Penrith Panthers set unwanted NRL record as history against premiers

Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary believes his team can salvage the season, despite falling 32-12 to an energetic Dolphins outfit Suncorp Stadium on Thursday, with Hamiso Tabui-Fidow stealing the show with a hat-trick.

The Panthers, who have won the last four consecutive NRL titles, will have to set more than one new record if they are to come back from their current form slump of losing five of the first six games, to compete for a fifth straight premiership.

No team in the NRL’s 117-year history has ever lost five of the first six games and gone on to win the premiership.

That’s not to say it can’t be done: In 2006 the Brisbane Broncos lost five-in-a-row during the regular season and came back to win the premiership – as did the Melbourne Storm in 2012.

The Panthers, did however, equal an unfortunate record this evening – matching the 1999 Brisbane Broncos team who lost their first five games out of six when starting the season as reigning premiers.

But coach Cleary believes they can turn it around.

In the post-match interview, a faithful Cleary said it’s just a matter of time until they hit form and go on a run.

“Of course we can [turn it around],” Cleary said.

The super coach highlighted the normally bulletproof Panther’s defence as being “not up to standard.”

“We’ve got to get to work and improve it, because if we don’t, it will keep happening,” he said.

“Once we get our confidence back in defence… it can change quickly.”

The Panthers have had a string of injuries to key players to start the 2025 season, including captain Nathan Cleary, Jack Cole and Scott Sorensen who all missed games due to the Head Injury Assessment (HIA) protocols.

However, on Thursday, not even the return from injury for Kangaroos fullback Dylan Edwards was enough to make the difference.

The inconstancy of the Panther’s spine is something that Ivan Cleary thinks is important to respect, given their worrying start to the season.

“We’ve had five different spines over six weeks as well,” he commented.

“There have been a lot of changes early in the season.”

One of the few highlights for the visiting team came from an all-time blunder from Dolphins winger Jack Bostock, when he casually tried to kick a ball dead in-goal but got it all wrong – kicking it instead back into his own in-goal and into the hands of Penrith prop Moses Leota, who couldn’t believe his luck.

The Panthers remain firmly the bottom of the NRL ladder with only two competition points, which came their first-round 28-22 victory over the Cronulla Sharks in Las Vegas.