Legend has it that Panthers great Royce Simmons once told a reporter he trained on Christmas Day. When asked why? Simmo simply smiled and said; “Because I knew my rivals for the Australian hooking spot wouldn’t and that gave me an advantage.”
Royce was definitely ahead of his time when it came to the importance of pre-season training. For many years it was seen as a necessary evil especially during the days when the game was not yet fully professional.
Stories have been told of several players in the ‘80s taking a cab when asked to go on a brutal training run through the city.
Oh, how things have changed.
A good tough pre-season can set a side up for a successful run at the title or, at the very least, a top eight finish.
It all begins in the pre-season.
It’s no secret that the Panthers are renowned for their tough, grinding pre-season training sessions.
The fact they often run these sessions in the humidity and heat of a Penrith summer makes their achievements even more impressive.
You see, Ivan Cleary and the coaching staff are not only master tacticians during the season, the importance they place on training smarter AND harder during the summer cannot be overlooked.
Former Panther James Maloney recently said that the Panthers are the fittest side in the competition and that’s what makes them so dangerous. Their decision making under fatigue during premiership matches, particularly in defence, is second to none.
Ivan deserves all the credit for the team’s recent success and how he prepares the side for a long season can’t be ignored.
However, the seeds of tough Penrith pre-season training can be traced back to when Anthony Griffin was coach in 2016. During a gruelling run at Jamison Park, centre Waqa Blake came back from the break a lot heavier than he should have and finished way behind the other backs. He was told in no uncertain terms by Griffin, “If you don’t shape up I’m going to start you in the forwards.”
Pretty soon the whole team started to embrace the tough new philosophy but there were still teething problems. It’s been reported that current Head of Pathways Lee Hopkins almost quit when he observed a player taking a phone call during a weights session.
Before too long it was the players themselves that were keeping the standards high and it didn’t matter if you were new to the club either.
Former Panther Jarome Luai was rumoured to have told then new recruit Jaemon Salmon in 2021 to ‘‘F**k off back to the Eels” when he fell behind on a training run.
Over the last five years pre-season training standards at Penrith have become even higher. You just have to read the comments of players who have come to the club recently to see that.
It took former Tiger Luke Garner almost a full season to get acclimatised to how his new club trained and played. It almost broke him.
Now it’s true, you can’t win a premiership in the pre-season, but you sure as hell can lose one.
Peter Lang
Peter Lang is an experienced sports writer, who has been covering rugby league for several decades. He first wrote Lang on League for the Weekender in the 1990s, and worked for Panthers on its famous Panthers Magazine for several years.