Penrith have made plenty of history as they marched to three-straight premierships but their loss to Melbourne in Round 1 was historic for all the wrong reasons.
In falling to the Storm 8-0 last Friday, the Panthers became the only defending premiers in 116 years of Australian rugby league to be held scoreless in the first match of their title defence.
Not that anyone, inside the Panthers or out, is panicking. After three grand final wins in a row, they’ve earned more than a little patience and coach Ivan Cleary doesn’t believe they need to make drastic changes ahead of Thursday night’s clash with Parramatta
“There’s no real single biggest thing (to change),” Cleary said.
“There’s stuff that we really know works for us and when we’re playing well, we get a series of things done and we just didn’t hit that. It’s nothing too drastic.”
With each of Penrith’s premiership wins, more players have been forced out of the club due to salary cap pressures.
These changes mean the start of the season is often a transitionary time for the club as they adjust to the new faces, even as their underlying attacking philosophy remains the same.
“Every team is similar at the start of the season, it’s very rare you get the same team and we’re no different,” Cleary said.
“Some guys have done more training and played more trials than others and we’re clearly still trying to find our feet in that regard.
“We also got a little bit clunky, kind of chasing down points at the end of the game.
“We’re probably trying too hard and to the Storm’s credit their scramble was outstanding and they frustrated us as well.
