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Opinion
Penrith, the reigning premiers, have a golden opportunity to make history this season, and go where no NRL club has ever been before.
In the 25 seasons since the NRL era began in 1998, only 23 premierships have been won, with Melbourne being stripped of their ill-gotten wins in both 2007 and 2009.
Some 24 teams have fought for the elusive trophy in that time: the 16 teams that went around in 2022, plus five clubs in St George, Illawarra, Balmain, Western Suburbs and North Sydney who disappeared in the ill-conceived mergers, the born to fail Northern Eagles merger that folded after just three years, and Adelaide and the Gold Coast Chargers, who thankfully just disappeared.
None of the departed clubs won a title in the NRL era, with the premiership spoils being shared by 12 of the current clubs, with Parramatta, Canberra, NZ Warriors and the Gold Coast Titans all missing out on the silverware.
Significantly, of the 12 winners, only the Roosters (2018 and 2019) and the Panthers (2021 and 2022) have won back-to-back titles in the last 25 years, and the stage is now set for Penrith to become the first club in the NRL era to win three in a row.
Who’s going to stop them?
The bookmakers have already installed the Panthers as $4 favourites to win another title, ahead of both the Roosters and the Storm, and have basically discounted the claims of both last year’s losing Gran Finalists Parramatta, and premiership ladder runners-up Cronulla, and they’ve got it dead right. The Eels look a weaker side than last year, and the Sharks look at least two years away from mounting a serious premiership campaign.
Even though salary cap pressure has seen the Panthers inevitably shed a couple of big names this year in Viliame Kikau and Api Koroisau, along with valuable depth players in Sean O’Sullivan, Charlie Staines, Robert Jennings and J’maine Hopgood, they head into season 2023 with most of their Grand Final team intact, with 14 of the 17 ring recipients still aboard Ivan Cleary’s bus.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
They haven’t been idle in the recruitment stakes either, signing the experienced Tyrone Peachey, Luke Garner and Jack Cogger, as well as Brisbane’s Zac Hosking, who just may prove to be a very handy late bloomer.
Beyond this handful of new recruits, Penrith will rely upon their much-vaunted junior talent to take the next step, fill any holes appearing in the roster, and put pressure on their teammates for positions in the team.
Twenty-year-old Sunia Turuva, currently with more appearances for Fiji than first grade games, was named in the RLWC Team of the Tournament, Mitch Kenny and Soni Luke have the dummy-half role well and truly covered, while outside back Tom Jenkins looks to be a likely customer.
Just lurking outside Penrith’s top squad are some very interesting development players in big back rowers Riki Preston, Ativalu Lisati and Mavrik Geyer, and a 21-year-old front row giant in Liam Henry. Don’t be surprised to hear more about this quartet before the season’s out.
The Panthers seemingly have every other opposition team well and truly covered for quality, depth, youth and experience, particularly in the key positions. They just don’t have any obvious weaknesses.
Halfback Nathan Cleary, still just 25 years of age, is entering his eighth season of first grade, has played three Grand Finals, won two of them, won a Clive Churchill Medal, worn the NSW jersey 13 times, and is now firmly entrenched as the Australian No.7, with five Tests to his name.
Jarome Luai, the same age as Cleary, has had the same Grand Final experience as his halves partner, represented Samoa 11 times and played for NSW on five occasions.
Mercurial fullback Dylan Edwards has played over 100 games for the Panthers and has a Clive Churchill Medal to keep his two premiership rings company. Panthers talisman and co-captain Isaah Yeo will pass the 200-game mark this year well before his 29th birthday, and has revolutionised the role of the lock forward on his way to two premierships, and both the NSW and Australian No.13 jerseys.
James Fisher-Harris has just recently celebrated his 27th birthday, and as he enters his eighth season of first grade, has firmly established himself as the best front rower in the game, and the first forward picked for New Zealand.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The Panthers look just as strong as they did last year, and the World Cup experience gained by almost every footballer from postcode 2750 will give them an added boost. Their biggest premiership rivals in the Storm, Roosters, Sharks, Cowboys and Rabbitohs don’t look any more threatening than they did in 2022, and perhaps one or two of them have been weakened.
If Penrith can make it three in a row, they’ll equal the efforts of Eastern Suburbs (1911-1913 and 1935-1937), Balmain (1915-1917), Souths (1953-1955) and Parramatta (1981-1983), and if they can win three, they can easily win four.
Then they can set about equalling Souths between the wars milestone of five premierships in a row (1925-1929), which is the second-longest run of consecutive NSWRL/ARL/NRL premierships behind St George’s 11-year run between 1956 and 1966.
Penrith are a strong club, still on the ascendency, and possess an enviable winning culture, and 2023 just could be the year that they start building a dynasty for the ages.
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