Have the Sharks unlocked Penrith’s secret to success?
There is a lot to be said about the value of a good youth system, especially with the current strength and depth of the Penrith Panthers.Many of the brightest talents in the NRL today earned a name for themselves in the since-forgotten Holden Cup, the national under-20s competition.
While many players have gone on to greatness individually, the challenges of keeping a talented young squad together are seemingly too hard for the majority of clubs. Teams are routinely disassembled as some players go searching for first-team opportunities, some bide their time in reserve grade and others fade from memory into a life away from the game.
The Reward for Retention
If you need an example of the value of developing a group of junior players through the same system, you only need to look at the premiers.
The Panthers’ 2013 Holden Cup title-winning squad featured a number of recognisable names including Isaah Yeo, Bryce Cartwright, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Waqa Blake, as well as former Dally M Centre of the Year James Roberts.
All of those players (but Roberts) were retained by the club and promoted to the NRL ranks. Over the next five years, the Panthers made the finals four times with a squad built around this core. Though most of that team except for Yeo have moved on, the benefits were already clear.
Penrith’s next under-20s premiership came just two years later, in a squad containing several familiar names.
While he missed the grand final due to commitments with the Australian Schoolboys, Nathan Cleary was vital in 2015. He was replaced for the final two games by another young standout – Jarome Luai. That squad also included Dylan Edwards, Moses Leota, James Fisher-Harris, Liam Martin and Mitch Kenny.
Penrith has long been a rugby league nursery but they’ve now nailed down a solid strategy for development from lower grades to NRL, they’re assured of a spot near the top of the rugby league landscape for years to come.
It’s also benefitted the NSW Cup, with the Panthers a regular feature at the top half of the table. In 2021 they were six points clear at the top before the competition was abandoned, they won the minor premiership in 2018 and the title proper in 2017.
Praise should be heaped upon Cameron Ciraldo, who has been central to helping these young players take the next steps. While other Panthers assistants have moved on to various roles elsewhere, Ciraldo has stayed despite immense interest in his talents every time a coach is sacked, such is his worth to the organisation.
Now the defending premiers sit atop the table again after making back-to-back grand finals and securing a long-awaited premiership. It boggles the mind how far they are ahead of the competition.
But with one eye on history and another on the field, there’s one team who could stand in the way of a Penrith dynasty – thanks to a similar focus on squad retention.
Succession in the Shire
While the Panthers were storming to the 2015 Holden Cup title, on the other side of Sydney the Cronulla Sharks were winning the SG Ball (under-19) and Harold Matthews (under-16) premierships to little fanfare.Though those competitions are no guarantee of future success, to win both in the same year points to a wealth of junior talent that would see any club benefit long-term if they could find a way to keep the core of this young squad intact.
Though he wasn’t with them for those junior titles, second-rower Briton Nikora came to the Sharks youth system at the end of 2016 – and he could already see the benefits of squad retention in action.
“Will (Kennedy) and Blayke (Brailey) had just won those comps, they’d been together a while,” Nikora tells Zero Tackle.
“The boys were really welcoming. It was hard to make the team but some space opened up once the older players had their time (in under-20s).
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Have the Sharks unlocked Penrith's secret to success?
The '67 rivalry looks set to continue well beyond Saturday afternoon.
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