Warriors CEO Cameron George says that 2020 will be remembered as the year 'that made us as a club'.
The Penrith Panthers' rise to the heights of the NRL regular season, and greater pleasures awaiting, have not come without their struggles.
The memories of those low points are still freshly imprinted on the minds of the club's players, staff and supporters.
The Panthers are currently the team to beat with 18 wins, one draw and one loss in their campaign, seeing them claim the minor premiership comfortably. Their first true test in measuring their title credentials will come against the two-time Premiers in the Sydney Roosters tomorrow night.
The rise has been dazzling. In 2019 Penrith welcomed former Warriors coach Ivan Cleary who took the reins of a team that looked capable to cracking the top four, following a promising 2018 season. Cleary himself has long been revered despite his record struggling to back up such stock.
But nothing remotely similar conspired, and embarrassing on-field performances mixed in with growing frustrations plagued a once promising season.
A particular Friday night in May resembles their downfall. Falling to the Warriors 30-10 on their home ground, the Panthers suffered their sixth consecutive loss and fell to the bottom of the NRL ladder.
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has helped turn the club around after a horrendous 2019 NRL campaign. Photo / Photosport
Club chief executive Brian Fletcher had to be escorted from the ground by security to ensure his safety from irate fans, while Cleary was left to come to terms with the mess that he was, for the most part, responsible for.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, club chairman Dave O'Neill says it felt as though he had killed somebody based on the public reaction. "I'm not a mass murderer. You walk around town and hear little old ladies say, 'He's the guy destroying our club'," he adds.
"I got a call [from the police] saying, 'We're following a lot of the social media and there have been quite a few death threats pointed at you directly'."
As the weeks passed Penrith's form picked up, but it was too little too late come round 26 as they boasted 11 wins in 24 games, and their first finals miss in three years. More importantly, they had regressed massively in Cleary's first year.
Fans questioned why the now 49-year-old was brought back, considering he had been fired from the same role at the end of 2015. But it was a job Cleary wanted to return to and was determined to excel in, citing "unfinished business".
"All I know is once I got asked [to coach the Panthers], I knew what I wanted to do," he says.
"Your heart can only be in one place. That's hard to say but that was the reality. Deep down I wanted to be at Penrith. At the time I didn't realise how much emotional baggage I would carry. There was definitely a hangover from the Tigers thing last year, and I wasn't at my best. I wasn't really in the right head space.
"I'm still not comfortable with how it all went down. There was a lot of shit going on. It doesn't sit well with me. I understand my role and agitation, but I'd do it all again, because I know this is where my heart is and this is where I should be."
But while pandemics and the NRL's typical off-field antics have plagued the game in 2020, it has been an unexpectedly fruitful year for the Panthers. They are enjoying their best statistical season in history, helped by the addition of hooker Api Koroisau and emergence of young guns such as Stephen Crichton and Brent Naden, as well as Nathan Cleary stamping his claim as the game's best halfback.
Nathan Cleary (left) and Josh Mansour hold the JJ Giltinan Shield after winning the NRL minor premiership. Photo / Getty
The influence of assistant coach and Bulldogs mentor-in-waiting Trent Barrett - who joined ahead of the 2020 season - on the team's attack has been sublime. The Panthers averaged 17.2 points a game last year, which has risen incredibly to 26.9 in 12 months. Their points differential sits at 299, with nine of their 18 wins by a margin of 16 points or more.
Ivan's wife Bec says she had to offer encouraging words during a tough period upon his return, but it has all come together now.
"Going from one club to another, and he was meant to be bringing this team into the top four, but it just wasn't happening. Penrith made a big call bringing Ivan back and they were amazing with the support and that helped Ivan knowing they would stick by him. Now they're reaping the rewards," she adds.
