Penrith Panthers’ young squad built on talent, respect and a strong team ethic

PENRITH have one of the youngest rosters ion the competition. Each of them have to clean their locker and follow the dress rules. And this system is working.

FIRST thing you notice are the shoes. Specifically, how nobody has any.

Bryce Cartwright, Nathan Cleary, Waqa Blake, Isaah Yeo - every one of them pausing to remove his dirty boots somewhere along those 10 metres separating training paddock from the giant, glass doors of Penrith HQ.

A gesture which, of course, could mean nothing. Or everything.

Same deal the fact these young Panthers, each evening, cannot leave this new $23 million facility until their locker is clean. Nor arrive game day without dress shirts ironed.

Heavy fines, too, for any man who lets his first grade jersey touch the ground. But will it bring them success?

Halfback Nathan Cleary is the latest of the Panthers production line.

For this, undoubtedly, is the question every time the words next, big and thing are lumped together. And Penrith, they now boast a bunch of them.

Indeed, against Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night, the Panthers will have six players under 22. Nine under 24. Honestly, throw in teenager Te Maire Martin, who returns from injury in a few weeks, and their median age will rival that of the cheer squad.

Yet rugby league history, it’s littered with the carcasses of schoolboy prodigies.

Just ask Phil Gould, the Panthers patriarch who was gone from NRL coaching before some of these kids could even walk. A fella who, at age 57, boasts more life than Cartwright, Cleary and winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak combined.

Yes, Gould has a young roster. Younger facilities. Motorised drones now buzzing above training sessions while, over by headquarters, three staffers punch data into laptops as a chef dishes breakfast into silver bain maries.

Yet still, more important is what you can’t see. Like singlets and thongs at meal time. Or baseball caps.

All three banned not only for this particular Tuesday brekkie at Panthers HQ, but every team meal they share on the road. Which at first glance may seem a bit, err, excessive.

Same deal the strict dress code which, depending on occasion, switches between team suits to those club-issue dress shirts and RM Williams jeans.

Yet out here in the wild west, this system based on pride, unity and respect, it’s working.

Same deal the old school laws that not only forbids U20 players from using the NRL gym, but even entering HQ through the same doors.

For to be a Panther now, everything is earned.

“And the players, they want in on that,’’ forward Chris Grevsmuhl enthuses of a system that currently has them inside the top eight. “It’s why out on the field, guys are turning up when they’re not expected to.”

Which still doesn’t mean coach Anthony Griffin will like us writing this.

James Fisher-Harris doesn’t mind a little bit of niggle.

Same as he mutters and swears like Muttley from Wacky Races every morning another yarn likens his side to the Harlem Globetrotters.

For, yes, Hook lets his young ‘uns run free in the yard. But more recently, he has also reminded them of what he demands in return - aggressive and grit, men keen for the contact.

And just quietly, we reckon his kids might be quick studies.

Take Grevsmuhl, who whacks as well as he interviews. Or James Fisher-Harris, the country Kiwi who during opposed sessions has dropped more than one team-mate with friendly fire.

Off the field, Fisher-Harris passes you in the hallway and lowers his head. But on it? Well, heads are what he rattles. Quizzed on the history of his hardcore approach, the 20-year-old grins: “Ah, all my family were dirty players.

“My dad, grandpa, everyone on the Fisher side were known for playing hard. Dad is always telling me his tricks - elbows, knees, anything goes basically.”

Bryce Cartwright finally looks set to reach his Origin dream.

That Fisher-Harris still resides at Panther House, a boarding complex usually reserved for U20s players, might be news at other clubs. But not here.

No, not when your halfback still lives with his parents while five-eighth Cartwright, well, he now wears the jersey once belonging to his mate and mentor, Panthers veteran Jamie Soward.

Asked if the situation was akward, Cartwright shrugged: “No, because Sowie and I don’t speak about it.

“He knows it isn’t personal. That it’s a coaching decision, not mine. In fact, he actually spends a lot of time at training talking me through stuff and helping me improve.”

And on it goes. Pick a kid, find a story.

Like Leilani Latu, the 23-year-old prop eligible for Tonga, Italy, Australia and the Indigenous All Stars. Or Reagan Campbell-Gillard, the hyphenated hombre who, almost unbelievably, used to cry when tackled hard as a kid.

Elsewhere, you have Waqa Blake, who dropped a dozen kilos over summer. And Isaah Yeo, a Dubbo boy who plays accordingly.

Chris Grevsmuhl isn’t afraid to speak his mind.

While so good has Cleary’s debut season been, he now owns that accolade saved for only the most gifted: a media ban.

And just on that, what isn’t to love about Grevsmuhl? The hardcore Townsville product who so famously made headlines after switching from Souths a fortnight ago?

Asked about outing the mind games of Redfern boss Michael Maguire, he says: “I just didn’t want people to think I walked out.

“I wanted them to know the truth. And people can take that however they like. I just thought they should know.”

Indeed, for 10 minutes, this young enforcer will answer everything you throw at him. Talking Souths, second chances, even similarities between Carty and Kangaroo Greg Inglis.

Continuing until finally, with our interview done, he moves off toward those giant glass doors of Panthers HQ. Stopping only briefly to remove his shoes.

Originally published as Penrith Panthers’ young squad built on talent, respect and a strong team ethic