Mark Geyer vividly remembers September 22, 1991. It was the day Penrith won its first premiership, beating Canberra 19-12 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
"It was unbelievable - 30km from home people were parked on the side of the freeway. The town went ballistic for about six months."
That victory was more than 24 years in the making for a team once dubbed the "chocolate soldiers" because of their brown and white strip. The description assumed a more droll meaning over time because they were associated with melting in the second half.
It took until 1984 before they got out of the bottom half of the table, finishing seventh. Penrith's win percentages remain poor today as a result. They have a record below 50 per cent against 11 of the other 15 NRL teams.
By the time they won that premiership under coach Phil Gould, the nickname had become "liquorice allsorts" because of a multi-striped uniform - but, if nothing else, they had hardened up. Yet it was 12 years before they collected another premiership, celebrated by dedicating a front-office wall to "the Scott Sattler tackle". It records the exact time (57m 53s) when Sattler crossed the field at 6-6 to take out Roosters wing Todd Byrne and change the course of the 2003 final.
