How the Panthers can turn around their worst start to a season since 2016
With injury concerns and their worst start to a season since 2016, the Panthers are in unfamiliar territory as they aim to arrest the worst defence in the NRL. DAVID RICCIO reveals their six burning issues.
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With injury concerns and their worst start to a season since 2016, the Panthers are in unfamiliar territory as they aim to arrest the worst defence in the NRL. Ahead of a huge clash with the Cowboys next Friday night, David Riccio reveals the six burning issues facing the champions.
1. DEFENCE
The Panthers have leaked an unheard of and very much un-Penrith 118-points in their opening four matches. They have the worst defence in the NRL, behind the Cowboys and Eels (both 104-points conceded) who are still to play this weekend.
To illustrate how sluggish the Panthers defence has been, it took them until round nine last season to reach a comparative 125-points conceded. In their 2023 premiership year, it took them until round eight to reach 112-points conceded. What is concerning, which captain Isaah Yeo flagged after losing on Friday night, is that the holes are being punched by the opposition not in one particular area of the field, but across the entire park.
Penrith conceded 114 points in the first 13 rounds of the 2021 season.
— Martin Gabor (@MartinJGabor) March 27, 2025
They've conceded 118 points in 3.5 games this season#NRLSouthsPanthers
2. CASUALTY WARD
Coach Ivan Cleary said after losing to South Sydney on Friday night that their performances weren’t about who is missing, headlined by Nathan Cleary (HIA) and Dylan Edwards (quad). However, that’s just coach-speak. Penrith are absolutely suffering from too many combination changes in key positions, on top of losing players in games.
Their loose defence is a direct result of players chopping and changing positions and finishing with a short bench. Winger Casey McLean lasted a couple of minutes in Las Vegas. Edwards came from the field against the Roosters, Cleary came off against the Storm and Scott Sorensen, Brian To’o and Trent Toelau early against the Rabbitohs. We can wax lyrical about the Panthers production line of talent, but after five years of success, there’s no doubt the club’s depth is as thin as we’ve seen over this period.
3. NO FAREWELLS
This sounds strange, but the Panthers could use the motivation of one of their stars leaving right now. If you think back over the past five years and the performances of those that have left the club in their final season, the majority have played their greatest football in that final year. The end-of-season exit’s of Api Koroisau, Stephen Crichton, Viliame Kikau, Spencer Leniu, Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris gave the Panthers a sense of purpose, mateship and reason to send their best mate out on a high. Problem is, no one is leaving this year.
4. NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Playing out of Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium for the next two seasons during the construction of a new BlueBet Stadium is an issue that we haven’t even scratched the surface of yet for Penrith. It’s a massive problem. You can play “Hells Bells” and that famous Panther scowl as loud as you like over the brand spanking new PA system at CommBank, but there’s nothing that replicates the home fortress and the opposition running out onto a packed Penrith Park. A hugely concerning crowd of 12,180 turned up to watch Penrith “host” the Roosters at CommBank two weeks ago. It’s alarming when you consider that when Penrith last hosted the Roosters during a regular season game at BlueBet Stadium in 2023, the place was rocking with a crowd of 20,255.
48' PANTHERS TRY! Liam Martin gets our first.
— Penrith Panthers ðŸ†ðŸ†ðŸ†ðŸ† (@PenrithPanthers) March 27, 2025
📊 https://t.co/misW8yu6pu#pantherpride 🾠#NRLSouthsPanthers pic.twitter.com/JR9S5ZaQPU
5. PRESSURE ON LEADERS
My goodness, how much worse would it be for Penrith without Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin. The champion duo have been a model of elite consistency in each of Penrith’s four games. They are leaders in every sense of the word and during a period of which the side has been without Cleary and Edwards, it’s been Yeo and Martin that have attempted to carry the club on their back. The only concern with that is, at what point do they, too, feel the pressure of doing so much for the team? They’re only human.
6. UP FOR SO LONG
Have we considered how much footy the Panthers players have played over the last five years?
Where other players and teams have been ordering cocktails in Bali in September and October, the likes of Yeo, Martin, Edwards, Cleary and To’o have been playing until the final day of the season for the past five years. You then add end-of-season representative fixtures, mid-season Origin appearances, a world club challenge and the much shorter pre-season to the majority of their rivals and you have to wonder how long the candle can keep burning.
Originally published as How the Panthers can turn around their worst start to a season since 2016
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