Penrith built a dynasty on a defence that delivered four premierships to the foot of the mountains before it all fell apart for much of 2025.
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On the basis of their first two games this season, that near impenetrable wall is back and the rest of the NRL should be worried.
It took 138 minutes before they had the first points scored against them in 2026, but that solitary Sharks try was just a blip on the radar as Nathan Cleary and the Panthers ran away to a 26-6 win at a sold out Carrington Park in Bathurst on Saturday night.
Only one team in history has begun a NRL season by holding their opposition to nil in their opening two games and that was Penrith in 2021, the year that began their four-peat.
The Panthers may have fallen six points short of that feat this time around but the positive signs are there again, especially considering their first two opponents this season were premiers Brisbane and a Cronulla side coming off a 50-10 thumping of the Titans last week.
While they still missed more tackles than coach Ivan Cleary would have liked, they built a brick wall on their own line, turning back wave after wave of Cronulla attack.
After the game Nathan Cleary said he was most pleased with that goal line defence.
“I think mainly it’s a scrambling defence, just showing up for each other, saving tries,” Cleary said.
“I thought particularly at the start of last year, we’re putting a lot of effort in, but it just wasn’t in the right area. Sort of trying to do our stuff on our own, but I think we’ve been really connected to start this year and it’s been a big focal point of ours.
“We know that attack sort of takes a while to click and really clicks in the gear as the year goes on, but defensively, there’s no excuses for not working hard and turning up for your brothers and being connected.”
Panthers hand Sharks reality check | 01:25
While the win was set up without the ball, Penrith started well in attack too. It took just six minutes for Brian To’o to go in off the back of an audacious 40/20 on the third tackle by Cleary just a minute earlier.
The half then became an end-to-end battle for the next half hour before Thomas Jenkins scored for the Panthers on the other side of the field. A four pointer to Cleary quickly followed and at the break it was 18-0.
The victory would have gone a long way to erasing the horrible memory of their last visit to Carrington Park when they hit rock bottom in round 12 last year, suffering a crushing 25-6 loss to Newcastle that sunk them to the bottom of the ladder.
BIG HITS
Cogger crushed
Panthers’ utility Jack Cogger is unlikely to remember too much of the trip to Bathurst, knocked out cold trying to tackle rampaging Sharks giant Hohepa Puru.
Cogger had been on the field just seven minutes when Puru used him as a speedbump.
Fortunately, Cogger walked off the field where he was adjudged to have suffered a category one knock during the head injury assessment and will now miss next Friday’s blockbuster against the Roosters.
Jenkins’ rollercoaster ride
Thomas Jenkins was a surprise starter for the Panthers last week, going on to score a pair of tries and retaining his spot, but things didn’t start how they ended in round one.
Time after time in the first half Cleary aimed his kicks towards Jenkins, who was up against the much shorter Sione Katoa, and four times it ended the same way – with a Jenkins knock on.
You can’t keep a good man down though and Jenkins bounced back in style, scoring a try from a brilliant cutout pass from Blaize Talagi late in the half before grabbing his double early in the second stanza.
Hynes targeted
The Panther sent plenty of traffic Nicho Hynes’ way in the first half – to great effect.
The star half Hynes was forced to make 22 tackles in the first 40 minutes and a further 10 after halftime.
If Penrith’s plan was to blunt Hynes’ brilliant attacking play, it worked. In the first half he had two runs for just six metres. In the second half he was busier with the ball and ended the game with nine runs for 60 metres.
Panthers star mocks Shark’s ‘brain explosion’
If there was one moment that summed up Cronulla’s frustrations it came right near the end of the game when Jesse Ramien flew out of the line to put on a big hit.
He had absolutely no technique though, placed on report for a shoulder charge on Tom Jenkins as Panthers hooker Mitch Kenny taunted him after the incident.
“Ramien flew in like a missile and Mitch Kenny is saying brain explosion,” Dan Ginnane said in commentary on Fox League.
On report
Jesse Ramien (shoulder charge — 78th minute)
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