How good is it to know that your team has started the season with a win and now you can sit back and watch all the other sides bash each other up this weekend.
The Panthers have the week off after playing in Las Vegas last Sunday where they beat a determined Cronulla Sharks outfit 28-22.
Sure, the Penrith boys looked a little rusty and short of a gallop but with a second-rower playing in the centres, Brian To’o and Liam Henry both out with injury, it was an impressive victory under difficult circumstances.
Now I know it’s only one game but you can tell that the motivation and hunger from the players to win a fifth straight title will not be an issue.
The way the team swarmed in defence, especially in the early and late exchanges of the game, it showed everyone that they were up for the challenge.
The attack was clunky at times but this is normal early in the season and will improve as combinations click and the team figures out its best 17.
It’s only one game but prop Lindsay Smith already looks like a NSW Origin player. Smith had a barnstorming game against the Sharks with plenty of quality charges and some great defensive reads.
He’s already been ear-marked by this year’s Blues coach Laurie Daley as a potential Origin bolter and games like the one last Sunday will only help his cause.
As far as replacing James Fisher-Harris, well that’s going to take some time but Smith certainly took plenty of positive steps towards that goal.
It’s only one game but second-rower Liam Martin has picked up where he left off in last year’s NRL Grand Final where he won the Clive Churchill Medal for best on the field.
Martin looks headed for a Dally M season if he keeps up the pace of that blistering display against Cronulla. The man was everywhere and not only did he make some fearless kamikaze hit-ups into the opposition line but his defence on smaller, faster players was a real eye-opener.
It’s only one game but already I can tell that Jack Cole is not the answer at five-eighth.
He’s a fine defender and runner of the ball but his creativity in attack is just too limited and this then puts a lot of pressure on Nathan Cleary to do everything as the only organiser and playmaker.
I’m a big fan of Blaize Talagi at five-eighth but with what coach Ivan Cleary said after the game, Talagi is going to have to bide his time as young Cole is guaranteed at least a few more games alongside Nathan Cleary to show what he can do.
I know it’s only one game but Penrith’s defence needs to improve after leaking 22 points but I’m sure that will get better as the year rolls on.
Finally, and while I know it’s only one game but, like the players, I also think the boys can win another title this year.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer or even a rugby league season, but I like what I saw from the team as they strive for five in 2025.
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.