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Opinion

Are we witnessing the greatest NRL season of all time?

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26th May, 2021
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The Penrith Panthers are currently on top of the NRL ladder in a dominant position after winning the first 11 games of this season and it will be a shock if they don’t go 12 from 12 after playing the bottom-placed Bulldogs this weekend.

They have been dominant all across the park and are looking unbeatable at the moment. The Panthers have been electric on attack and are a brick wall on defence.

But are they on track for the greatest NRL season of all time? Let’s look at a few categories to decide.

Winning record
The Panthers are currently 11 from 11 in the 2021 season, having beaten a few lightweights but also a couple of heavyweights, including the Storm, in their first 11 games.

Only the Manly Sea Eagles of 1995 had a better start to the season, starting off 15-0. The Panthers have a fantastic chance of starting the season 14-0 with match-ups against the bottom-feeding Bulldogs, Wests Tigers and Sharks in the next three match-ups.

Looking past this, they have two match-ups with both the Roosters and the Eels to go and one more match against the Storm. These will be their toughest opponents over the second half of the season and will be the teams that may stop them from going 24-0.

The last time we had an undefeated season was St George in 1959, so it has been a long time between drinks.

Ivan Cleary

How far can Ivan take Penrith in 2021? (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

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Attack
The 2001 Parramatta Eels scored the most points in a season ever with 943 points. That works out as an average of 32.5 points per game.

Currently, the Panthers have scored 364 points on the season, which averages out to 33 points per game. They are on track to smash the record held by Parramatta and with a game up next against the Bulldogs, could put themselves in a dominant point-scoring position.

They have no shortage of try-scoring options and both their halves are capable of scoring and setting up tries.

Defence
While the record for fewest points conceded in a season will never be matched (41 in 1909 by the South Sydney Rabbitohs), the Panthers this season have only conceded 84 points in their 11 games, good for an average of 7.7 points per game.

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This is simply astonishing in the modern era and a fantastic defensive record. They have held three teams scoreless this season and the most points they have conceded in a game was 16 to the Manly Sea Eagles, less than half of the Panthers’ average points scored total per game.

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Star players
You want stars? This team is full of them.

The first name on every team sheet in the NRL world right now would be Nathan Cleary. The man is simply having one of the greatest seasons ever.

Assuming he scores ten points or more against the Bulldogs in Round 12, he will be on track to finish the season with over 300 points, something only done by two other players in NRL history (Hazem El Masri with 342 in 2004 and Brett Hodgson with 308 in 2005).

This season, in 11 games, he has seven tries, 12 try assists, nine linebreak assists and 55 goals kicked at an average of 87.3 per cent.

Jarome Luai is next: he has 14 try assists and 15 linebreak assists on the season. James Fisher-Harris, in the running for best prop in the game, is averaging 176 metres per game and has 23 tackle breaks on the season.

Brain To’o is leading the NRL in post-contact metres, tackle breaks and run metres with an average of 241 run metres per game.

Charlie Staines and Matt Burton are both inside the top 20 for tries scored this season. Isaiah Yeo is a constant in the middle, making a boat load of tackles and running excellent assist lines.

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It’s safe to say that their team is stacked.

While the season is only half-way completed, if the Panthers can keep up their current level of play, there is no reason why they cannot finish the season being compared to some of the great teams of all time.

They may go undefeated for a season, they might finish with the best scoring average ever, Nathan Cleary has a chance to score the most points ever in a season, Brain To’o might run for more metres than anyone has ever done before.

It’s all on the table, and I, for one, will be watching in awe.

The Roar is nothing without healthy debate, however. Let me know in the comments which teams I’ve missed, why I’m completely wrong and why your team is so much better than the Panthers.

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