Liam Henry enjoys NW Cup triumph, now he's seeking NRL State Championship glory

The hard running forward from Blayney has exceeded every expectation he had when signing a one-year deal with the Penrith Panthers in November last year.

Henry has not only become a NSW Cup regular as he'd hoped, but he's now a NSW Cup premiership winner.

Last Sunday Henry and his Panthers posted a hard fought 29-22 win over Canterbury in the grand final.

Used off the bench - a role he's filled all season - Henry made an impressive 23 tackles in his 25 minutes on the field. He had an 100 percent efficiency rating.

Though that defensive effort was a highlight, Henry also made 62 metres from his six carries.

It meant he well and truly live up to his nickname 'Smiley' when the final siren sounded.

"I've played in about three or four grand finals in total but I'd never won one, this was the first time so I was stoked, it was awesome," Henry said.

"I played in Group 10 junior ones and one in 18s for Western Rams, so it was good to finally get a win.

"It was a pretty good day, [Jersey] Flegg got up as well, so it was huge day all round.

"I was pretty nervous going into it and there was a stage in the game where they put a couple of tries on us.

"It was a close game but the boys did really well, it's a great team to be a part of. It was really good to get the win."

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Prior to the NSW Cup grand final the Panthers and Bulldogs had split their head-to-heads with one win apiece.

The Panthers had finished second in the minor premiership and the Bulldogs fourth, two wins the difference between them.

But Henry said he and his team-mates were confident. Helping the cause was that 12 members of the grand final line-up - including the Blayney native - brought NRL experience with them.

Henry made his NRL debut in the final round of the regular season against the North Queensland Cowboys.

"It's been pretty inconsistent with boys coming in and out and going up and dropping down, we hadn't really played a whole lot as a full squad," Henry said.

"But with last week off we got a full week in at training. The boys were confident, we knew what we had to do and how to do it, we all knew we had a job to do.

"They're a great bunch of blokes and I love training and playing with them every week."

Having won the nail-biter NSW Cup final - the lead changed three times in the opening half - Henry and his Penrith team-mates advance to the NRL State Championship.

They'll take on the Norths Devils who beat the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Queensland Cup final.

The State Championship will be played on NRL grand final day. It means Henry is likely to be doing battle in front a crowd much bigger than the 6,210 who watched the NSW Cup decider.

The capacity for the Homebush stadium is 83,000.

Henry says he and his team-mates will have no problem getting up for the clash.

"Devils won the Queensland Cup so we get to play them on grand final day which will be awesome," he said.

"I think we'll be right for it, we had a few beers Sunday night and have Monday off but we're back into it for the rest of the week so we should be right to roll.

"It should be a good week, first grade are playing too, so it's a good week to be a part of."

The NRL State Championship between the Panthers and Devils will kick-off at 2.20pm on Sunday at Accor Stadium.

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