ALL good things must come to an end!

This feels a tad surreal, writing my Grand Final column and not speaking of the mighty mountain men, the Penrith Panthers! 

We as fans have had a blessed run, and I suppose must now come to terms with the fact that for the first time since 2020 Penrith will not be competing for the holy grail. Up 14-0 at half time last Sunday Ticketek would have had a mini meltdown as Panther fans started browsing their site for the best Grand Final seats they could get their hands on for this weekend’s blockbuster. 40 mins later it was not to be. After losing Scott Sorensen for the game – Penrith’s most winning player percent-wise – in the opening two minutes of the task, especially the back end of the prelim, was always going to be hard with 16 players on 17. But even with seconds to go on the clock the Panthers still had a chance to at least draw the game with a two-point field goal. But again, it wasn’t meant to be. 

“How do you sum up the past 5 years of dominance from the Panthers?” I was asked through this past week. I said “astonishing!” It was the first thing that came to my mind. To make 5 grand finals in a row and to have won 4 of those in a row is astonishing! And something I don’t think I’ll see again in my lifetime. Given that every year since that 2020 Grand Final they’ve lost player after player and assistant coach after assistant coach. But still somehow have managed to do what they’ve done. Bravo lads. But we must also give credit where credit is due. The Broncos were fabulous in the second half of last Sundays preliminary final. Payne Haas in particular. As was skipper Adam Reynolds, Katoni Staggs, Ben hunt, Reece Walsh… their defence was their best display of the season. And it had to be.

MG (random Westie) OAM