Premiers Penrith are already eyeing a potential title four-peat before heading to Las Vegas to open the 2025 NRL season.
The Panthers will then play all their home games at Parramatta that season, before returning home in 2026 to a refurbished stadium that could include a new Ivan and Nathan Cleary Stand.
Around 5000 fans greeted their heroes at BlueBet Stadium on Monday morning, with coach Ivan Cleary sleeping in and almost missing the rock star reception.
Jarome Luai stopped traffic when supporters spotted him in his black Mustang – complete with ‘Luai’ number plates. They quickly jumped into the traffic for selfies with the playmaker.
Panthers group CEO Brian Fletcher said there was no reason the club couldn’t chase a fourth premiership before 2025 tosses up fresh challenges.
“Vegas in 2025 is the plan, and hopefully, we can head to the US as the defending premiers,” Fletcher said.
“Because we can’t play at home in 2025, it makes sense to go to Vegas then.
“We’ll spend all of that year playing at home at CommBank Stadium. Parramatta is the closest venue for our fans. We get along well with Parra, so there will be no dramas there. There were a few boos [in the crowd] when it was announced this morning, but that’s our fans, it’s tribalism and passion. Parra fans think the same about us.”
Club legends Craig Gower, Greg Alexander, Royce Simmons and Grahame Moran are acknowledged on the eastern grandstand, and when it came to naming the western grandstand after the father-and-son combination, Fletcher said: “I don’t think too many people will argue with you on that one.
“We’ve got both of them signed until the end of 2027. We’re so lucky. They’ve won three premierships in a row. Nobody in the last 40 years has done that. And you’d have to say we’re a fair chance of winning again next year.
“Ivan is such a great coach. He presented at a board meeting at the start of the year when one of our directors asked him, ‘Do you have the team to win this year, Ivan?’, to which he replied: ‘I certainly do’. And he was right. This group could break all records.”
Fletcher took a potshot at the critics of Penrith and said on stage: “Some of the crap they cop at times is just undeserved”.
Luai is one Penrith player often criticised for some of his off-field antics, including telling fans after the Origin II loss, “Chill, all you idiots have work tomorrow”.
He poked fun at that message early Monday when he took to Instagram again and posted a photo of himself laughing along with the caption: “Who’s got work tomorrow? Hahahahahahaha”
Co-captain Isaah Yeo suggested the players, especially Cleary, were still having to prove themselves on the biggest stage when he told this masthead: “It still feels like he gets chipped by people about not being able to [deliver] in big games, but he has a fair resume now, he has two ‘Clives’, and he puts us on his back that last 20 minutes and won us the grand final. Hopefully, he shooshes a few people up.
“Put his resume up against any other halfback at 25 and what they’ve done in the game, it wins. I’m glad he’s our No. 7 and wouldn’t change him for the world.”
Replies
Mate they don't even deserve the 3 peat let alone 4. Couldn't care what Penrith do
If anything the club should take this as motivation to rise to the next level.
I'm afraid there is no next level. This is it!
Don't want to sound negative but the current administartion has shown that it's limited in its capacity to over-reach and rise against adversity.
Its true, I have serious doubts for our season next year.
I think a lot of Unicorns on here are in for a rude awakening next season.
So do I - unfortunately.
But you know as sure as shit sticks to a blanket, they will never admit that it's in any way BAs fault !
There were so many calls that were overlooked by the reffs..
The panthers don't deserve the 3-peat!
I hope they do shit next year!
I agree 100%. They certainly don't deserve to have a 3 peat. They cheated their way to a premiership in 2021 when their trainer stopped the game against the Eels in the finals. That was an absolute debacle and illegal yet they got away with it. In Sunday's win over the Broncos! The Leota try was off a clearly blatant forward pass. The referee hardly blew the whistle which was good in one way but unprofessional in another by allowing players from Penrith to get away with an attempted crusher tackle, high shots, forward passes, Panthers inside the 10 most of the game. Then to put icing on the cake the referee gives 1 'infringement penalty' in 80 minutes to the Panthers when they're 5 metres out from the Broncos try line with a repeat set of 6! That led to the winning try! 1 infringement penalty in 80 minutes of rugby league is unparalleled. Go over the past 2 years of games and see if you can find only 1 infringement penalty in 80 mins. The referee didn't do his job correctly. It was basically 'lazy refereeing ' in my opinion. Now we have to put up with all this Penrith nonsense for years
Our administration is about getting membership numbers up not winning premierships