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Panthers player's blatant cheap shot on Harry Grant that was completely ignored in NRL grand final

Vision has emerged of Moses Leota's dodgy act on the very first kick-off of the Panthers and Storm clash.

sam goodwin
Sports Editor
·5-min read

If the Panthers are worried about changing the narrative they're classless and bad winners, they certainly didn't show it on Sunday night. Amid Penrith's incredible four-peat of premierships, there's always been criticism they don't win with grace and class.

Paul Kent famously labelled them "bad winners" after the grand final in 2022, and many of their celebrations that year were described as "disrespectful" and "arrogant". There was James Fisher-Harris calling Parramatta players their "sons", and Api Koroisau making disparaging remarks about the Wests Tigers - even though he was heading to the club the next year.

Moses Leota, pictured here knocking Harry Grant to the ground with a cheap shot.
Moses Leota knocked Harry Grant to the ground with a cheap shot on the very first play of the NRL grand final. Image: Getty/Channel 9

There wasn't much controversy when the Panthers won the grand final last year, but on Sunday night they seemed to go back to not caring what anyone else thinks about them. Sunia Turuva and Liam Martin both gave Storm players a spray when they scored tries, drawing backlash from fans on social media.

Sunia Turuva, Jarome Luai and Liam Martin.
Sunia Turuva gave Jahrome Hughes a spray on the ground (L), while Jarome Luai and Liam Martin both laughed in Jack Howarth's face (R). Image: Channel 9

Turuva put Jahrome Hughes on blast after diving over to score the first try in the corner, launching a fiery spray in the Storm halfback's direction. Hughes was on the ground and not even looking at Turuva when he copped the spray, which makes you wonder if Turuva would have been as cocky had he been face-to-face with his opponent.

Hughes still appears to be public enemy No.1 in Penrith after he was caught mocking the Panthers players and their upbringing after the 2020 grand final. The Storm beat the Panthers in that year's decider, but Penrith players admitted they used Hughes' mockery as motivation to come back bigger and better.

Sunia Turuva, pictured here giving Jahrome Hughes a gobful.
Sunia Turuva gave Jahrome Hughes a gobful after scoring the first Panthers try. Image: Channel 9

They certainly did that, beating Melbourne in the preliminary final the next year and going on to win four-straight premierships. But surely the incident four years ago should have been put to bed by now, and Panthers players need to get over it, especially considering Hughes later apologised.

Hughes had a fantastic season and won the Dally M medal. But just like when Panthers fans booed him after full-time, the players should show a bit more respect to their rival and win with some class.

It wasn't just Turuva taunting opponents after scoring tries, with Martin doing the same to Storm rookie Jack Howarth. Martin strolled through a huge gap in the dying seconds of the first half, after Howarth moved up way too far and created the space.

Martin and Jarome Luai were both spotted laughing in Howarth's face and giving the centre some choice words in the aftermath - pretty poor behaviour towards a 21-year-old with just 17 games of experience. As was the case with Hughes, Howarth had a fantastic rookie season and didn't seem to do anything to provoke the treatment he received from Panthers players.

Liam Martin, pictured here giving Jack Howarth a spray.
Liam Martin gave Jack Howarth a spray after scoring. Image: Channel 9

The actions of Turuva and Martin were big talking points on social media, with many labelling them "classless" and "embarrassing". Vision has also emerged of the moment Moses Leota barged Harry Grant in the back on the very first play of the game following the kick-off.

With Grant not even looking at the Panthers chasers, Leota dropped his shoulder and knocked the Storm captain to the ground in a blatant act that was completely ignored, and largely unnoticed by fans. Considering Grant wasn't in possession of the ball, the referee would have been well within his rights to penalise the Panthers prop.

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But in complete contrast, captain Isaah Yeo showed his teammates how to win with some grace when he was spotted consoling Storm players after full-time. "I’ve been on the other end and it’s a low feeling,” Yeo said after the game. “They’ve had an unreal season, they finished minor premiers by three wins so certainly a season to be proud of.

“But I feel like I’ve done that most of the time, obviously excited with my group but then also feel for them a little bit too. Just said how good of a season they’ve had and try to do that most years to be fair.”

If only every Panthers player had the same class as their captain. Unfortunately the majority of fans will remember the ugly acts they don't like rather than the ones from the skipper that redeem them.