The NRL Breakdown: Penrith Panthers deliver with another Nathan Cleary masterclass: now for the four-peat

It was the 23rd July 2022. It’s not quite long enough to go back and tell you what was number one at the box office and in the charts, but it’s a fair way ago.

On that day, the Sharks went to Penrith Park and raced to a 10-0 lead, putting on some scintillating stuff along the way. Then, inexplicably, they stopped playing against the Panthers.

It would take them two years, a month and 27 days to score against Penrith again. In footy terms, that’s 286 minutes and a cumulative score of 80-2.

It was 26-6 at the end today, but the gap is still as wide. Going into this fixture, Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon had a dilemma.

On the one hand, his side are superbly drilled and have a highly distinctive playstyle that has delivered most weeks throughout his time in charge.

On the other, there is Einstein’s line that the definition of insanity is attempting the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

His side don’t just fail to beat Penrith, they fail to even score. Guess what happened here?

Alright, they did get one, but it was almost the only time they came remotely close to scoring. Beyond that, this was a chanceless century from the Panthers.

A lot of that is Nathan Cleary, who was beyond imperious, as he often is. The world’s best player went off late with a shoulder issue, but it looked merely precautionary with the game won.

His performance was cherry on top of a collective cake, however, built on linespeed and defence.

If you wanted an idea of how the Panthers were going to play this, it was written all over the first ten minutes. There were zero tackles inside Penrith’s 50m.

Braydon Trindall attempted a 40/20 and very nearly pulled it off, but even after a Panthers set that began on their own line and a subsequent Sharks set that began on 35m out, they still got just one play the ball in enemy territory.

The thing about Penrith is that they’re the most patient team in the world. Through 20 minutes it was still 2-2, but they don’t panic, ever. Their game plan was written by Douglas Adams in large, friendly letters.

With defence like this, they know attack will come. With Cleary in the side, it always does.

Cronulla, on the other hand, had diverted from what they did best.

It’s been shown multiple times over the length of this dynasty that the best way to nullify Penrith is to throw attack upon attack, every time you get the chance.

St Helens did it, so did Wigan. Parramatta and Manly have at times as well. When you get field position, every play has to be meaningful.

The Sharks are well-suited to do that, with a penchant for high-motion moves, but they didn’t so much as attempt it.

Even when the field position equalised as the first half wore on, it was conservative stuff. Their first good ball set ended with a midfield bomb after zero footy had been played.

You can’t outgrind them. Cronulla tried anyway. Penrith didn’t have such qualms. If you have Cleary, you never do.

He kicked them a 40/20 – on the third tackle, too – and then slipped a face pass that put Paul Alamoti over. It looked simple, but the halfback knew exactly what he was doing.

Cronulla’s regular centre, Jesse Ramien, had been a late withdrawal and his replacement, Siosifa Talakai, is a repurposed backrower. Cleary found the perfect spot inside Talaki and outside Nicho Hynes, never the strongest defender, and invited his centre stroll on through.

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The Sharks are good enough that they never quite went away, even if they also didn’t really look like coming back.

It was inevitable that more points would come, and duly they did, with Sunia Turuva nicking one at the corner.

Sione Katoa did eventually cross with a miraculous finish, but whatever hope arose was snuffed out by Cleary, immediately. His crossfield kick to Brian To’o was the sort of invention that Cronulla never showed.

It wasn’t just him, however.

Dylan Edwards shifted the ball on tackle zero after fielding kicks, if it was on. Turuva broke and offloaded. Jarome Luai, now back in the support act role but no less impressive, constantly pushed the envelope.

Isaah Yeo, now the most capped Panther of all time, would be their best ever player if Nathan wasn’t stood next to him.

It’s hard to say Penrith are underrated in any aspect, but if they are, it’s in their willingness to embrace risk. Once they strangled matches, but in 2024, they’ve shown other speeds too. The game has opened up and so have they.

They made the fewest errors of any team in 2022 and 2023. In 2024, they’ve made the seventh most. Yes, they have Nathan. But they also have Ivan.

Cleary senior has adapted an already great system into one that combines the defensive dominance and set start strength that built this dynasty with lucid attack to match the way elite rugby league is played in 2024.

It’s five Grand Finals, three wins and you’d not back against a fourth.

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