Matty Johns: Paparazzi, pressure and invasion of privacy challenge Penrith’s bid for NRL fourpeat

Penrith’s tremendous success could also be the club’s greatest downfall, as the longer a club enjoys a sustained run of success, the more complex the challenges it faces, writes MATTY JOHNS.

Nathan Cleary and the Panthers have a fresh set of obstacle to overcome in their chase of a fourth straight premiership.

The greatest threat to Penrith winning their fourth title straight is themselves.

Their 8-0 Round 1 NRL defeat to the Melbourne Storm last Friday, causes me no concern.

Penrith, like last season, are in the midst of tinkering with their style of play and bedding down new combinations.

It’s off the field where the greatest challenge lies.

In sport, much like in life, the longer the sustained run of success, the more complex the challenges become.

Nathan Cleary and the Panthers hunting for a four-peat. Art: Boo Bailey

FIGHT TO RETAIN DESIRE

With achievement and great success comes adulation, celebrity, and, of course, money.

That combination challenges desire.

Desire, the fire in the belly isn’t an eternal flame, it requires stoking.

Adversity feeds the fire, adulation can pour sand on it.

To win three competition straight in the modern era of salary cap is truly unbelievable, given the salary cap is pretty much put in place to stop this achievement from happening. But don’t think the Panthers have found a secret loophole, the salary cap has impacted the Panthers greatly on their road to a three-peat.

Each year they’ve shed a star or two, but the depth of junior talent, and how these players are developed and educated within the system means superstars can be replaced. And as the superstars are replaced, they alter their style to suit the new arrivals.

CHANGING FACES

The loss of Apisai Koroisau at the end of 2022 was a huge one. His creativity was as important as Nathan Cleary’s and Isaah Yeo’s.

They replaced him with Mitch Kenny, but the pair couldn’t be more different. Koroisau toys with the markers, manufactures one-on-one tackles, and deceives and outsmarts.

Tough as concrete hooker, Mitch Kenny. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Kenny, on the other hand, is concrete tough and works like a packhorse. He’s not big on natural talent but will always find a way to win a battle. He’s a bit like the shortest kid in high school who wills himself to be captain of the basketball team.

It took time for Kenny to gel with his playmakers and develop a new system, but of course they got there.

That’s why the Panthers’ Round 1 losses caused me no concern — Brisbane beat them 13-12 in Penrith to kick off last season — and we all know how the year ended.

OFF-FIELD CHALLENGES

But off the field, the challenges they’ve been dealing with are far more foreign.

Nathan Cleary‘s life changed after the full-time siren sounded in last year’s grand final victory. In those incredible final 17 minutes, he went from being an NRL star to a front page celebrity.

This elevation has seen him surrender a large portion of his private life. Suddenly, there were fewer questions about his goalkicking and more about who he was dating.

Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler.

He started fielding less inquiries from Dean Ritchie and Buzz Rothfield, and more from gossip magazines. Fewer photos of him posing in Panthers kit, more shots of him in parks, airports and cafes, snapped by long-angle lens paparazzi.

This can wear even the most resilient individual down.

CLEARY’S INTENSE FOCUS

I interviewed Cleary on my backstage podcast and he conceded how his life had altered and the effect it had on him and his family.

On one occasion, photographers had parked themselves out the front of the family home. His younger sister, on walking out the front door, was hit by an onslaught of flashes, forcing her back inside, distressed.

The boss of the house, Nathan’s mother Bec, took control. Now Bec, the sister of former

Norths hardman Josh Stuart, every bit as tough and intimidating as her often suspended brother, walked out and told the photographers where they could stick their cameras. The paps couldn’t get out of Penrith fast enough.

The key to Cleary and his teammates dealing with the off-field distractions is their environment and unity. Winning this fourth title will be far and away their toughest. Keeping grounded, focused and hungry is their greatest opponent.

On Friday night they face their great western Sydney rivals Parramatta, whose record against Penrith in the last few seasons is better than any other team.

The Panthers will still be a way off their best, but I’m very confident they will win.