Well if you want a feel good bandwagon to jump on because your NRL team is chillin, then there's a bunch of lads who could use your support. The Penrith Panthers finished 10th last season, despite apparently destined for the wooden spoon and are riding a 3 metre swell of the coast a Pacific island without a cloud in the sky or a care in the world.

How? Well we know that Phil Gould teamed up with Ivan Cleary and went about re-shaping the roster to make better use of the salary cap. They did that and we reacted probably fairly in agreeing with them/believing them when they said that this will be a slow cooked dinner. They're in the preliminary finals (semi final, we'll go with semi final from now on), they got there by defeat a Roosters side who were somewhere near the best after a super duper solid season.

There's also the way the play this thing called rugby league. We'll start with the obvious but also in my opinion the key. Jamie Soward and Matt Moylan. Soward isn't doing the spectacular, but he's doing what needs to be done in a very efficient manner, he's taking the line on which is important regardless of what he's going to do from the point. We've seen him run the ball strongly, we've seen him run to the line and get a pass away and we've also seen him run to the line and put kicks through the D line - like Jonathan Thurston. This is a hugely different Sowie to the one who would run sporadically and sit back in a pocket launching kicks down field.

Matt Moylan's input is the icing on the cake. Moylan is probably more skillful than Soward, as well as being more athletic. His first instinct is to run the ball, as should be the case with all fullbacks, but when you've got the ability of Moylan, you've automatically got options. He can launch a 20m cut out ball or he can put a kick in if need be. He plays both sides of the field which is also important as it gives the Panthers a simple aim - get to the middle of the field and line up on both sides of the ruck. They can they play with Soward at first receiver and got to Moylan out the back, or they can go to Will Smith and play Moylan out the back that side.

Smith isn't as influential as Soward or Moylan but he goes ok. Imagine if Peter Wallace wasn't injured!? Smith plays on the left with Jamal Idris, so his job is fairly simple - distribute the ball. There was a moment against the Roosters where Soward, Moylan and Smith were in a huddle talking options, well Smith was listening while Soward and Moylan did the talking. Seeing Moylan have equal input as Soward shows the class of the young man, while Smith knowing his role and his place is also lovely.

Do we need to say much about James Segeyaro? The lad has gone from a bench excitement machine to an 80 minute man who dictates how the Panthers go forward. You can never under estimate the value of a dynamic hooker who is a gun scooting out of dummy half and can also bring energy on defence. With Segeyaro at dummy half, those defending close to the ruck have to be on point as he can either pick up 10-15m easily or he can go for a quick scoot and off load to a forward. Of course he can just pass to the next man as well, but his threat buys some time and space for those around him.

Dean Whare and Jamal Idris did a fantastic defensive job against the Roosters by executing their game plan to perfection. Get up and in, cut down time and space and put the ball carrier under the pump. Simple. They are both big enough to impose themselves and they're showing an ability to understand attacking structures and make a clinical decision. On attack, both are very skillful and Idris goes above and beyond his normal centre duties. When there's a play the ball on the left that doesn't involve Idris, he'll get in to first receiver and run across field before flicking a pass out to someone - usually Soward. However, if a defender is being dumb and is playing for Idris to fire it out the back, Idris can run the ball and be his usual beastly self. Options.

Wingers? Well Josh Mansour and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak are young dynamos. Simple. You don't need much more than that. They'll score tries, they'll create tries and they'll get you out of shit.

The most interesting aspect for me is their forward pack. They're not graced with huge lads or guys that can draw in 3 defenders and pop an offload out, they just go forward. Nigel Plum, Brent Kite and Sam McKendry are all tough lads who won't give an inch and they'll try take every inch from you. Remember that Tim Grant was an unwanted man thanks for a hefty pay packet, so they're doing this without a Origin style prop. All they have to do is lay a platform.

The same can be said for the rest of the forwards and it looks like Ivan Cleary has empowered them all to go out and rip in. They look full of confidence and bring energy to every hit up, just look at the way Matt Robinson played against the Roosters. Every hit up was a chance to make an impact and when you've got mobile lads like Lewis Brown, you're able to pinch metres and momentum whenever opportunity strikes.

They've done this with some big losses. Tyrone Peachey was awesome at the start of the season, his footwork and speed combined with freakish power gave the Panthers a slick edge on attack. Throw in Elijah Taylor who we know well, he brings a high level of skill mixed in with toughness and grit. Don't label this forward pack as a crew who you can easily dominate - if you relax and don't hit it up with vigour, you're going to get whacked by Plum or Adam Docker. They have all aspects covered.

Can the Panthers go all the way? Definitely. I want them to. Teams will try to stop them by targeting guys like Soward and Moylan, while we saw the Roosters ruthlessly go after the likes of McKendry, Kite and Segeyaro on Saturday. The thing is, if you go after a Panther, there's others who will step up. More importantly, there's others who know exactly what to do and when to do it.

Many teams in the NRL have the options, if not more options than the Panthers. I mean look a the teams left in the finals. But the Panthers have what they don't - a mutual understanding. They seem to be on the same page of this NRL book, all the time. In a few of the other teams, it feels like there's too many stars. Too many high class options, where as with the Panthers they have supreme confidence in each other.

Look at the try from Dean Whare. At the start of the season I understood the Panthers to be all about structure, get to this point and run these plays and do it very well. Whare's try came from Brent Kite scooting from dummy half, Soward taking the ball to the line and putting a funky kick in to the corner, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was there, the right place at the right time. How can you plan for a 33 year old prop to run from dummy half? Soward could have sat on his heels while DWZ could have jogged down and let Anthony Minichello do what he wanted. Instead, the Panthers formed as one and attacked as Voltron.

They Panthers have gone from a tough, battling unit to a side I want to watch. Led by a former Warrior, awesome. Long may it continue.