Veteran void: Will a young roster cost the Penrith Panthers a shot at the NRL premiership?

Thirty is not a dirty word in NRL, as stats reveal how vital veterans are to success. We break down every club’s roster, and there are some stunning finds.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 25: Dylan Edwards of the Panthers and Nathan Cleary of the Panthers look dejected after losing the 2020 NRL Grand Final match between the Penrith Panthers and the Melbourne Storm at ANZ Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

It’s the Tom Brady effect — and the lack of it should have alarm bells ringing for Penrith.

Panthers premiership hero Luke Lewis says an absence of veteran experience could backfire on his old club, and history backs him up.

In the wake of NFL legend Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl last Monday at the age of 43, Fox Sports Lab has crunched the numbers to uncover how many players over 30 are on every NRL roster.

The analysis revealed the Panthers are the only team in the NRL without a player older than 30 on their roster as they look to bounce back from last season’s grand final heartbreak.

Since 1998, not one team has won a premiership without someone over 30 on the roster and only two sides (the 2004 Bulldogs and the 2012 Storm) have triumphed without an over 30 in their grand final day side.

Do the Panthers lack the senior voice required to win an NRL premiership?

“That’s probably my biggest concern with them,” Lewis said of Ivan Cleary’s side.

“They don’t have that little more senior guy who knows when to pull them in and offer a bit of leadership when it needs to be done.”

The off-season departures of skipper James Tamou, Josh Mansour, Zane Tetevano and centre Dean Whare have left a veteran void at Penrith, who stormed to the minor premiership in 2020 before falling short against Melbourne in the decider.

“This year it will be really important for them to have some leaders because they’ll be more hunted this year,” Lewis said.

“Teams are going to be preparing differently to how they might have last year, they’ll be taking them pretty full on.

“Some guys lead with their actions, some guys lead through their talk. But when you’re all at the same age you can be fighting for ‘big dog’ status and over who’s going to step up.”

However, youth doesn’t necessitate a lack of experience.

Isaah Yeo and Nathan Cleary will lead the Panthers.

New Penrith co-captains Nathan Cleary (23) and Issah Yeo (26) have 100 and 148 first grade matches to their credit and Lewis believes the run to the grand final can give the Panthers a worldliness that belies their youth.

“They’ve played semi-final football, they’ve been through some really good times and some other really hard times, they’ve experienced things you go through as an older player, they’ve just gone through it at a younger age,” Lewis said.

“So long as those guys step up and can lead the way I don’t see why they couldn’t have another great year like last year.”

While the Panthers are the only team without a player over 30, two of the competition heavyweights sit at the other end of the scale.

Canberra and South Sydney — along with Cronulla — boast the most golden oldies with six players each. The Rabbitohs also claim the NRL’s oldest player in Benji Marshall, assuming, of course, the ageless Cameron Smith doesn’t saddle up again.

Turning 36 at the end of the month, Marshall just beats home Canberra prop Sia Soliola, the Morris twins and Newcastle’s Blake Green, who will all celebrate their 35th birthdays later this year.

Lewis has been at both ends of the scale — after winning his first title with the Panthers as a 20-year-old he claimed another premiership with the Sharks in 2016 at 33.

Those drought-breaking Sharks were one of the oldest premiership teams in recent years with an average age of 27.57 as Lewis, Paul Gallen (35), Chris Heighington (34), Michael Ennis (32) and James Maloney (30) gave Cronulla the winning edge they needed to claim their first title.

Luke Lewis was just 20 when he won his first premiership.

And his second came 13 years later.

While the 2021 Rabbitohs are different in style to those hard-nosed Sharks, they boast a similar amount of experience which could well prove to be crucial for their title chances.

“I think they win, they’re my team to beat. They’re really well-balanced and have a lot of experience,” Lewis said.

“They have some really good senior guys who have experienced everything, the ups, the downs, the real tough periods where they’ve been down and out and coming from nowhere to play some good footy at the right end of the year.

“They have a bit of everything, I really like the shape of them at the moment.

“When you’re a bit older, the young kids make you think young, they make you want to train hard. You don’t want to let them down.”

Some of South Sydney’s most important players are among the over-30s, most notably halves Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker.

Veteran playmakers (L-R) Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker are key to South Sydney’s success. Picture: Adam Yip

The brilliant playmaking duo are one of just three halves combinations in the NRL where both players are over 30 and their experience and ability to complement each other’s play is perhaps South Sydney’s greatest weapon.

Both Walker and Reynolds possess an excellent understanding of their own attacking talents and how to apply those talents within the team’s game plan — they play with a sophistication and poise that cannot be bought, it can only be earned through a long career at the top level.

“It’s footy smarts. As you get older you know when to get involved, when not to get involved, how to stay away from the big collisions,” Lewis said.

“Just being around the game for such a long time gives you an understanding of the game, what’s needed and what’s not needed.

“It’s just footy smarts, footy awareness and the more you play is the only way you can get it.

“You just know your game, you know it inside and out and you know exactly how to make your team better.”

GOLDEN OLDIES: Teams with players 30 and older

Brisbane: 4 — Andrew McCullough (bound for Dragons), Ben Te’o, David Mead, Alex Glenn

Canberra: 6 — Jarrod Croker, Dunamis Lui, Elliott Whitehead, Jordan Rapana, Josh Hodgson, Iosia Soliola

Cronulla: 6 — Chad Townsend, Josh Dugan, Shaun Johnson, Wade Graham, Andrew Fifita, Aiden Tolman

Canterbury: 1 — Josh Jackson

Gold Coast: 4 — Corey Thompson, Mitch Rein, Kevin Proctor, Anthony Don

Manly: 3 — Daly Cherry-Evans, Martin Taupau, Kieran Foran

Melbourne: 1 — Jesse Bromwich

Newcastle: 2 — Mitchell Pearce, Blake Green

North Queensland: 2 — Jake Granville, Josh McGuire

Parramatta: 2 — Blake Ferguson, Michael Oldfield

Penrith: 0

St George Illawarra: 4 — Trent Merrin, Ben Hunt, Tariq Sims, Corey Norman

Sydney Roosters: 4 — Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Brett Morris, Josh Morris, Jake Friend

South Sydney Rabbitohs: 6 — Josh Mansour, Benji Marshall, Adam Reynolds, Cody Walker, Dane Gagai, Mark Nicholls

Warriors: 2 — Leeson Ah Mau, Ben Murdoch-Masila

Wests Tigers: 2 — James Tamou, Russell Packer