While the year 2020 will long live in infamy for most, as a brutal pandemic left its mark, it also symbolised the beginning of an incredible sporting chapter… backed up by serious numbers.
The current incarnation of the Penrith Panthers is statistically the most dominant side of the past 30 years. Since the commencement of the 2020 competition, they have won 87.3% of their 63 games. Allow that to sink in.
Using basic win-loss percentage as a parameter, no other side has achieved this level of success over such an extended period of time. This trumps the 82.5% mark recorded by two Melbourne Storm juggernauts – the asterisked 2006 to 2008 group, who boasted arguably the greatest spine in Australian rugby league history, and coach Craig Bellamy’s late-2019 to early-2022 force – an equally impressive outfit in their own right.
Embed from Getty ImagesBob Fulton’s Sea Eagles from 1995 to mid-1997 is the other team in this conversation – the greatest defensive side of the modern era.
For further context, the only two sides to achieve consecutive premierships in the last three decades are the Broncos and Roosters, who won only 77.8% and 71.4% respectively.
The Panthers are untouchable at their best, scoring 26.5 points per game and conceding just 12.1. They’re winning 55.6% of games by 13 points or more. And while the Storm in fact claim 13+ wins at 57.1%, Penrith’s taken out four of six past contests against its top-of-the-table rival.
Man-for-man, all of the aforementioned sides undoubtedly lay claim to similar, if not more star power. But there’s something unique about this current crop at Penrith. The nucleus have played together from a young age and share an innate understanding that’s hard to quantify. Their cohesiveness and team-first standards don’t pop out on the stat sheet, but deserve to be highlighted. The team suffocates its opposition, grinding them into submission.
It’s controlled aggression on both sides of the footy. Their line speed and first contact is ferocious. Hard, direct running void of self-preservation, tempered evenly with equal parts guile and flair. Their general, Nathan Cleary, leads his troops with a quality territorial focus – pinpoint bombs and swirling ‘torps’ just part of the air raid.
The Panthers are a team possessing the perfect blend of skill, speed and physicality; never witnessed before.
For all their physical attributes – their strength of character is undeniable. At the business end of 2021, they were busted and below their best. But with an insatiable desire to atone for the heartache of 2020, they willed themselves to victory when they had no right.
The resilience and mental fortitude shown indicates an ingrained culture that has them assured of long term success. Pair that with one of rugby league’s strongest nurseries feeding their playing ranks and it’s hard to see any regression in the near future. Even in an age where the salary cap system normally dismantles title-winning sides over time.
The foundation for greatness has been laid, yet history only celebrates champions. With premierships being the ultimate measure, results in September (and early October) will count for far more than the sustained win percentage they’re banking. But it’s important to credit the unprecedented success being achieved at the foot of the mountains.
