Nathan Cleary was distraught. Dylan Edwards was shellshocked. Moses Leota was in tears.
The Panthers were strewn over the Accor Stadium turf after suffering a 26-20 loss to the Melbourne Storm in the 2020 grand final.
It was not how their fairytale season was meant to end and was a painful feeling to experience but Cleary now recognises how important that defeat was in laying the foundation for Penrith's dynasty.
Four years on, the Panthers are chasing a fourth-straight title when they take on the Storm in Sunday's grand final. The senior players within the squad know they wouldn't be here today without having experienced the heartbreak of 2020.
"At the time it felt like the worst thing ever," Cleary said. "If you look back, we needed it at the time.
"We've been able to propel ourselves out of that and learn a lot. It's been a big part of what we've been able to do the previous four seasons."
Match: Storm v Panthers
Grand Final -
home Team
Storm
1st Position
away Team
Panthers
2nd Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Looking back, the Panthers recognise they got taught a lesson in the 2020 decider.
An experienced Melbourne side led by Cameron Smith in his 430th and final NRL game burst out of the gates to stun their shellshocked rivals.
Justin Olam scored in just the third minute, propelling the Storm to a 22-0 half-time lead before Ryan Papenhuyzen put the game beyond doubt with a solo 80-metre try shortly after the break.
Penrith came roaring back to pull within six, but it was too little too late and Melbourne held on to claim another title.
Edwards sums it up succinctly when asked for his memories of the match.
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"We got jumped early," Edwards told NRL.com. "We got taught a lesson that day about what grand finals are all about."
Leota's memories are just as vivid and he's carried them with him throughout the past four seasons.
"I remember losing and crying," he told NRL.com. "They taught us a lesson in that grand final. I felt like that fuelled us and it's made us who we are now.
"I don't want to ever feel that way again. That's why we come into training and take each game as it comes, you never know when it's your last."
A look back at history shows a grand final defeat can act as the trigger for an eventual premiership or act as the high-water mark before a slide down the ladder.
The Roosters lost the 2000 grand final before coming back to beat the Warriors in the 2002 decider. Melbourne used a 2006 defeat as fuel for their victory over Manly in 2007. The Sea Eagles repaid the favour in 2008 with a historic win over the Storm.
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On the flipside, the Rabbitohs, Eels and Broncos have all fallen away after losses to the Panthers in the last three years.
Isaah Yeo points to the Panthers youth in 2020 when asked to explain how his side was able to use the disappointment as a springboard to premiership glory.
"We were so young, we hadn’t been a part of it," Yeo said. "They taught us a few lessons in that game, how to win on the big stage.
"I’ve felt we’ve been able to carry those lessons on and pass those on to new players that haven’t experienced it. That was a big one for us."
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Perhaps one of the most disappointing aspects of the Panthers 2020 grand final loss was the performance itself.
The players already knew the importance of producing their best in the biggest game of the year, but on that night the Storm taught them how to do so.
Penrith have carried those lessons into each subsequent grand final and now Melbourne face the daunting task of taming the beast they helped create.
"We learnt a lot from 2020," Cleary said. "We were a young, inexperienced finals side back then and we just got outplayed on the night. It hurt a lot and it lit a fire in us from that moment to not have that feeling again.
"We rocked up on the biggest day and didn't play the way we wanted to. You can handle other things not going your way but we just shot ourselves in the foot that night and learnt some lessons.
"We progressed from there into the next pre-season with a fire in our belly to get better and improve."
