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Ivan Cleary describes it as a “vortex of self pity”.
Penrith’s nadir came midway through the season in Bathurst, against the team that would end up earning the wooden spoon. The four-peat champions went from first to worst, their title defence in tatters as the struggling Knights blew them off Carrington Park.
Sitting in last place at the completion of round 12, there was no telling whether they had hit rock bottom or still had further to fall.
They had no home ground, their remaining marquee men were fatigued, and Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Isaiah Iongi and Sunia Turuva were the latest in a long line of players squeezed out by the salary cap. There were excuses everywhere and, perhaps without really realising it, the Panthers were leaning into them.
“I think we had every chance to just ditch the season really,” Cleary said.
“Not that we would ever do that, but there’s plenty of people sort of trying to validate, probably including ourselves, why it was going badly.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary.Credit: Getty Images
“Looking back, and history saying that you can’t just keep winning, I think in the end we just stopped worrying about what might be and what been in the past and whatever else, and just concentrated on trying to prepare and play to a level that at least we can be proud of and we can give our community. That’s what we did, we just focused on one thing at a time.
“Before we know it, we’ve built some momentum, and here we are.”
Here is the cusp of an elimination final, against the New Zealand Warriors in Auckland, a destination unimaginable after a horror start to the campaign. Cleary describes the Bathurst disaster as the turning point.
“That was the line-in-the-sand moment; we were just so kind of disgusted with how it was going, we just had to be real with ourselves,” he said.
“The boys, to their credit, kind of took over from there. We all had a chat. It’s easy to say [it’s] the old honesty session, but the reality was that’s where we were.
“We didn’t like where we were, and there’s only one way to fix it up, and that’s to go and do something about it. To the players’ credit and staff, that’s what we did.”
Success, particularly the unprecedented type the Panthers have enjoyed during their storied run, can breed complacency. For the opening half of the season, the club was resting on its laurels.
“I think we were doing that, subtly,” Cleary said.
“You wouldn’t say it was something that we’re talking about all the time, but we were probably getting sucked into that vortex of self-pity and just validation of why it can’t keep going.
“As I said, we turned things around, and fortunately, we got on a bit of a roll, and here we are.”
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It is a pointer to the depth of the roster that a player of Tom Jenkins’ quality - he has scored 13 tries, averages 150 run metres, and made 21 appearances in his breakout NRL season - can’t crack the best 17. They will travel across the Tasman as firm favourites against a Warriors outfit that has overcome its own struggles to make the finals, most notably injuries to stars Mitch Barnett and Luke Metcalf.
On the eve of the post-season, the Panthers released a new slogan for their finals campaign: Never before.
It’s a pointer to the challenge of winning a premiership from outside the top four, a feat never achieved in the NRL era. For a side that has already redefined what is possible when constrained by the salary cap, it’s an opportunity to achieve yet another piece of history.
“What will be will be,” Cleary said.
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