Mcb777 APPNRL 2025: Kaeo Weekes, try, finish, social media, France, UK; Mudgee miracle goes viral as finals race turned on its head

Author: Brad Walter NRL Senior Reporter
Timestamp: Mon 25 Aug 2025, 04:20 PM

It was dubbed the Miracle in Mudgee but Canberra's stunning 90-metre Golden Point try against Penrith made headlines around the world as the NRL finals race was turned on its head.

With a tick under two minutes remaining in the first half of extra-time, Nathan Cleary's long-range field goal attempt hit the left upright and rebounded into the field of play for Jed Stuart to pick up the bouncing ball and send Ethan Strange racing downfield before passing to Kaeo Weekes to score.

It was one of the most stunning finishes to a match in memory and one worthy of the biggest broadcast audience for a Friday 6pm match since the NRL expanded to 17 teams in 2023.

All the angles: A Mudgee miracle

Replays of the spectacular play have also gone viral, with Sky Sports in the UK posting video footage of the try to more than 7 million followers on X.

The match winning try was watched by more than 1 million followers on the NRL's Instagram account and a further 600,000 on Tik Tok.

Merci beaucoup!
— Canberra Raiders (@RaidersCanberra)

In isolation, Weekes' try was one of the best of the year - although arguably not the best of the round - and it was as dramatic an ending to a match as many have seen.

Yet it is also set to have a huge impact on the make-up of the finals, with the 20-16 win putting Canberra in the box seat to win the minor premiership, while the Panthers are likely to finish outside the top four for the first time in six seasons.

All this in one round of NRL…

Had Cleary's field goal attempt from 35m out been successful, the Raiders would be second to the Storm on for-and-against, while the Panthers would be just one-point behind the fourth-placed Warriors.

Instead, the Broncos and Sharks have leapfrogged the four-time premiers, who now sit seventh and are guaranteed a place in the finals but could finish as low as eighth.

While the seven clubs assured of featuring in the play-offs will now jostle for their finishing spots, the main interest will be in the battle to join them in the final eight between the Roosters, Dolphins, Sea Eagles and Wests Tigers.

The Dolphins loss to the Sea Eagles and the Roosters defeat by the Eels on Saturday night has turned a two-way shootout between those two teams into a four-way contest.

With the Bulldogs meeting the Panthers on Thursday night, the Roosters playing the Storm on Friday night and the Raiders hosting the Tigers on Saturday, there will be more twists and turns - and more epic moments - to come.