Fans finally get chance as Panthers hunt for past and present glory 

If a team wins a premiership, but there’s no one there to celebrate it, did they really win?

Nathan Cleary of the Panthers celebrates with fans during Penrith’s Grand Final Parade. The Panthers won the 2021 NRL finale a month earlier but Covid-19 related restrictions prevented the team from celebrating with fans until a month later. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

If a team wins a premiership but there’s no one there to celebrate it, did they really win?

Like a wedding without a ­reception, Penrith’s grand final victory over Souths a year ago was missing an essential ingredient: celebration. Like the rest of NSW, Penrith was subject to strict lockdown rules; games were watched in secret, cheers were ­stifled, and celebrations were kept under wraps.

Barred from entering the Penrith leagues club, fans did the next best thing, spontaneously descending upon the road in front of their beloved mecca.

For the next few hours, smiling police turned a blind eye as fans blared their horns, screamed from car windows and cried along to the team’s victory song, Go the Mighty Panthers.

When police began motioning for people to move on, the town did so dutifully.

For the first time in rugby league history, a premiership party was over before midnight.

Not this year. There’s a buzz in Penrith this week. Forty-four pages of the local paper have been dedicated to the team. Everything from local schools to furniture stores have been decked out in Panther’s colours.

The leagues club is expecting 8800 people to pack its venue, with more lining up outside. As NRL legend Mark Geyer explains, win or lose, Sunday’s outcome is the culmination of two years worth of pent-up celebrations.

“We haven’t had a chance to say thank you to them. They have been the best team in the comp for the last three years and we really haven’t had a chance to pat them on the back and say well done,” Geyer says.

This is a town that lives and breathes its team. Geyer explains, even those who have never watched a day of NRL in their life throw themselves behind the team.

The players’ close connection to their community no doubt helps. Forty-seven per cent of Sunday’s starters are Penrith ­natives. It’s not uncommon for ­locals to bump into players while shopping, or at the local park. When fans cheer this weekend, they won’t just be cheering for their colours, but for the person they grew up with.