NRL 2023: Penrith’s production line of talent and ‘we first’ attitude has created a super team

The Melbourne Storm were good, the early Broncos even better - but no team of the modern rugby league era can hold a candle to the Panthers, writes BRENT READ.

Brian To’o and Stephen Crichton of the Panthers. Picture: Getty Images

Stop the fight. Regardless of what happens over the next two months, we’re bearing witness to the greatest team in NRL history.

Statistically speaking, the most dominant dynasty in the modern game. Penrith are in the midst of a hot streak that stretches back four years and eclipses anything we have seen since the NRL came into being in 1998.

Brisbane were good back then. Very good. The Broncos had a side littered with State of Origin players and internationals, won two premierships and prevailed in 66 per cent of their regular season games over a three-year period.

Can’t hold a candle to the current Panthers though. Not even close. The Storm were a force in the mid to late 2000s, winning 72 per cent of their games over three years and a couple of titles that were later stripped thanks to a salary cap scandal.

Nathan Cleary and the Panthers have an 85% success rate. Picture: NRL Photos

Even with the benefit of two sets of books, their record couldn’t keep pace with Penrith. When Melbourne weren’t winning premierships during that period, Manly were. Yet the Sea Eagles’ regular season record was a tad over 60 per cent.

More recently, the Sydney Roosters and Storm went toe-to-toe for a few years from 2017, swapping four straight premierships. The Roosters won a couple in succession while the Storm went four years with a 78 per cent winning record in the regular season. Unthinkable really. At least it was until the Panthers arrived on the scene.

Even that great Storm side, featuring future Immortals Cameron Smith and Billy Slater, can’t compete with the current Panthers outfit, who have won a remarkable 85 per cent of their regular season matches over the past four years.

Star Nathan Cleary and coach Ivan Cleary are a hard duo to beat. Picture: NRL Photos

Throw in a pair of minor premierships and a losing grand final to Melbourne for good measure. They have done it despite being consistently stripped of talent, leaving them to rely on replacements, regenerate on the run and maintain their frantic pace.

More players will leave at the end of this season but they keep churning out quality. Yes, it helps when you have a bloke named Nathan Cleary in the No. 7 jersey, although there is no discernible change in their record when he is absent.

The Panthers are the best team of the NRL era. Art by Boo Bailey.

The Panthers just keep on keeping on. They lose players - and keep winning. They suffer injury - and keep winning. They are battered by representative football - and keep winning.

The bookies - and some of the game’s sharpest minds - expect more of the same this year. With the finals on the horizon, Bulldogs head of football and Nine commentator Phil Gould this week declared the Panthers had a chance to win five or six premierships in a row.

“Who’s gonna stop them?” Gould declared on his podcast.

Whatever talent the Panthers lose - they replace. Picture: Getty Images

“The beauty of the model is that they’ve had them cheaper and undervalued for so long. They’ve had to lose a couple: they’ve lost (Viliame) Kikau, they’ve lost (Stephen) Crichton, they’ve lost (Api) Koroisau.

“But the system [means] they’ve always got young fellas coming through. The development system is still there, they’re still extremely strong in lower grades, and they’ve got some great talent coming through.

“And even that’s being picked off by other clubs now because their pathways are blocked at the Panthers, they’ve got great players in front of them.”

Gould’s Bulldogs are among the clubs preying on the premiers. They have already nicked Kikau and next year will add Crichton and Jaeman Salmon to their ranks.

If you listen to the whispers, Jerome Luai is on their radar as well. The Panthers five-eighth enters the final year of his contract on November 1 and is free to sign with rivals on that day.

The Panthers have a fight on their hands but even if he departs, don’t bet against them. They have remarkably found the antidote to attrition.

They are impervious to their rivals’ raids. They are a team in every sense of the word. Legendary basketballer Michael Jordan once said that success turns we’s back into me’s.

There’s seemingly no me’s at the Panthers. Only we’s.

A Roosters shirt is seen with the NRL logo covered during the round 22 NRL match between Brisbane Broncos and Sydney Roosters. Picture: Getty Images

* * * * *

The players and their association have had a big week but they continue to walk a dangerous line with their attacks on the NRL.

They kicked off their protests against the slow progress of collective bargain talks by targeting the broadcasters with a media boycott - and in effect biting the hand that feeds them.

They then went more directly after the NRL this week by announcing that they would cover the NRL logo on the playing jerseys.

There’s only one problem with that approach - on Thursday night, the tape they used to cover the logo was also placed over the recognition of Telstra on the badge.

Telstra has been a loyal and long-term sponsor of not just the men‘s game, but also the women. They pay anything up to $20 million a year for naming rights, money that is shared with the players.

They had every right to be up in arms as they watched the footy kick off with their name covered by strapping tape.

It’s a dangerous ploy by the players and their representatives, testing the patience of the NRL and their major benefactors.

Head office would be within their rights to start hitting the players where it hurts - in the hip pocket. They are clearly in breach of their contracts.

The RLPA further inflamed tensions when chief executive Clint Newton met ACTU boss Sally McManus and other union officials in Melbourne this week.

The RLPA is not a union but they appear to have no qualms jumping into bed with them. The problem they face if they head down that path is that union membership is not mandatory.

As it stands, membership of the RLPA effectively is because the NRL pays them directly out of the players funding pool.

There’s nothing to prevent the NRL stopping that practice. Then it would be up to the RLPA to convince the players to sign up of their own volition.

Then, and only then, would we get a genuine indication of their commitment to the cause.

Originally published as NRL 2023: Penrith’s production line of talent and ‘we first’ attitude has created a super team