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As they enter their third Grand Final in as many years as favourites to become only the second time to win back-to-back premierships in the past three decades, Penrith are perfectly set up to dominate this decade.
Like the Eels of the 1980s and the Broncos in the following decade, they have built from the ground up with a nucleus of local talent which has formed a golden generation.
Unlike those past champion dynasties, the Panthers are operating in a stringently policed salary cap era where maintaining dominance has been near on impossible even for the likes of the Storm and Roosters, who shared six of the eight premierships from 2013-20 before Penrith broke through last year.
No one at Penrith will even contemplate such talk of becoming the dominant team of the 2020s this week while their focus is solely on Sunday’s Grand Final showdown with Western Sydney rivals Parramatta.
But they are reaping the benefits of their investment in their massive junior nursery, coupled with their continued economic strength in recent years after both the football and league clubs ran into financial peril around a decade ago.
After they won the SG Ball under-19 competition in April, the Panthers took out the under-21 Jersey Flegg premiership and the NSW Cup last Sunday at CommBank Stadium.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
The NSW Cup side will look to add to the silverware by beating Queensland’s premier team, Brisbane Norths Devils, in the NRL State Championship which kicks off Sunday’s program at Accor Stadium.
So when it comes to the ability to replenish their top squad with talent from within, the Panthers’ pipeline is second to none. Names like Sunia Turuva, Liam Henry, Soni Luke and Ativalu Lisati are waiting in the wings, ready to follow in the footsteps of Taylan May and Izack Tago, this year’s rookie revelations.
“They’ve always had a huge nursery and a great system coming up,” star hooker Api Koroisau told The Roar.
“For them to actually execute it the way they have – three grades have made their Grand Finals through the year – to see it come to fruition is pretty cool.”
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
No club has ever won the three junior trophies plus the first-grade title so another slice of premiership history awaits for Penrith.
From the 17-man line-up that will take on the Eels on Sunday, eight players are signed for 2024 and beyond, led by co-captains Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo, Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris and Dylan Edwards, arguably their five most important players.
That number would have been nine if not for May’s hamstring injury.
And, of course, the coach will be at the helm for as long as he likes. Ivan Cleary has a deal which runs parallel to his son until the end of 2027 and both are likely to extend their tenure beyond then.
Nathan Cleary 2027
James Fisher-Harris 2026
Izack Tago 2025
Dylan Edwards 2024
Mitch Kenny 2024
Moses Leota 2024
Jarome Luai 2024
Isaah Yeo 2024
Taylan May 2024
There are another six who are contracted for next season only.
That group falls into two categories – players they’ll prioritise when it comes to hashing out contract extensions like Brian To’o, Liam Martin and Stephen Crichton, and Spencer Leniu, Charlie Staines and Scott Sorensen who could become expendable if the salary cap bites the Panthers.
Staines and Crichton have already been linked to contract buyouts from cashed-up rivals like the Tigers, Dolphins and Bulldogs.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Brian To’o
Stephen Crichton
Spencer Leniu
Liam Martin
Charlie Staines
Scott Sorensen
There are only three players in the game-day squad who are heading for the exit door after the full-time siren sounds.
Koroisau is joining the Wests Tigers and fellow Fijian international Viliame Kikau is off to the Bulldogs, where he is set to be joined by bench utility Jaeman Salmon.
Penrith have snapped up Tigers forward Luke Garner to help fill the void in the second row left by Kikau’s departure while Kenny and Luke are readymade dummy-half replacements for Koroisau.
Viliame Kikau to the Bulldogs
Api Koroisau to Wests Tigers
Jaeman Salmon to Bulldogs
There are shades of the famous Eels of the 1980s, who won four titles in a six-year stretch and Brisbane’s glory days when they collected five trophies from 1992-2000.
Parramatta had seven players who featured in all four Grand Final wins – veteran internationals Ray Price and Mick Cronin, supported by emerging products that came through the grades together in Peter Sterling, Eric Grothe, Brett Kenny, Steve Ella and Paul Taylor.
Second-rowers John Muggleton and Steve Sharp played in all four successful finals campaigns but each missed a GF along the way.
Allan Langer and Glenn Lazarus lift the 1992 Winfield Cup. (Photo by Patrick Riviere/Getty Images)
At the Broncos, the mainstays were Kevin Walters and Michael Hancock, the only players to feature in all five triumphs, while Allan Langer, Steve Renouf, Andrew Gee and bench utility John Plath were part of the first four.
They also had a golden generation who came through together, the likes of Kerrod Walters, Wendell Sailor, Willie Carne and Alan Cann playing their part, with Hall of Fame prop Glenn Lazarus recruited from the Raiders to give the pack the power to stand up to and stand over any opposition.
Melbourne and the Roosters won three premierships over the past decade but neither could be called a dynasty as they interchanged champion status between each other with Souths, the Cowboys and Cronulla sneaking in for one each in between.
A team has to win at least four comps in a short space of time to be considered a dynasty so by that rationale, the Panthers are still only halfway there even if they break the Eels’ hearts on Sunday night.
But when you look around at the teams that are going to rival them for the title in the next few years, is there an obvious challenger?
South Sydney Rabbitohs (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The Eels are losing several key players from their roster this season, Melbourne and the Roosters look like they’re both in an in-between period where the majority of their players are either a few years away or past their peak.
Souths are strong but two of their spine – Cody Walker and Damien Cook – are in their 30s so time is running out for them, Cronulla are pretty good but lack the top-line stars while the Green Machine from Canberra runs hot and cold like their weather.
The teams that finished outside the top eight this year all seem to be in slow rebuilds, which leaves the Cowboys as the side most likely to give Penrith a run for their money in the next few years.
North Queensland rocketed from second last to a Preliminary Final this season under Todd Payten and with young guns like Jeremiah Nanai, Reuben Cotter, Tom Dearden, Reece Robson, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Scott Drinkwater entering their prime, combined with hard heads like Jason Taumalolo, Valentine Holmes and Chad Townsend, they have the building blocks in place to become legitimate contenders.