‘In rare air’: Is this Penrith team the greatest the game has seen?
Christian Nicolussi, Billie Eder
9–11 minutes
Best team to come out of Penrith? Try the greatest rugby league team. Like, ever.
That was the bold declaration made by a few good judges in the opening five minutes of the latest documentary,
Undisputed, which followed the Panthers’ charge to last year’s third straight title.
Blue-collar hero Royce Simmons, a Penrith hall-of-famer and 1991 premiership winner, says: “I’m not a big fan of judging sides from the past because life in general, everything gets better. It’s how it is. Your car gets better, food gets better, everything gets better.
“Footballers get better. This is easily Penrith’s best-ever side, and maybe the best side out of all the football that has been played.”
Peter Sterling won four p
remierships with Parramatta in the 1980s, but was prepared to declare the current western Sydney neighbours the real champions if they could complete the title four-peat.
It is hard comparing champions from different eras. Winx versus Phar Lap. Michael Jordan or LeBron James. Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods. Taylor Swift versus Madonna. But the Panthers have achieved their run in the salary cap era, unlike other clubs on this list.
As Penrith flew out for England on Friday for the World Club Challenge, plenty of rival clubs are wondering when this brilliant team consisting of Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Dylan Edwards, Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin and Brian To’o will start to slow down.
A fourth title is not beyond them.
Cleary is arguably the best player in the NRL, but at 26 has not been around long enough to appreciate what some of the great teams of the past were able to achieve.
Like St George’s 11 straight premierships from 1956 to 1966. Or South Sydney’s four titles that should have been five had they not lost the “unlosable” decider – and penalty count – against Balmain in 1969.
Cleary was certainly not around to witness similar memorable reigns by Manly and the Roosters in the 1970s, Parramatta and Canterbury in the 1980s, nor Canberra and Brisbane in the 1990s.
“The one thing I do know is we will always be known as the first team in the NRL era to win the ‘three-peat’,” Nathan Cleary says.
“A lot of hard work goes into it, and you also need a bit of luck.”
This masthead headed west to chat with Ivan during the week to get his thoughts on where this side rates among the greats.
Unlike his superstar son, Ivan grew up admiring the Eels and Bulldogs, started playing when Manly came into a purple patch of form, and finished when the Roosters were “top of the pops”.
Since he started coaching in the NRL in 2006, Cleary said Melbourne had been the one constant.
But coming back to his own backyard, and his thoughts on where his current team rate in the history, or since the Dragons’ decade-long reign finished?
“It’s hard to compare eras. I don’t know. All I know is we are in rare air,” Cleary said.
“We’re very proud of our achievements. If we could have been spoken about in the same sentence [as some of the great teams], that would have been beyond our wildest dreams. Not our wildest dreams because it was a dream, but even the fact we’re talking about it now, it’s quite surreal.
“The consistency over the last four years is what I’m most proud of.
“This year is another opportunity to try and win another premiership. It’s a new comp, new circumstances, new players, that’s how we look at it.”
Pressed on the fact Penrith had continued to win when forced to farewell Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau, Kurt Capewell, Api Koroisau – and now Stephen Crichton and Spencer Leniu – because of salary cap pressure, Cleary looked for the positives.
“Our charter as a club is to bring players through, and while I never want to lose all those guys, it keeps our charter moving,” Cleary said.
“It gives you that little bit of adversity, which is always motivating.
“There needs to be new blood in the team. There will be guys this year in the team who have never won a comp, or never played in a grand final.
“I would prefer it if we could keep all those guys, but maybe we wouldn’t have some of the players we’ve had the last couple of years, and they wouldn’t have had their shot.
“When you achieve so much, it’s sad to see guys go, but now we’re used to it a bit more, and you actually feel good knowing they [departing players] are heading off to help their families [financially] and chasing new challenges. That’s what it is all about really.”
Souths legend Bob McCarthy, Parramatta’s sharp-shooter Mick Cronin, Canterbury’s David ‘Cement’ Gillespie and Raiders royalty Mal Meninga won multiple competitions, and while not prepared to declare Penrith the best ever, they could all see something in the Panthers that made their own teams special.
South Sydney 1967 to 1971
McCarthy played in three of Souths’ four premierships and, if not for the Roosters and Manly tearing apart their star-studded roster, could have won a lot more silverware.
The tough forward, who maintains his beloved Bunnies are the only team that can threaten Penrith this year, said the Souths teams he played in shared a great camaraderie, something he also sees with the Panthers.
“Had we not lost the unlosable grand final against Balmain in 1969, we would have won all six grades – we had depth, and now this Penrith team has so much depth,” McCarthy said.
“They lose a player, then they pull someone up and they play the same. I won’t call them the greatest.
“They will certainly be hard to beat. I really think we [Souths] are the only side that can give it to them.”
Parramatta 1981 to 1984
Cronin, who admitted the Eels’ own premiership run ended because of age and injuries, said of the Penrith debate: “You don’t compare champions, you just recognise them – this Penrith team are a champion side.”
“It was just a great side, guys like [Ray] Price, [Peter] Sterling, [Brett] Kenny, [Steve] Ella, [Eric] Grothe, and even though we were beaten in 1984, and lost in the finals in 1985, our desire to win never left,” said Cronin, a brilliant goal-kicking centre who now runs a pub in Gerringong.
“It’s probably why we won in 1986. But by then, injuries and age had started to catch up with us.”
“They are the best team going around by a fair bit at the moment. They always have that bit extra.
“But the best ever?” Cronin asks.
“We’re talking almost 40 years apart. You don’t compare champions, you just recognise them – this Penrith team are a champion side.”
Canterbury 1984 to 1986
Gillespie won two premierships with the Dogs – he missed the 1986 grand final after losing a finger working as a garbage collector in the final week of the regular season – and later played in three straight deciders with Manly.
“With those teams, there was a lot of chemistry and respect for each other,” he said. “You galvanise as a group because everyone is after you when you’re successful, and there’s a target on your back. That can make you stronger. It did with Canterbury and Manly.
“It’s hard to compare eras, but Penrith are right up there. They are a great side.
The way they won that grand final last year, they were down and out, but they found something, and that’s what the great sides do. They’re definitely in the mix when it comes to being the greatest.”
Canberra 1989 to 1991
Meninga, now the Australian coach who has worked with several Panthers, said his almighty Green Machine believed in the systems in place at the time, and it was the same story now in Sydney’s far west.
“They are a talented footy team, they’re well coached, but they have a belief in their system – regardless of who plays and in what position, they know they can win, and that’s exactly how we felt,” Meninga said.
“They believe in their blueprint and attention to detail that goes into their preparation.
“There’s Nathan, Jarome, Dylan Edwards, Isaah, Liam Martin, they’re two front-rowers ... there’s no doubt they will be in the hunt for four in a row.”
It still feels like yesterday Cleary was presented a 50th birthday cake after training on a warm March day three years ago.
We caught up with him at the time, asking if his birthday wish
was to avoid becoming the next Brian Smith, a talented coach, but also someone who went 601 games without ever winning a title.
“It’s funny how it all works,” said Cleary, when reminded of that interview.
“It took me 14 years to win a minor premiership, which I think is really valuable.
“Nobody remembers them, but they’re so hard to win. It shows you’ve been consistent.
“It took me 15 years to win a comp. It’s not like it’s an overnight success.
“I love this group. I love turning up to work each day. I’ve had the taste of winning, and I like it.”
UNDISPUTED three-part docuseries on Penrith’s 2023 season is airing free and exclusively on 9Now. Episode one is available from noon on Friday, February 16.
No team will ever touch St George’s run of 11 straight premierships. But Penrith can make a strong case if they win four in a row in the salary cap era.
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