It’s unusual that a loss would solidify a team’s title credentials, but that’s exactly what happened for Penrith on Thursday night.
There aren’t many tougher challenges in the NRL than facing a full-strength Melbourne in Melbourne, a team many are tipping to win the 2025 premiership. Penrith, without Dylan Edwards and his backup Daine Laurie, were up against it. They ran Thomas Jenkins at fullback, a player who had signed with St Mary’s to play Ron Massey Cup in the pre-season. On top of that, losing Nathan Cleary to an HIA in the 7th minute nearly led to an almighty upset.
The Panthers’ system is just incredible, and everyone in that squad can step up seamlessly to fill the void of whoever isn’t there. The halves pairing of Blaize Talagi and Jack Cole, with just 33 combined games of NRL experience, went toe to toe with arguably the best halves pairing in the competition—Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster.
If Penrith were facing any other team last night, they would have won by 30. This Penrith side simply doesn’t know how to do anything other than win, and unfortunately for the rest of the NRL, barring a catastrophic injury toll at the business end of the year, I don’t see how any team can beat them. This will go down as the greatest dynasty of all time—yes, it’s better than the 11-in-a-row Dragons, especially considering the salary cap era.
