A memory to savour forever

The nerves just never really set in.

Not when gathered with mates for a few drinks in the afternoon, kick-off still hours away.

Not when having a quick roadie at Panthers, soaking in the atmosphere at the Leagues Club.

Not on the bus ride in, nor awaiting kick-off at Accor Stadium.

It wasn’t arrogance that held off the nerves, nor being cocky. Indeed, all week I’d figured the game was 50/50.

Perhaps, in the end, it came down to two things: trust and history.

Trust that no matter what happened, this incredible footy team would turn up and implement the style of game plan that suited the occasion. There was nothing to be worried about.

And history; perhaps there was something in the fact that this team had already given us as supporters so much. That whatever happened once the ball was kicked, our hearts and footy souls were full.

At full-time on Sunday night, the feeling was very different to that of the previous four Grand Finals.

2020 was all heartbreak. An opportunity lost, and would we get another chance?

In 2021 there was only one word to sum it up: relief.

In 2022 it was pure joy, back-to-back Premierships over an old foe.

2023? Euphoria.

This time around it was more about trying to comprehend what we’d just witnessed.

Four straight Premierships, not done since before man landed on the moon.

Something we will probably never see again.

Another team will come along, of course, that rivals such feats. But it may be my daughter who sees it, not me.

And when it does happen, debate will likely rage about the new ‘modern era’ and how it’s impossible to compare whatever team it may be with the Panthers of the 2020s.

This is the stuff you tell your grandkids about.

It’s why I bought the hard copy of every newspaper I could on Monday morning, as I have done for the last four years, all part of savouring the memory.

It’s why a trip back to Panthers after the Grand Final was a must, just to say you were there. Mulgoa Road? More chaotic than you’ve ever seen it.

I feel privileged to have been able to attend three of the last four Grand Finals, witnessing history with my own eyes.

When they pull down Accor Stadium one day, they will take with it memories that will forever be etched in my mind.

Everyone will have their own story about why this period was so special.

For me, as a 41-year-old, the timing feels impeccable.

I’ve been around long enough to have experienced the tough times. The long, lonely seasons at Penrith Park during the 1990s, when the euphoria of that 1991 Premiership had long disappeared.

And the similar times in the years that followed 2003, when it just never felt like the Panthers were going to emerge from a self-induced slumber.

I’ll hopefully be around long enough to still be sharing memories of this period with kids and grandkids for many decades to come. Looking at frames on the wall and reflecting on a period I couldn’t have imagined in even my wildest dreams.

And of course, being able to do it with the Penrith Park I grew up with as home base has been special too. The fact that it will be torn down just as this period reaches what could be its crowning glory feels kind of ironic.

Career wise, it has felt like an absolute privilege to have a front row seat to this period of success.

I’d always dreamed of covering one Grand Final triumph. The fact I’ve now been able to do it four times is out of this world.

So where will history put this Penrith team?

That is yet to be written, but more importantly, it can’t be written until it is complete.

And as much as the departures of James Fisher-Harris and Jarome Luai will hit the Panthers hard, we’ve been here before.

The same discussions will be had, about whether Penrith could possibly do this again. A thousand experts will say they can’t.

But as Matt Cameron and Ivan Cleary will tell you, it’s not really about Premierships.

That has been the very fortunate result in the last four years, but it is not necessarily what is at the top of the whiteboard come pre-season training.

It is about being competitive, about being a source of pride, about setting standards and adhering to them, if not exceeding them.

And that, there is no doubt about. The Panthers will turn up again in 2025 and will give all other 16 clubs something to chase. How it all ends, time will tell.

I’ll finish with an observation out of last Sunday night’s win.

For the past few years I’ve heard talk about Penrith being arrogant, about the team I love being cocky and full of themselves.

None of it was ever true, but so be it.

One thing I’ve noticed in the past week is how much that tone has changed to one of respect.

The wider rugby league community now accepts that they’re witnessing greatness.

And no matter who you support, if you’re a rugby league fan first then you can’t dispute what Penrith has achieved these past four years as being something very special.

Soak it up, Penrith. It’s a special time in our city; and it’s a privilege to be a Panthers fan.

Originally published in The Western Weekender