Nathan Cleary returned from injury against the Sydney Roosters and didn’t miss a beat as he fired Penrith into yet another preliminary final.
The Panthers now stand on the brink of making their fifth grand final in a row, while they are gunning for an incredible fourth-straight premiership.
The run is unprecedented in the modern era with the halfback right at the forefront of the club’s success.
In just 170 appearances to date, Cleary has notched 61 tries and 125 assists while scooping up piles of silverware and accolades amidst the dominance.
And Matt Rogers has declared he now views Cleary as the greatest player the NRL has ever seen ahead of greats such as Cameron Smith and Billy Slater.
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Is Nathan Cleary the NRL's greatest ever player?
"I’ve got to give him his flowers, I think he is (the best player I’ve ever seen)," Matt Rogers stated on SEN Sportsday.
"I just want people to understand how unbelievable what Nathan Cleary and this Penrith team are doing is."
Since the local junior made his debut in 2016, the playmaker has gone on to establish himself as an undisputed NRL great.
He finished his second season as the competition’s leading point-scorer, before being selected to represent New South Wales in a victorious State of Origin series the following year.
He was then recognised as the game's best halfback at the Dally Ms as he guided the Panthers into their first grand final, which they lost against Melbourne narrowly.
However, this heartbreak was quickly forgotten the following year as he claimed the first of two Clive Churchill Medals when he starred in Penrith's triumph over South Sydney.
The drought-breaking premiership in 2021 proved to be the most significant title win in recent memory as it kickstarted a golden reign for the Panthers.
After picking up his second premiership in a dominant win over Parramatta, Cleary finally made his Test debut for Australia with the Kangaroos going on to lift the World Cup trophy.
Last season saw him produce his best performance to date on the big stage with an incredible late display wrenching the premiership out of Brisbane’s grasp and handing Penrith their third premiership in a row.
"So many of the young fans nowadays - they watch what Penrith are doing and they think, 'This just happens', but no it doesn’t happen, it's never happened," Rogers said.
"A team has never played in five (consecutive) grand finals in the modern era, and no one has won more than two premierships back-to-back in the modern era.
"The way he came out on (in the qualifying final against the Roosters), I laughed. I watched it and I laughed. He’s just playing backyard footy with these blokes."
