Nathan Cleary exorcises demons as Panthers make premiership statement

The Panthers were missing several stars on Sunday and even started Nathan Cleary on the bench but by full time everyone was saying the same thing.

Do the Panthers dare dream of a five-peat?

That is the question on everyone’s lips after they were purring once again on Sunday.

Even without Brian To’o, Dylan Edwards and Liam Martin and with Nathan Cleary starting on the bench for the first time in his NRL career, the Panthers were far too strong for the Eels as they registered a comfortable 32-10 at CommBank Stadium.

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Despite losing four of their opening five games of the season, the defending premiers are back on track and now sit just five competition points behind the fourth-placed Warriors.

For the last 30 years, no team that finished outside the top four has ever won but the Panthers’ resurgent form has put them in the conversation to not only be premiership contenders but potentially favourites to win it all again.

The Panthers have asserted themselves as genuine premiership contenders. Image: Getty

Despite coming from the bench, Cleary led from the front on Sunday, exorcising his Origin demons as he scored a match-sealing try nine minutes out from full-time, showcasing his total class.

And it has fans believing they can win a fifth straight title come September.

“They’re going to win it again this year aren’t they?” one fan wrote after Cleary crossed for a try.

While others wrote: “They are serious contenders again” and “not again”.

Why the Panthers can win it again in 2025

The Penrith dynasty has been built on hard work, mateship and an insatiable desire for success.

This Panthers side is already the most successful team of not only the salary cap era but also the limited tackle era – which began with the introduction of four tackle sets in 1967 after the Dragons won a record 11 consecutive premierships.

And although just two months ago many had written them off for finals footy, they are coming good at the right time … again.

The Panthers completed the four-peat (pictured) but dare they dream of five? Picture: Jonathan Ng

After some teething issues to start the year, understandable ones at that given they lost leaders Jarome Luai and James Fisher Harris and perennial try scorer Sunia Turuva, they are starting to click and it is an ominous sight for their rivals.

But Panthers coach Ivan Cleary isn’t getting ahead of himself, saying he’s just focusing on winning games so they can finish as high as possible.

“We know where we wanted to finish at the start of the year and we didn’t really change our mind on that,” Cleary said earlier this week.

“It’s more a case that we’re focused on the very short term. We’ll worry about the ladder and whatever else down the track because it doesn’t really matter at the moment.

“You’ve got to prepare well and play well, and if you do that often enough then you’ll win enough games.”

The Storm, Bulldogs, Raiders, Warriors and Broncos along with Penrith appear to be the teams who can logically win it this year but all have some serious holes.

So can they win it again? Time will tell.

But one thing is for sure, you cannot write off the Panthers in 2025 and coming into finals they are the team I would want to avoid at all costs.

Originally published as Nathan Cleary exorcises demons as Panthers make premiership statement