Tough loss offers a chance to reflect and press reset

The Penrith Panthers went into the Finals Series this year with the mantra of ‘Never Before’, riding the wave of their incredible fightback from last to reach the top eight, and their quest to win a fifth title – this time from outside the top four.
It wasn’t to be. The collective heartbreak on Sunday afternoon could be heard right across Penrith.

It was a tough loss to take.

But as the sun came up on Monday morning, the opportunity to put a line under the last four years emerged.

And a slight re-jig from ‘Never Before’ to ‘Never Again’.

There is every chance we will never see a team win four straight titles again in our lifetime.

Let that sink in for a moment and you’ll realise just how special these last four years have been.

And what else can you say to Ivan Cleary, his players and everyone associated with the club other than: Thank You.

Man had not walked on the moon the last time a team had won four straight titles.

What Penrith has produced over the last four years will have a long-lasting impact on the club and the wider community.

It has created a generation of Penrith fans that will ride the wave of good and bad seasons for decades to come, and pass on that passion to their kids.

The sleeping giant that was rugby league in this part of Sydney, jolted awake only occasionally since 1967, has now been awoken for good.

For those of us who have supported this team for decades, the last four years feel somewhat surreal.

It wasn’t that long ago we were shivering through cold winters at Penrith Stadium watching the team be consistently beaten, delivering only the occasional highlight.

Now this team has gone from easybeats to one of the powerhouses of Australian sport.

It is only now that the run of straight titles is over that we can sit back and reflect.

We will talk about the time Penrith won four titles until the day we die.

We’ll talk about the memories created, forever etched into our minds.

We will remember Stephen Crichton’s famous intercept in 2021 that broke South Sydney’s heart and earned redemption for Penrith for a Grand Final defeat the previous year.

We’ll remember how it brought a city together at the end of the COVID lockdowns, and how rugby league that year kept us sane.

We will remember 2022 so fondly, not only because it was one of the most dominant seasons any rugby league club has produced, but it of course culminated in a victory over our arch rivals in Parramatta.

We will never forget Nathan Cleary’s 20 minutes of brilliance in the 2023 Grand Final, as he wrestled the Clive Churchill Medal out of Ezra Mam’s grasp.

2024? A tough, gritty Grand Final won on the back of hard work, guts and determination.

And as much as 2025 will not be remembered for Premiership success, we’ll never forget the ride the year gave us.

To come from last place on the ladder to make a Preliminary Final is unheard of, and we should be so proud of what this side has achieved this year.

There is a strange relief of sorts that this chapter is closed.

The chapter, not the book.

There will be more success to come in the coming years, no doubt.

And the heartbreak of going out to Brisbane last Sunday will likely be the driving factor in giving the Panthers back their hunger in 2026.

Ivan Cleary has hinted several times that there’s a bigger story to tell around Penrith’s slump at the start of the season.

Cleary keeps his cards reasonably close to his chest so we may never understand the entirety of what happened there, but it will no doubt be a driving factor in the pre-season.

As fans we have become accustomed to winning over the past five years and that’s what makes not being there on Grand Final day so much harder to take.

But once the dust settles we will all realise just how special this period was.

As a kid who cheered from the family hill and chased autographs after the game, I could never have imagined in my lifetime I would see such success.

For so many of us rugby league is a way of life.

A constant no matter what challenges there may be in life.

But the ride it takes us on can sometimes have more downs than ups.

For the last four years Ivan Cleary and his players have take us into the stratosphere.

We will be forever grateful.

Outsiders called Penrith arrogant and cocky, as they desperately clawed at ways to bring down the best, as we often do in this country.

But those of us in this little pocket of Sydney knew the real truth.

A special time, never to be forgotten.

Thank you, Penrith Panthers.