In Round 12 the Panthers sat stone cold last on the ladder with their title defence in tatters, before an Ivan Cleary masterstroke inspired one of the greatest season turnarounds in NRL history.
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With just three wins, a draw and seven losses from their first 11 games, the Panthers were facing an uphill battle to make the finals, let alone win a fifth straight premiership.
It wasn’t just the mounting losses, but the way they were losing, conceding mammoth scorelines even when their attack was clicking and struggling to score points when they got their defence in order.
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In a 25-6 loss to the Knights, who would go on to win the wooden spoon, both their attack and defence was abysmal and there looked to be no way out and no light at the end of the tunnel for the Mountain Men.
It appeared at the time that the Panthers had lost their DNA in defence, which had always served them well over the last six years, even when their attack deserted them at times.
In the loss to the Knights, the Panthers looked all at sea on both sides of the ball and even Cleary looked out of ideas in his post match press conference.
However, rather than panic Cleary chose to do two things to turn his team’s season around.
Firstly, he implemented a brutal honesty session following the defeat, so that players could not just revisit the mistakes they were making, but feel the pain of letting each other down and sparking a fire within them to improve.
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Panthers players after the Round 12 loss to the Knights.Source: Getty Images
Secondly, he focused on restoring the standards that had built the Panthers dynasty and that started with a torturous training session based on grit and hard work.
Mitch Kenny remembers Cleary being his usual cool, calm and collected self, but recalls him putting it back on the players if they were willing to dig themselves out of the hole they had created.
“He held it together, which he does all the time, but I’m sure underneath the surface he was probably stressing out a little bit when things weren’t going right,” Kenny told foxsports.com.au.
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“But after Bathurst he probably had a bit more of an honest review than we’ve had in a while and our intensity around training lifted, but he as a coach and as a person didn’t change too much.”
Panthers winger Brian To’o recalls Cleary getting back to the values and principles by which Penrith players live by every day.
“All I know is that coach Cleary really sets us up for having so much pride for our community,” To’o said of Ivan Cleary.
Ivan Cleary challenged his players to own their performance and preparation.Source: Supplied
“Just having faith in our team and in what we do and our standards and values every day.
“Coach really prides himself on making sure that everyone looks after each other and always putting our community first.”
Panthers’ new recruit Isaiah Papali’i recalls being impressed by coach Cleary not deflecting blame and taking ownership of where the team was at himself.
“He took it on the chin as well,” Papali’i said.
“He didn’t just put it all on us, which is a tough thing to do, but I guess that speaks volumes about how he is as a coach.
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“And he was pretty calm through it all, which is also good, so as much as it was hard, everyone has a little bit of head noise, so seeing him calm kind of helped out.
“When he felt like he had enough or thought it was time to put his foot down, he did it and I think everyone responded well and I think that’s the respect that this team has for him and shows that he knows when to say what he has to say.”
Isaiah Papali’i praised Cleary’s ownership of the form slump.Source: Supplied
Cleary set the tone for a change of perspective and gave his players a call to action, but there was still plenty of soul searching and work to do for the club to climb off the canvas.
To’o credits the younger members of the squad for driving the resurgence with their energy and commitment at training.
“It was definitely a dark spot for us,” To’o said.
“We obviously didn’t want to start the way we did start the season. It’s been a massive rollercoaster throughout this year.
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“I’d say everyone collectively pretty much put their hands up to make a change throughout the year.
“I think a big part of it was the young boys really stepping up. Tommy Jenkins, Blaize Talagi, Casey McLean and even our new brothers as well like Isaiah Papali’i. Those boys have really led from the front and really changed things around for the team.”
Papali’i gave an insight into how the Panthers players approached their form slump and fighting their way out of it.
Brian To’o praised the Panthers’ young players for leading the turnaround.Source: Getty Images
A new recruit coming into a team that has only ever known winning could have been daunting, but Papali’i credits the trust amongst the squad with turning things around.
“Just the culture around here is kind of trusting what you’re doing and I kind of looked inward and everyone did that individually,” Papali’i said of the Panthers’ form slump.
“After that Knights game was a big moment and then we just got a roll on from there, so as much as it was hard, I didn’t regret that decision (to join the club).”
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Papali’i was injured at the time and just welcomed his first baby and recalls Cleary knowing how to light the fire under all his players in different ways.
“It was weird because that weekend I had my baby, so I was kind of on my own buzz, excited and enjoying life,” Papali’i said of the brutal review session.
“So coming in that Tuesday after I had a couple days off and I was in rehab, but Ivan kind of had a pretty big talk to all of us and then we did a pretty tough session in the wrestle room, so I think it was a hard talk, but it’s something that we needed and I think we responded pretty well.”
Mitch Kenny admits the Panthers’ standards slipped.Source: Getty Images
During the first three months of the 2025 season, Kenny thought it was business as usual for the four-time defending premiers, but looking back he admits they were cutting corners at training and their preparation suffered heading into games.
“It was pretty uncharted territory,” Kenny said of running last.
“There was so much going on and there was a bit of panic. We had this sort of belief that we could turn things around, but then I started to doubt that a little bit when you go down and lose again on the weekend.
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“It felt like no matter how hard we were trying things just weren’t going right. It felt like we were preparing well for games at the time, but looking back at it we were probably missing the mark.
“We were just letting a few things in our standards and in our system slip. We just had to keep doubling down on the belief and not let that waver.
“You build that by just coming in here and putting the work in every day. The tide started to turn and I think we got out of that slump.”
Paul Alamoti was brutally dropped but responded.Source: Getty Images
Recognising where you are going wrong and admitting you have to change are good first steps, but turning things around on the training paddock and on the field is another thing entirely.
Kenny also credited the younger members of the squad with helping to re-establish standards and help the players hold each other accountable for every training session.
“We had a pretty honest and brutal review after that Bathurst game, which is what we deserved,” Kenny said of the Knights loss.
“We got a chance for a lot of guys that don’t play a lot of first grade to come in and showcase what they’re about and what we as a club are about.
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“We were just abysmal that night and that week after was probably the hardest, we’ve trained here as a club for a few years.
“We just had to start holding each other to account a little bit more. We probably tried to protect each other and being a little bit too empathetic at times.
“We just had to dig the heels in to be a bit tougher on ourselves individually and also on one another.
The Panthers went from last to another prelim in four months.Source: Supplied
“It just started with the intensity every day of training and that just started to gain some momentum and come into the games.”
Another part of Cleary turning around the team’s fortunes was holding players accountable for poor performances and that saw him make a number of tough selection calls.
Paul Alamoti went from close to a Clive Churchill Medal in 2024 to finding himself dropped mid-season.
It was a brutal call at the time given the whole team were not playing well, but rather than make Alamoti a scapegoat, Cleary gave him both the tools to return to first grade and the fire to prove his coach wrong.
“He was massive, just little pointers here and there in training,” Alamoti said of Cleary. “Always telling me to stay ready and an opportunity would come, just be ready for it ultimately.
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“That was my mindset, I didn’t want to miss a beat if I was to ever come back into the team. That’s ultimately where my headspace was, I was just day in, day out, week in, week out, just wanted to make sure if anything happens, I’m really not going to miss a beat.
“Fortunately enough I was able to come into a team that was playing well and I just wanted to do my best off the back of that.”
The Panthers are peaking at the perfect time.Source: Getty Images
Another factor that was speculated as the reason for the Panthers’ slump was a lack of motivation after being up for so long.
After five grand finals, four titles and multiple player exits, the Panthers could have been forgiven for losing a bit of the fire to topple the NRL mountain yet again.
However, Kenny knocked those suggestions on the head for two key reasons.
“It’s never really been an issue,” Kenny said of keeping the fire burning to win.
“Having tasted success I don’t think we’ve ever wanted to let that go or just be happy with what’s happened.
“A lot of us are so young, we’ve got so much of our careers left, we’ve got so much improvement individually and as a team.
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“I just don’t see why we would ever feel like we’ve already done enough. There’s so much more to achieve and when you know what winning is like, why would you not want to keep doing that?
“Then there’s also the motivation of so many guys who come into the team who haven’t tasted that success.
“It feels like a new team and you are chasing a new goal and you want those guys to come along with you and feel that success as well.
“There’s plenty of motivation. I’ve never really struggled to look for that.”
It might be a new team and a new goal, but it is starting to feel like the same old Panthers and the same old result in 2025 and with two games to go, it will take one hell of a team to stop them now.