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Opinion
According to James Fisher-Harris, he is playing in the best-ever Penrith team.
“Everyone gone before us, much respect. But as I said last night – we are the greatest Penrith team ever,” the two-time premiership prop said.
In saying this, James may have fallen prey to two serious factors. First, an excess of alcohol, and second, the fallacy of ‘recentism’ which one dictionary says is “focus on recent events to the exclusion of history.” In other words, we forget the significance of events that happened more than a few years ago.
Are the 2022 Panthers the best? Having won back-to-back titles and over 80 per cent of their competition games, there is plenty of evidence in favour of this theory. But before getting carried away, it’s worth remembering a team should also be judged on the quality of the opposition they beat.
While Parramatta are a very good side, they aren’t of the calibre of the early ’90s Canberra Raiders, who the Penrith 1991 side had to beat to win their first title.
Parramatta in 2022 were worthy grand finalists, but there’s not a single player on their team who is anywhere near Immortal status.
The Canberra 1991 team had names like Mal Meninga, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley, Gary Belcher, Glenn Lazarus, Bradley Clyde, and Walters. The Raiders were also coming off the back of two premiership wins, in 1989 and 1990. When you consider the calibre of that team, Penrith winning the 1991 grand final was a mighty effort.
If you could invent a time machine, and adjust for relative fitness levels, it would be interesting to see if the Penrith of 2022 could beat the Canberra Raiders of 1991.
You could also argue that the 2003 Penrith team had a tougher challenge to overcome to win their comp, having to face a very strong Roosters team who were in the middle of three consecutive grand finals.
Compare that to the opposition in this year’s decider. Parramatta had endured a 36-year premiership drought, and scraped into fourth spot on the ladder.
Penrith’s whole finals campaign involved beating Parramatta twice, and also South Sydney, who came seventh. They did not have to face the teams who came second or third. Nor did they have to meet powerful clubs, the Roosters or Storm.
Mind you, Penrith would probably have won all those games, for they are deserving premiers. But are they the best ever Penrith team? Perhaps – but you should never underrate what the 1991 side achieved in beating a team as good of the Canberra Raiders.
Winning that game was a far tougher assignment than beating up on a club that hasn’t won a grand final for 36 years.
Penrith this year have a 20-4 win-loss record and finished four competition points ahead of the second-placed Sharks. In 1991, Penrith had a 17-4 win-loss record, but finished six competition points ahead of second-placed Manly. The Panthers also had some handy players back then – like Brad Fittler, Royce Simmons, and Greg Alexander.
Of today’s spine players, only Nathan Cleary would rate as high.
If Penrith win again next year, it’s fair to call the current team the best ever. Until that happens, we can file Fisher-Harris’s statement under R for Recentism.
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