Penrith’s dynasty is on no account over however there’s a way of a significant chapter of their saga closing somehow as they enter the finals.
For the primary time since they started their title run in 2021, they won’t enter the playoffs because the favourites to be the final crew standing on Grand Remaining night time.
Uncertainty over Nathan Cleary’s comeback from a shoulder damage and an unusually inconsistent lead-in to the finals provides as much as the three-time premiers being thought of second to the Melbourne Storm juggernaut within the betting markets.
Penrith’s janky win over the Titans at BlueBet Stadium on Saturday night time was not the sort of pre-finals flex that Ivan Cleary wanted to see.
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There may be an air of a Final Dance theme to their 2024 marketing campaign, much like the ultimate season of the Chicago Bulls’ NBA reign greater than 1 / 4 of a century in the past.
In contrast to the Bulls who self-destructed after Michael Jordan’s final recreation for the franchise, Penrith will probably be in premiership rivalry for a couple of extra years but with Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards, Moses Leota and Liam Martin nonetheless within the prime of their careers.
However they’re farewelling two extra essential members of their golden run in James Fisher-Harris and Jarome Luai, together with winger Sunia Turuva.
They’ve a prodigious pipeline of junior expertise rising by the ranks to replenish their shares however it takes time for even one of the best prospects to dominate at NRL stage.
JFH, Luai and Turuva are the newest names added to the bulging listing of earlier departures headlined by Stephen Crichton, Viliame Kikau, Matt Burton, Kurt Capewell and Api Koroisau.
It’s not fairly a loss of life by a thousand wage cap cuts however it makes it extraordinarily arduous to keep up a stranglehold on the sharp finish of the ladder.
(Photograph by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Photos)
In some unspecified time in the future the wage cap squeeze and an ageing nucleus of key gamers will meet up with them.
The opposite issue that coach Cleary must curtail on this finals collection is the crew’s need.
Do they nonetheless collectively have the starvation deep all the way down to do what it’s ever essential to take the title?
Regardless of successful three straight trophies, the Panthers have been removed from invincible.
If an Adam Reynolds sideline conversion was on course in 2021 or the Broncos held their nerve down the stretch final yr, these Panthers may have ended up like Manly within the mid Nineties or the Roosters a decade later with only one premiership to indicate for 3 consecutive GF appearances.
Penrith can not afford to enter these playoffs at something lower than full dedication.
It’s been simply the hardest marketing campaign of the last decade with Cleary’s two hamstring tears and his shoulder downside guaranteeing they’ve by no means hit prime gear.
But when the gamers have accidents or the wage cap strain of their psychological Rolodex as a readymade excuse for a finals exit, then the trophy will certainly be leaving Panthers HQ.
The win over the Titans sealed second spot in order that they have a path to the GF that bypasses Melbourne except they slip up at residence in opposition to the depleted Roosters of their Qualifying Remaining.
Coping with Cleary’s shoulder concern is nothing new for Penrith.
Final yr it was Luai who entered the playoffs with an analogous damage, returning regardless of not being totally match for the prelim remaining and getting by a lot of the GF earlier than Jack Cogger got here on to assist Cleary stage their nice comeback from 16 down.
On latest type, Melbourne are the crew to beat however Penrith need to be thought of the benchmark till the Storm or some other crew proves in any other case.
There may be an awesome expectation that these two groups will sq. off for the trophy on October 6 however the 1 vs 2 showdown shouldn’t be as widespread as you would possibly anticipate.
It’s solely occurred 3 times up to now decade and 9 instances all up within the 26 years of the NRL period.
The latest elevation of Jake Clifford to halfback forward of Chad Townsend has given the Cowboys a late-season spark when it appeared like they had been in peril of not making the finals in any respect.
His booming kicking recreation was essential of their 40-6 whipping of the Bulldogs on Saturday and if the refs preserve a excessive tempo within the finals it can play into the Cowboys’ fingers.
Todd Payten’s crew can match it with the large weapons when factors are flowing but when it’s a grind, their defence shouldn’t be resolute sufficient to face up to sustained strain.
Manly equally have loads of factors in them however can blow cold and hot much more so than the Cowboys.
Cronulla and Canterbury need a grind within the finals. It’s their greatest probability of overcoming the percentages to get previous the highest two whereas the Roosters are banking on a siege mentality to beat the percentages which have blown out since Sam Walker, Victor Radley and Brandon Smith had been critically injured within the penultimate spherical.
Penrith like to be in management however this time round, their stranglehold on the premiership is nowhere close to what it’s been the previous few years.
Cleary, each the coach and the co-captain, give little away off the sector, similar to the NRL’s premier defensive unit does on the sector.
If they will convey collectively an evolving crew which has been in a state of flux all season lengthy to emerge from the finals collection with a fourth straight title it could be their most spectacular premiership of the lot.