Legendary Penrith Panther Sam McKendry is only now beginning to feel the pain of retirement; his body has seen a lot during his NRL career.
It would be simple to declare that the Penrith Panthers have completed their task after winning back-to-back premierships, making it to three consecutive grand finals, and topping the ladder in two of the previous three seasons.
For the first twenty years of the NRL, no team won two in a row for a reason. And the Roosters and Panthers, two of the best teams in the league, are the teams that have accomplished it in the last five years for a reason.
But Penrithโs dominance, which included only one loss during the regular season before the well-trained, seasoned Melbourne Storm stunned them in the 2020 grand final and then used that heartbreak to forge an iron will to win the 2021 and 2022 titles, has been as remarkable as anything weโve seen this century on a rugby league field.
Even the top teams in the league canโt match them when theyโre playing at their best.
The five moments from the NRL grand final that captured the attention
The Panthersโ performance against the Eels to win consecutive games was nothing short of a clinic, but one play in particular summed up Penrithโs outstanding night.
Dylan Edwards takes on
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Based solely on their six away losses during their premiership seasons, Parramattaโs two victories this year came against teams that were nearly close to playing at full strength. The remaining players were from Panthers teams that were unrecognizable due to either star resting late in the season or state of origin duty.
Pundits celebrated Melbourneโs 16-0 victory over the Panthers in round 20 of this season, not only as evidence that gods can bleed but also as a return to form for one of the few teams to defeat the Panthers since the coronavirus pandemic began.
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