NRL Grand Final 2024: How the Penrith Panthers have been able to remain so successful, recruitment, pathways, juniors

Looking back at photos of Penrith’s squad ahead of the 2020 grand final, it is easy to forget just how many players have walked out the door in the four years.

Just nine of the 21 named remain at the foot of the mountains and after this weekend, that number will drop to seven with the departures of Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris.

It would be a daunting prospect for any team, a brutal reminder of the price paid for their success.

But for the Panthers, if the past four years have taught us anything it is that as much as discussions of a possible dynasty are defined by names like Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo and Dylan Edwards, there also needs to be room for other names.

Names like Paul Alamoti, Scott Sorensen and — in previous years — Jack Cogger and Sean O’Sullivan.

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Because as much as Penrith’s historic charge to a fifth-straight grand final is a product of those four core players, it is also about the shrewd signings and unsung juniors who have helped ease the headache from the revolving door of talent.

Yeo put it perfectly when speaking to foxsports.com.au on Tuesday ahead of this weekend’s grand final against Melbourne.

“I just feel like that’s probably for the club as a whole, not just the individual players, but the club and the way it is able to develop players and recruitment, just getting the right people in,” Yeo said.

“Then it’s the internal standards that we set that allow players to grow and understand they don’t need to do anything special, they just do their job to the best of their ability.”

Most recently, Paul Alamoti is a perfect example, scoring two tries on the weekend to go with 116 running metres, two tackle busts, just as many linebreaks and 25 tackles.

“It was just about his best game in first grade,” Yeo said.

“And it happened to be a prelim, which he had never been a part of before.

“I just feel like as a club, as a whole, Matty Cameron and Ivan have set the culture there for us and it just allows the players to grow.”

Here foxsports.com.au looks at all the players that have left the foot of the mountains since the 2020 grand final and the shrewd moves made along the way that have kept Penrith at the top.

2021: THE CAPTAINCY CHANGE THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES

Penrith was able to keep most of the important players from its grand final squad, although plenty of experience walked out the door after the 26-20 loss to the Storm.

Josh Mansour, Zane Tetevano and James Tamou were among the most notable departures for the Panthers, with the call to axe Mansour a particularly tough one given he had become a crowd favourite in just under a decade under the club.

But at 30 years old and nearing the back-end of his career, the Panthers went in a different direction by opting for exciting speedster Charlie Staines.

Obviously that didn’t work out in the long run, but at least in the short-term Staines was a dependable presence on the wing with particularly impressive decision-making in defence for a young winger.

As for Tetevano and Tamou, the leadership void prompted Penrith to announce two new co-captains in Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo.

It may not have seemed like a consequential decision at the time, but in some ways it foreshadowed what was building and what was to come at the foot of the mountains.

Tamou, the previous captain, was a recruit brought to the club as a much-needed veteran and leadership presence on the field and on the locker room.

Prior to 2020, the Panthers had been a team that had shown plenty of potential. But they had been stuck in that same position for too long, always a team that was defined by what it could be and not what it was.

The move to promote Cleary and Yeo signalled the team’s confidence in what it was building from within, no longer needing to go to the market to find difference-makers or culture-setters.

That was also proven by the fact Penrith finished the 2021 season with the youngest squad on paper, while also averaging 62.7 games of experience per player — 15th only to the Bulldogs.

The Panthers had four NRL debutants that year, with Taylan May, Izack Tago, Linsday Smith and J’maine Hopgood all getting their first taste of the top grade.

But it was the fundamental strengths that have kept Penrith at the top of the league for five years now — the metreage from its outside backs, the elite line speed and on-goal defence and the clutch moments in the biggest of games — that took the Panthers to a title.

PENRITH’S DEPARTURES AFTER 2020

AEKINS, Caleb (Canberra)

BURNS Billy (St George Illawarra)

HETHERINGTON, Jack (Canterbury)

LAURIE, Daine (Wests Tigers)

MANSOUR, Josh (South Sydney)

TAMOU, James (Wests Tigers)

TETEVANO, Zane (Leeds)

WHARE, Dean (Catalans)

2022: IMPORTANT JUNIORS EMERGE… AS ANOTHER RETURNS IN A BIG WAY

With their first premiership won, the Panthers then set their sights on going back-to-back.

Although again, the loss of key personnel — headlined by Matt Burton and Kurt Capewell — cast doubt over Penrith’s ability to climb the mountain again.

Burton in particular was a significant loss given his versatility, having filled in the halves during the testing State of Origin period and otherwise thrived with a run-first mentality in the centres.

Of course, the fact he was an extra ball-playing and kicking option only made Penrith’s left edge attack all the more threatening that year.

Add in the loss of the dependable Paul Momirovski and the Panthers were without both of their starting centres from the 14-12 grand final win over South Sydney.

Filling that void didn’t prove too difficult though, with Stephen Crichton shifting back in alongside Tago, who quickly emerged as a tackle-busting weapon in his first full season.

Meanwhile, May’s emergence gave the Panthers another strong finisher out wide as Staines struggled to make much of an impact, particularly with his yardage carries.

As for Capewell, he was another experienced player walking out the door but the addition of Scott Sorensen in 2021 proved to be one of Penrith’s shrewdest moves in its push towards another premiership.

Elsewhere, Sean O’Sullivan was the perfect understudy to Nathan Cleary and executed his role to perfection, with Penrith learning from its mistake the year prior in 2021.

Sure, the Panthers still ended up winning the premiership but they stumbled during the Origin period with Tyrone May in the halves.

Having an established halfback like O’Sullivan was a major upgrade.

The junior pathways were also providing Penrith with the kind of depth it needed to survive the Origin period, with Sunia Turuva and Soni Luke among other standouts to get a call-up.

The Panthers went on to win the NSW Cup, SG Ball and Jersey Flegg grand finals that year, further underlining the depth at the club’s disposal and how they were set up for future success.

PENRITH’S DEPARTURES AFTER 2021

BURTON, Matt (Canterbury)

CAPEWELL, Kurt (Brisbane)

MAY, Tyrone (Catalans)

MOMIROVSKI, Paul (Sydney)

NADEN, Brent (Wests Tigers)

PANGAI JUNIOR, Tevita (Canterbury)

2023: AN UNLIKELY GRAND FINAL HERO AND REPLACING API

The challenges kept coming, with Apisai Koroisau and Viliame Kikau’s departures looking like the biggest roadblock to Penrith challenging for another title.

As impressive as Mitch Kenny’s workrate had been in his starts prior to 2023, there were question marks over his ability to produce in extended minutes at a high level.

More specifically, he lacked the playmaking and guile that made Koroisau one of the best in the business.

That was where Luke was expected to come in, fresh off flashing his potential in a few first-grade games.

But Luke, while obviously talented, didn’t seem to be operating in sync with the rest of the attack and too often would either dart out of dummy-half or scheme around the ruck to the detriment of the team getting a roll-on up front.

As for Kenny, he slowly improved but there was little doubting the Panthers would feel the loss of Koroisau, not just because of his craftiness but also his experience and leadership too.

Kikau, meanwhile, was the kind of player where the Panthers just needed to feed him early ball and he would thrive in space, swatting away defenders and popping late offloads to turn Penrith’s left edge into one of the most lethal in the league.

The loss of Hopgood was another hard one to take given the obvious potential he had as both a workhorse in the middle of the field and ball-playing option that could open up the attack.

Unfortunately, there weren’t big minutes available for Hopgood, who is instead now thriving at Parramatta.

Elsewhere, O’Sullivan chased an opportunity with the Dolphins while the Panthers looked to Jack Cogger to improve their chances of staying afloat in the Origin period.

But not only did Cogger do that, he also helped straighten up the attack when Penrith needed it most as an injured Jarome Luai failed to play out a 26-24 comeback win over Brisbane.

Tyrone Peachey was one of the surprise unsung heroes to emerge in Penrith’s 2023 premiership campaign, winding back the clock to prove a reliable option in the centres after a pectoral injury wiped Tago out for a good chunk of the season.

The Panthers didn’t have to blood too many debutants in 2023, with Jesse McLean getting one start while Luke Sommerton also had a pair of games.

But the most important contributor was Turuva. Even if it wasn’t his first season in the NRL, the rookie’s accelerated development was particularly important given May was ruled out by a season-ending injury (ACL) suffered in the pre-season.

PENRITH’S DEPARTURES AFTER 2022

HOPGOOD, J’maine (Parramatta)

JENNINGS, Robert (Dolphins)

KIKAU, Viliame (Canterbury)

KOROISAU, Apisai (Wests Tigers)

O’SULLIVAN, Sean (Dolphins)

STAINES, Charlie (Wests Tigers)

2024: TWO NEW MAINSTAYS OF THE FORWARD PACK… AND A STAR RECRUIT

And so, we arrived at this season, with it yet to be determined whether the Panthers will make it four on the trot.

Again, there was a significant departure — perhaps even bigger than Kikau or Koroisau, especially when you consider how Stephen Crichton inspired the Bulldogs to a top-eight finish this season.

In reality, the Panthers haven’t necessarily found a way to replace Crichton. May was supposed to be the answer but instead Penrith was made to call on new recruit Paul Alamoti.

Funnily enough, Penrith poached Alamoti from Canterbury after his rookie season and the 20-year-old has made the most of the opportunity, scoring a double in the preliminary final win against Cronulla.

Tago, meanwhile, has struggled for consistency and been particularly poor at times with his decision-making in defence, which has made Crichton’s absence all the more glaring.

And yet, here the Panthers are again, on the verge of another premiership.

Spencer Leniu’s departure did leave the bench somewhat light, but Lindsay Smith and Liam Henry’s emergence has more than made up for it.

Elsewhere, Brad Schneider hasn’t been the answer in the same way O’Sullivan or Cogger was but it has mattered little with the way Luai has been playing.

Speaking of Luai, he will obviously be leaving at the end of the year along with Fisher-Harris, but the emergence of Smith and Henry along with the development of Jack Cole and arrival of Blaize Talagi means Penrith could very well be in the same position come this time next year.

PENRITH’S DEPARTURES AFTER 2023

COGGER, Jack (Newcastle)

CRICHTON, Stephen (Canterbury)

HOSKING, Zac (Canberra)

JENKINS, Thomas (Newcastle)

LENIU, Spencer (Sydney)

SALMON, Jaeman (Canterbury)