Penrith are officially off to the hottest start to a season in 63 years after claiming their fifth straight win with an historic 50-10 domination of Melbourne.
In a performance labelled by Andrew Johns as the best of the Panthers’ dynasty, Penrith were near flawless at CommBank Stadium on Friday night.
Unbeaten after five rounds, Penrith’s for-and-against of +150 is now the best of any team at this stage of the season since the great St George side in 1963.
Ivan Cleary’s men are also the first in premiership history to have won their first five games of a season by 20 points or more.
The result marked the first time Melbourne have conceded 50 in a game since 2003, while the Storm’s third straight loss means they now have a losing record this late in a season for the first time since 2018.
Casey McLean of the Panthers celebrates a try Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
Melbourne also pulled Harry Grant off in the second half after a bump to his knee, though Storm staff were confident he had not suffered a serious injury.
In reality, no side would have beaten the Panthers on Friday night.
The clear early favourites to regain the crown after their run of four straight premierships ended last year, the Panthers look better than ever in 2026.
Their left edge Blaize Talagi, Isaiah Papali’i, Casey McLean and Tom Jenkins tells the story of their regeneration, with none of the four having won a grand final for the club.
Jenkins’ 12 tries through the first five rounds is also the most in history, having scored a double or hat-trick in every game
And while that edge is firing, mainstays Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and Liam Martin also played starring roles against the Storm.
Even when Melbourne threatened to get back into the game at different stages, Penrith’s class shone through.
Nowhere was that more evident than in the first half with Penrith leading 10-6, and Melbourne attacking their line to take the lead.
Penrith responded by taking Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown into touch when Melbourne pushed too wide, and on the next set Papali’i bumped off a defender, offloaded to McLean and Jenkins scored.
Cleary stepped off his left foot moments later to run through the Storm’s line and score, while a 35-metre effort from McLean on halftime when he brushed off three Melbourne players made it 26-6 and game over.
The try of the night then came midway through the second half when an outrageous flick pass from Scott Sorensen helped Dylan Edwards send Luke Garner over.
Penrith’s performance came despite them missing hooker Mitch Kenny through suspension, with Freddy Lussick scoring once from dummy-half while filling in.