Pretty in pink: The magical resurgence of the Panthers

When Ivan Cleary arrived at Penrith in 2012, the team to beat that season was the Melbourne Storm, who defeated Canterbury in the grand final later that year.

Cleary had deeper issues to worry about in those early days after Phil Gould had convinced him to leave the Warriors to join his revolution at the foot of the Blue Mountains.

Ivan and Nathan Cleary after winning their fourth premiership.Credit: Getty Images

Everywhere he looked, few people in the local area seemed to wear Panthers jumpers. They sported the merch of rival clubs, mostly Parramatta. It was like they were embarrassed to say they supported their own team.

Never in Cleary’s wildest dreams could he have envisaged Penrith beating the Storm in a grand final to claim their fourth consecutive title with his players wearing pink jerseys that have become the most popular in the merchandise store.

After Penrith’s 14-6 victory at Accor Stadium on Sunday night, you suspect they’ll be selling a lot more.

The Panthers were required to play in their alternate jumper because the Storm were minor premiers, although what they wore was irrelevant: they could have been dressed as ninjas and you’d still know it was them.

Paul Alamoti – wearing Penrith’s now-famous pink jersey – celebrates the Panthers’ grand final win.Credit: Getty Images

Their relentless, methodical brand of football is as distinctive as it is successful. They keep the ball in play as long as possible, waiting for the opposition to either make a mistake or run out of gas.

With a 65-year-old coach who is still the first into the gym each morning, the Storm are among the fittest teams in the competition. They are known as rugby league’s living dead. You can’t kill them.

Normally, these sorts of arm wrestles put the viewer to sleep, but Penrith and Melbourne are so good at what they do it’s impossible to not admire it.

It quickly became clear, though, this was going to be Penrith’s night. Again.

The first half demonstrated how far they’ve come as a football side since their 2020 grand loss to Melbourne, the spark that lit a fire that started an inferno.

On that night, the Storm’s rushing defence rocked Penrith to their soul. They made mistakes, none worse than a Nathan Cleary intercept pass, and they vowed after full-time to never get bullied like that again.

Melbourne tried the same tactic on Sunday night, but this time the bully was bullied back. While Cleary and halves partner Jarome Luai danced around the Storm’s big forwards with ease, the Panthers’ pack keep trucking through the middle of the field.

Soon enough, Penrith strangled Melbourne out of the contest.

The ball was in play for the first three-and-a-half minutes. By the end of the first half, it had been in play for 38 minutes.

Melbourne looked buggered just walking onto the field for the second half, while Penrith barely had a sweat moustache.

It’s not an accident.

Ivan Cleary has put many standards in place since bringing about a significant cultural change at Penrith following a diabolical 2019 season when he considered walking away.

One of them forbids his players from putting their hands on their hips, knees or heads during breaks in play. To do so shows the opposition they’re fatigued and therefore vulnerable.

At no stage did Penrith look tired in this grand final. Some of Melbourne’s forwards looked shot after 20 minutes.

Australia and NSW backrower Liam Martin was the deserved Clive Churchill Medallist. He was an everywhere man in attack and defence, the embodiment of what Penrith are all about.

His side now becomes the first since the legendary St George sides of the 1950s to win four consecutive premierships, although it seems absurd to make comparisons because the game is now unrecognisable to what it was during those times.

Is this Penrith side better than the Canberra and Brisbane teams that dominated the 1990s and regarded by many as the greatest in history?

Probably, because it’s won four on the trot operating under a restrictive salary cap that’s squeezed out two superstars a year since their golden run started.

This premiership puts an exclamation mark on their remarkable run. They beat the side that inspired them in the first place.

Penrith’s rebirth in the past decade has been truly remarkable, and it’s evidenced in what they’ve done for their once-indifferent community.

They’ve been unfairly branded arrogant and dismissed as a mere shopfront for a massive poker machine den, but those uneducated barbs ignore what the club means to its community.

As Penrith have racked up titles, gang-related crime in the area has decreased.

They’ve shown the region’s youth there’s another way and it starts with them wearing a pink jumper.

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