The Penrith Panthers - The Blueprint?
There was a time recently where the Penrith Panthers were pretty good. They were top of the table, one of the best teams in the NRL and scored a whole lot of tries from the booth of Luke Walsh. They had Petero Civinoceva, Luke Lewis, Michael Jennings and Michael Gordon all firing and they kinda surprised the league. It didn't last, it didn't even last the rest of that season let alone a few years.
They became an extremely mediocre footy team, a team who could be solid but would never threaten the upper echelon ... well they were always kinda like that even when they were briefly on the top of the table but then came the drop. Heading to Penrith wasn't really a tough road trip and the Panthers were definitely not a team to fear. Step in Phil Gould.
I'm far from a Phil Gould cheerleader, he's cool and to be honest he's been the voice of rugby league for me personally along with Ray Warren. I never really paid much attention to footy when he was a coach thanks to my tender age, so I've grown up loving and hating him for the good and dumb things he'd say when I was just trying to watch footy. When you look at the Penrith Panthers now, when you look at what Phil Gould's done, when you look only at the facts it's pretty hard to find fault.
Ivan Cleary, a coach on the rise who had done a lot to get the Warriors semi consistently competitive was head hunted. Players on large, back ended, salary cap draining deals were let go. Both Michael Jennings and Luke Lewis were Penrith's favourite sons and had deals that reflected this, they were let go. Blasphemy. Look at them now? Jennings has gone on to bigger and better things while Lewis is a vital cog for Cronulla. The Panthers opened up cap space while both Jennings and Lewis found new life. Mutually beneficial.
These two probably didn't see eye to eye with Cleary's new methods and it was probably a good time to refresh for them. Gould also knew that the immense talent pool in Penrith and Sydney's west would fill the void, and overflow it eventually. Sydney's west is similar to Auckland where talent reigns but the ability to reign it all in doesn't do it justice. Young local players who have emerged include Matt Moylan, Bryce Cartwright, Isaah Yeo and they also have guys like George Jennings (younger bro of Michael) waiting in the wings.
They haven't recruited stars. Brent Kite, Dean Whare, Tyrone Peachey, Jamal Idris, Elijah Taylor, Lewis Brown, Jamie Soward, Peter Wallace and Sika Manu are all decent first graders but not marquee signings. They are all guys who will buy in to a system and execute their roles to the best of their ability ... as well as not rocking the boat.
There's no real complicated game plan, they don't try to emulate the short passing of the Bulldogs or the sweeping back line moves of the Storm - they've found what works for them. Tough defence, a solid group of veterans, some exciting young talent and a group who all buy in to what Ivan Cleary and Phil Gould are doing. That's the thing, every new recruit they sign says that Gould gave it to them straight, empowering them and making them feel at home. They have bent over backwards recently for Jamal Idris to ensure his problems are handled, he's got all the support he needs in Penrith and he'll be back because of the support the Panthers have given him.
Are they the new blueprint? There's a few clubs in the NRL who could look at what's happened in Penrith and take note, not just the shrewd recruitment but the work to get the club in a strong financial position. Games in Penrith are exciting to watch, there's music pumping, there's happy faces, there's a buzz around the ground - the perfect environment for sponsors as well as merchandise sales.
They say that the NRL is doing well when Sydney's west is going good. The Panthers are leading this charge and they're bringing the Eels and Tigers with them, as they are competing for the same money, crowds, players etc. It's exciting times and while the Panthers haven't always been the most exciting team to watch, they've turned that corner ... they've turned a few corners really.