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Jarome Luai casts his eye over the list and raises an eyebrow. “There are some guns there,” Luai said before adding, perhaps only half-jokingly, “I’d probably be scared to verse those guys.”
Luai is looking at a list of 17 players, named in positional order by this masthead, who have left Penrith since they made the first of four consecutive grand finals. The salary cap has forced a slew of superstars – including Apisai Koroisau, Matt Burton, Viliame Kikau and Kurt Capewell – to join rivals during the club’s golden run.
The quality of the parting Panthers is such that a team comprised solely of them would likely be competitive if entered into the NRL.
“Absolutely, that’s crazy,” said back-rower Liam Martin. “It would be tough, they are all just such quality players, they bought into the system and the culture so well. It would be a tough match-up.”
A spine of Koroisau, Burton, Sean O’Sullivan and Daine Laurie – the latter is returning to the foot of the mountains from next year – would play behind a forward pack consisting of Tevita Pangai Junior, Kikau, Capewell, J’maine Hopgood, Jack Hetherington and James Tamou.
The Panthers brace for the departure of at least two superstars every year – Stephen Crichton (Bulldogs) and Spencer Leniu (Roosters) will depart after Sunday’s grand final against Brisbane – but have managed to replace them and remain consistently dominant.
Bulldogs stars Viliame Kikau and Matt Burton are just two former Panthers who left during the club’s golden run.Credit: Getty
“It’s a strong side,” winger Brian To’o said of the parting Panthers. “I think that is a pretty solid team. A few of our brothers have departed and gone onto bigger and better things and I couldn’t be more happy for those guys.”
Prop James Fisher-Harris added: “They would go good.”
Parting Panthers … the gun team that has left since the 2020 grand final
1 Daine Laurie
2 Charlie Staines
3 Brent Naden
4 Paul Momirovski
5 Josh Mansour
6 Matt Burton
7 Sean O’Sullivan
8 James Tamou
9 Apisai Koroisau
10 Tevita Pangai Junior
11 Viliame Kikau
12 Kurt Capewell
13 J’Maine Hopgood
14 Tyrone May
15 Jack Hetherington
16 Zane Tetevano
17 Robert Jennings
Whenever an established name has left, a capable replacement has quickly emerged. Sunia Turuva, Izack Tago, Mitch Kenny and Lindsay Smith are all products of the best junior nursery in the country, while the likes of Jack Cogger, Zac Hosking and Luke Garner have fitted in seamlessly since arriving from other NRL systems.
The players believe it’s a product of Penrith’s next-man-up mentality.
“Every team wants to have that, I first heard that with Melbourne,” Luai said. “Especially with Origin, a lot of players have been in that side over the years and it’s definitely been a focus coming into that period.
“It’s been built here now. With all the guys that are leaving or have left, we’re still here on the biggest stage, it speaks for itself. You have to earn that spot, it comes from a lot of hard work.
“Just the way people speak about the jersey before they put it on is pretty special.
“Cogs, Garner, Hosking had a lot to say before they had even played, how prestigious it was to be at this club and how special it was to put on that jersey. That stuff is pretty cool to hear.”
Fisher-Harris said many players had taken less to stay than they could have got at rival clubs.
“A lot of us came through together so we just want to stick together,” he said. “It’s hard in this business, we all have families to feed and sometimes you have to think of the bigger picture. We’ve got kids in school and stuff like that, depends on how old we are. Everyone is trying our best to stick together.”
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