'More than rings or premierships': The 'Legacy' theme behind four-peat

Legacy.

That was the theme of an historic fourth consecutive Penrith premiership that the Panthers believe confirms their standing as the greatest team of the modern era.

Since “the loss they had to have” against the Storm in 2020, the Panthers have re-written the history books by breaking droughts of:

• 29 years since the game had back-to-back premiers (Brisbane 1992-93);
• 40 years since the last three-peat (Parramatta 1981-83), and;
• 58 years since a team won four in a row (St George 1956-66).

In doing so, they have become the most successful team of not only the salary cap era but also the limited tackle era, which began with the introduction of four tackle sets in 1967 after the Dragons won a world record 11 consecutive premierships.

A book about St George's run was titled, "Never Before, Never Again", and Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo predicted no team would achieve what they have in the past four years.

“To do what we have done I can’t see it being done again," Yeo told the post-match press conference. "It is just such a special group."

According to Penrith players, the 14-6 triumph at Accor Stadium on Sunday night was a full circle moment after being beaten by the Storm in the first of their five consecutive grand final appearances - the most since South Sydney in 1967-71.

Since then, the Panthers have beaten South Sydney, Parramatta and Brisbane but coach Ivan Cleary declared the triumph over Melbourne as “the best one”.

In boxing terms, “to be the champ, you’ve got to beat the champ”, and the Panthers spoke about how a win over the Storm would cement their legacy.

However, the theme of last year’s finals campaign was “undisputed”, and Cleary and his coaching staff even had a WWE belt made that was presented to the team after their third grand final win, so they needed something new.

The theme of their first premiership in 2021 was “Everest” as they strived to climb the NRL’s highest peak, and in 2022 it was “Top Gun”, as the Panthers sought to successfully defend their title.

With the grand final being the last match in a Penrith jersey for Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris and Sunia Turuva, “Legacy” became their 2024 theme.

“Basically, is just a different spin on it,” Cleary told NRL.com in the victorious dressing rooms.

“Legacy is more than rings or more than premierships. It is an individual and a team thing, it’s who you play for and what you stand for.”

Nathan Cleary revealed that the players had spoken about who they were playing for when they took the field and he nominated his team-mates, his family and partner, Matildas superstar Mary Fowler.

“Legacy for us is more narrowed in on who we are actually play for and just thinking about that when we take the field,” he said. “It has been a journey that we all went on and we really dug deep for that.

“We spoke about it once we knew we were going to make the finals and we dug deep about why we actually are playing, and who we are playing for.

“A lot of it’s my team-mates - when I’m on the field that is who I want to play for - and also my family, who have been there every step of the way, and my girlfriend, as well.

“They are the people I think about when I’m out on the field that I want to not so much impress, but I want to honour them.”

Asked why he considered this year’s premiership to be the best, Ivan Cleary said it wasn’t just the opponent but the way his players had stepped up after he questioned their hunger following a 22-18 loss to the Raiders on the eve of the finals.

Penrith’s grand final defence was their best of the season.

“I don’t know if it was the theme, but something helped them when they really needed it tonight," Cleary said.

“These guys love each other and a lot of them have played together since they were kids. When you achieve stuff like this it just makes you tighter.

“Just playing the Storm and the way it lined up this week. Five years ago they beat us and taught us a lesson.

“The Storm are the Storm, there is no other club like them. They have had a great year, they have got the best team. It is almost like it was set up perfectly against them. Just the way the game went too, it was such a tough game.”

Nathan added: “You’ve got to pay a price to get to the top, but you’ve got to pay a bigger price to stay there. I feel like we have done that.

“It is a nice full circle moment, also because the Storm have been so good for so long and they are bench mark. You know if you have beaten them, you have beaten the best.”

With Luai, Fisher-Harris and Turuva joining the 11 members of the first three premiership winning teams who have departed the club, many will doubt whether the streak can continue and even Ivan says: “I don’t know how we got here”.

But the players said they aim to keep winning.

“I think it is just this feeling, it is the best ever, and you want the new guys coming in to share the same experience we have had,” Nathan Cleary said.

“The feeling is still the same, it’s unreal. I think the last two have been more surreal, I think the first one was more of a relief because we lost the year before.

“I don’t care about looking ahead, I just want to enjoy this. What we have done is unbelievable. Obviously, we want to do more …”