NRL grand final 2024 quick hits: Biting allegation, Panthers halves ...

Cameron Munster's season ends with allegations he bit a Panther, while the Bunker supported a no-try decision, but Melbourne believed footage showed the ball on the ground. 

Here are the quick hits from the 2024 NRL grand final.

1. Bunker correct to deny Melbourne try, despite first images looking like the ball was grounded

The NRL says the bunker was correct to chalk off a Jack Howarth try in Melbourne's grand final loss, despite replays and viral screenshots appearing to show the Storm centre scored at a crucial juncture of their grand final loss to Penrith.

Down by four points early in the second half, Storm left winger Xavier Coates batted back a towering bomb into the hands of teammate Howarth.

The centre was mobbed by Panthers defenders as he attempted to burrow over and referee Ashley Klein said he had been held up in-goal by Izack Tago and Dylan Edwards on Penrith's right edge.

Howarth's effort was sent for review by bunker official Grant Atkins, who supported the on-field decision of no-try.

Screenshots circulated on social media appeared to show Howarth had grounded the ball, but vision shown to the media by NRL head of football Graham Annesley in the bowels of Stadium Australia showed Klein and Atkins had made the correct call.

Annesley showed frame-by-frame replays of the footage which revealed that at no point did Howarth ground the ball.

"When I saw it live I was saying what everyone else was saying, I thought I saw the ball on the ground," Annesley said.

"It's only when we go back and look at it clearly that you can see the different colour between the arm and the ball.

"The ball is sitting on top of the arm, which then gets lifted up.

"They (the bunker officials) are looking at this over and over again before they announce their decision while we generally have one replay.

"We don't have time to clinically examine it like this but the bottom line is that the decision was correct."

It was to be the closest Melbourne came to snatching back the lead, and midway through Sunday night's second half, the Panthers made it a two-score margin.

2. Cleary and Luai give Penrith's fans one last moment of magic

The brilliance of Penrith's dynasty has been sustained success, despite the consistent departure of excellent players.

Sunday's grand final was the farewell of multiple terrific Penrith servants — including James Fischer-Harris and Sunia Turuva.

But there is no bigger name leaving Penrith than five-eighth Jarome Luai.

Partnering with his great mate Nathan Cleary for the final time in Panther pink — surely they will play together again in NSW blue — the duo made sure to show why they are statistically one of the sport's greatest halves.

Melbourne was defending a 6-4 lead as the seconds ticked away in the first half, but the defence was fragile.

It needed a special play to break the Storm defence, and it was the Luia-Cleary combination that did the trick.

Luai took the ball from the left of the ruck on fifth tackle, but swung the ball back to the right once he had committed the Storm defensive line.

The ball now with Cleary and a fractured defence in front of him, the Penrith number seven threw the perfect flat-pass to a charging Liam Martin, who burst through a gap and slammed the ball over the stripe.

It was a play that should be shown to every junior rugby league player across the country.

3. Biting allegation rocks the NRL grand final

Sadly for the game, one of the biggest talking points from Penrith's historic success was the allegation of a bite by Melbourne superstar Cameron Munster.

The Melbourne five-eighth was tackled by Penrith's Paul Alamoti in the 72nd minute of the grand final, when the alleged incident took place.

Cameron Munster allegedly bit Paul Alamoti in the 2024 NRL grand final. (Nine Network)

Alamoti had his left arm around the chin of Munster, who was fighting to get to his feet as he tried to stage a late comeback. That is when Alamoti quickly flung his arm away from Munster and marched to referee Ashley Klein.

Munster looked perplexed when the allegation of a bite was made, and was incensed when he was put on report by Klein.

Replays clearly showed the incident, and there was a moment when Alamoti's arm appeared to be in the mouth of Munster.

Munster was cleared the following morning of any wrongdoing, meaning he has no case to answer in front of the NRL judiciary. 

It was still a sour moment in an otherwise terrific game of rugby league. 

4. Liam Martin leaps to a Clive Churchill medal

Penrith second-row forward Liam Martin was seemingly in the frame of every minute during the grand final.

Strong hit-ups and bone-rattling tackles have been a hallmark of his season.

His try on half-time was a pivotal moment in the grand final, but it paled in comparison to his hand in the match-sealing try.

Melbourne winger Xavier Coates was odds-on to catch a towering kick from Nathan Cleary — but Martin had other ideas.

He timed his chase to perfection, leapt just high enough to beat Coates in the air and took the ball cleanly.

He then found Paul Alamoti on the right wing — just minutes after he had moved from left centre to cover for the injured Brian To'o, who limped off midway through the second half.

Grand finals are often decided by big moments.

Martin found himself at the centre of the two biggest moments in the match and produced perfection.

5. Harry Grant tackles himself into the ground

History may be written by the winners, but it would be wrong to forget the performance of Melbourne captain Harry Grant.

In the losing side, Grant walked off the ground surely knowing there was nothing more he could have done to try and stop the Penrith dynasty.

He scored the opening try of the contest, after 22 minutes of tense and pulsating rugby league.

It needed a moment of magic to break the early deadlock, and Grant had the answer.

The Storm captain darted from dummy-half, with Penrith markers scattered on the goal line, to barge over and give Melbourne a well-earned lead.

It would be Melbourne's only try. Any other Storm raid at the Penrith defence was led by Grant, who always looked like a threat from dummy-half.

What made his attacking raids the more impressive was his work in defence.

No one completed more tackles in the grand final than Grant.

He was involved in 59 tackles. That was 13.5 per cent of all tackles made by the Storm in the match.

Penrith's forwards charged up the middle for much of the second half. Time and time again, Harry Grant was there to chop them down.

Ultimately, Grant's heroics at Stadium Australia were in vain. But it was the performance of a champion who had to settle for second best.

ABC/AAP