{"id":907636,"date":"2026-09-27T18:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907636\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T18:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T18:10:09","slug":"panthers-vs-knights-matty-johns-kalyn-ponga-in-tears-after-newcastle-fairytale-nathan-cleary-in-doubt-for-dally-m-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/907636\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers vs Knights: Matty Johns, Kalyn Ponga in tears after Newcastle \u2018fairytale\u2019, Nathan Cleary in doubt for Dally M injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Newcastle Knights are into their first grand final in 25 years after claiming a thrilling 22-14 win over Penrith on Sunday. <\/p>\n

The Panthers were dealt a huge blow when Nathan Cleary suffered a horror broken ankle late in the first half, forcing the star halfback to be taken from the field and to hospital in an ambulance. <\/p>\n

Watch every game of the 2026 NRL Telstra Premiership Finals Series before the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

Knights hooker Phoenix Crossland was sent off for the tackle that caused the injury and will likely miss the grand final. <\/p>\n

Penrith still led 14-6 at halftime but couldn\u2019t manage to score a point in the second half as Newcastle fought bravely in a heroic defensive display to keep the four-time NRL premiers at bay. <\/p>\n

\"Joey<\/p>\n

A controversial try off a quick tap by Sandon Smith saw Newcastle take the lead and it proved the turning point in the game before he sealed the victory with a late intercept. <\/p>\n

Newcastle will take on the Sydney Roosters in next Sunday\u2019s decider \u2014 the Roosters have two extra days rest after beating the Dolphins on Friday night. <\/p>\n

The Knights will be aiming to win their first premiership since the Andrew Johns era and perhaps one of the most unlikely premierships this century, as they also look to become the first team in the NRL era to win the title from outside the top four. <\/p>\n

Recap all the action below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Newcastle Knights are into their first grand final in 25 years after claiming a thrilling 22-14 win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":907637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[475739,415515,443656,252305,475735,475729,430108,475731,380890,475733,475743,475738,398157,475728,114245,9826,475745,475744,377206,242888,39598,319715,43,4082,475740,62756,377208,26431,18656,1203,277557,10668,475726,44,381348,35062,377169,475741,475734,16284,475732,38633,402322,4571,8825,46206,463175,475730,54179,377667,377453,377510,475725,475737,74713,420644,439257,417727,101147,377191,475727,443882,417978,475742,439345,5991,174850,380344,34537,435196,378503,377475,428269,101149,382136,465902,475724,465904,422148,41,39,42,40,475736,377211],"class_list":["post-907636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-s-brutal-blow","tag-s-decider","tag-14-6","tag-25-years","tag-a-heroic-defensive-display","tag-a-horror-broken","tag-a-huge-blow","tag-a-late-intercept","tag-a-point","tag-a-quick-tap","tag-a-stunning","tag-a-thrilling-22-14-win","tag-all-the-action","tag-an-ambulance","tag-ankle","tag-bay","tag-cleary-blow","tag-controversial-final","tag-every-game","tag-fairytale","tag-friday","tag-halftime","tag-headlines","tag-hospital","tag-just-1-knights-hooker-phoenix-crossland","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports-new","tag-legends","tag-matty-johns","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-ncaeditorialkayoprogram","tag-newcastle","tag-newcastle-legend-andrew-johns","tag-news","tag-next-sunday","tag-night","tag-no-ad-breaks","tag-nrl-controversy","tag-panthers-vs-knights","tag-penrith","tag-perhaps-one","tag-play","tag-ponga","tag-sandon-smith","tag-sunday","tag-tears","tag-the-2026-nrl-telstra-premiership-finals-series","tag-the-andrew-johns-era","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-extent","tag-the-field","tag-the-first-half","tag-the-first-team","tag-the-four-time-nrl-premiers","tag-the-game","tag-the-grand-final","tag-the-grand-final-live","tag-the-injury","tag-the-knights","tag-the-lead","tag-the-most-unlikely-premierships","tag-the-newcastle-knights","tag-the-nrl-era","tag-the-nrl-grand-final-a-controversial-try","tag-the-nrl-world","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-second-half","tag-the-star","tag-the-sydney-roosters","tag-the-tackle","tag-the-title","tag-the-top-four","tag-the-turning-point","tag-the-victory","tag-their-first-grand-final","tag-their-first-premiership","tag-their-place","tag-this-century","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-two-extra-days-rest","tag-your-first-month"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}