Nathan Cleary has been awarded the Clive Churchill Medal after Penrith won a nail-biting grand final over the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Led by the kicking game, the Panthers were able to hang onto a two-point win at Suncorp Stadium.
Cleary, playing through the pain of a shoulder injury which is rumoured to need a full reconstructive surgery over the off-season, was fantastic in the grand final.
He may not have came up with the assist for either of Penrith's tries, but he took the line on at every opportunity, running for 107 metres from 22 carries, added three tackle breaks, two offloads and defended strongly as Penrith thwarted raid after raid of South Sydney attack.
But it was the kicking game where Cleary stood out as he went past 600 metres off the boot for the second game in a row, putting the South Sydney back three under the pump time and time again.
He also had an excellent short-range kicking game, coming up with five forced drop outs throughout the course of the contest.
While Penrith had an a--round team performance in defence, and all of Dylan Edwards, Stephen Crichton and Brian To'o cleared 200 metres, Cleary seemed to be the obvious choice for the award, something the NRL's selection panel agreed with.
Cleary adds his name to an illustrious list of winners, with his side avenging their defeat in the biggest game of the season to the Melbourne Storm from 12 months ago.
