularly.

Clunky first half attack from the Panthers meant the score was only 8-6 at the break though after Thomas Flegler broke Brisbane's deadlock just two minutes from the break.

Penrith's win puts the club in rare air, with three premierships out of their last four grand finals. They become the first team to complete a three-peat in decades, and also now own one of the all-time grand final comebacks.

Match summary

Penrith Panthers 26 (Tries: Mitch Kenny, Moses Leota, Stephen Crichton, Nathan Cleary; Conversions: Stephen Crichton 1/1, Nathan Cleary 3/3; Penalty Goal: Nathan Cleary 1/1) defeat Brisbane Broncos 24 (Tries: Thomas Flegler, Ezra Mam [3]; Conversions: Adam Reynolds 4/4)