As it chases another title, Penrith's future is built on its recent past

On one of those nights where it rains so hard Shark Park seems to be underwater, Panthers young and old sweated it out, trying to earn a chance to play with legends. There's a chance we never see this again for the rest of our lives and a certainty, like Parramatta's premierships in the 1980s or Brisbane's glory in the 90s, everything Penrith does from now until the end of time will, in one way or another, be informed by what's happening right now. Penrith Panthers smother the Melbourne Storm to win 2024 NRL grand final Photo shows Nathan Cleary of the Panthers poses with the Provan-Summons Trophy alongside his father and coach Ivan Cleary The Panthers show yet again they are a team that finds joy in the struggle, who like the fight more than they like the win — and they like the win an awful lot. They make the idea of a team having a premiership window that only lasts a year or two before a retooling, which is the reality for the rest of the league, seem quaint and small-time There are just seven players left at the club from their first premiership team and in Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris they might at last have lost something that is truly irreplaceable, and they will still deservedly start the year as competition favourites. If you made a combined team of all the players they had lost and put it into the league as an expansion side they'd probably make the top four and could maybe even make the grand final where, to the surprise of nobody, they'd probably be crushed by the Panthers because that's just what happens every October.