After the disaster of last year, which almost ended in a third wooden spoon in 12 years, this year saw some much needed improvement from the Penrith Panthers as Ivan Cleary finally got the best out of his young and talented squad.
The departure of Michael Jennings during the off-season dominated headlines, but the move turned out to be for the better of the two clubs.
His attitude plagued the Panthers’ 2012 season where they finished second last on the ladder, but he has since flourished at the Roosters, featuring in the Premiership-winning side last weekend.
The mountain men also lost favourite son Luke Lewis, as well as Michael Gordon, Travis Burns and Sandor Earl, among others, to different clubs.
However, the club was able to land the likes of Sika Manu, Lewis Brown, James Segeyaro and Mose Masoe as they set about turning themselves into contenders again.
Though the side did show some improvement on the field, they were wildly inconsistent all year and just failed to make the finals, with a five-game losing streak at the start of the season, a four-game losing streak towards the end of the season and a poor points differential of -37 proving costly.
The Panthers split their matches at home this season, winning six out of their twelve home games, though there were two very notable results – both of which came back-to-back.
They upset defending Premiers Melbourne 12-10 in Round 9, for their first victory over Craig Bellamy’s men since 2005, but the following week produced probably the most devastating performance from the team yet.
This was followed by a 62-6 demolition of the New Zealand Warriors, who were coached by former Panthers boss Matthew Elliott between 2007 and 2011 before being punted in favour of Ivan Cleary, who had taken the Warriors to the grand final the same year Elliott was moved on.
They also won five games (from 12) on the road this year, one of which was a 19-0 shutout of St George Illawarra at Kogarah in the week after the Warriors demolition, and also recorded a notable final round victory over eventual grand finalists Manly at Brookvale Oval.
The victories over Melbourne and Manly were the only victories over eventual finalists that the Panthers enjoyed this season, going 0-9 against the rest (including two losses each to the Newcastle Knights, North Queensland Cowboys and Sydney Roosters)
However, there was also a heavy loss at the hands of the Cowboys in Round 5, when the team was shut out 30-0, that counting among a number of heavy losses the Panthers would suffer in 2013.
Looking at the players, there were some clear standout players who made their mark for the team this season.
None more so than David Simmons, who was involved in a three-way tie in the NRL try-scoring department with James McManus and David Williams, as well as rising stars Adam Docker and Matt Moylan.
Clint Newton also proved his worth this season, though he will be sorely missed next year as he will return to the club where he started his career at, Newcastle, as his career winds down.
The performance of David Simmons this year, as well as the improved form of some of the club’s rising stars, suggests that the future is bright at Penrith next year.
Having now had two years to manage the side, there will be no excuse if Ivan Cleary cannot take his side to September next year.
The Panthers have the depth, talent and potential, but next year will be about their football doing the talking as they aim to merge their hard work together into a potential force in the competition.
Expect to see more of exciting young fullback Matt Moylan and forward Kyle O’Donnell, who was famously knocked out by Sam Burgess after just seven minutes in his first grade debut for Newcastle last year.
Although there were no finals for the club this year, you could say that this season saw some significant progress from the Panthers, after their near-wooden spoon disaster last year.
But if they are to become a force in the future years to come, they will need to eliminate the inconsistent results and ensure that their experienced players are fully fit for what is expected to be a gruelling 2014 campaign.
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