Despite being just five rounds in, the 2025 NRL season has already thrown up many surprises, From the Canterbury Bulldogs' unbeaten start, to the South Sydney Rabbitohs bounce back from their pre-season injury struggles, fans have been calling it "the most unpredictable season in years."
Perhaps the biggest shock has come from four-time reining premiership winners Penrith Panthers. With only one win in the first six games and five straight defeats, they find themselves at risk of being bottom of the ladder by the end of the round.
Cracks in the Empire
For the past four years, the Panthers were rugby league's immovable force, dominating the sport like no other team has in recent history.
Departures spark Penrith's decline
But it was inevitable that the Ivan Cleary's side would start a new chapter, as they saw both James Fisher-Harris and Jarome Luai depart the club. Fans expected the Penrith production wheel to churn out another set of promising youngsters, however the loss of Luai's control and dynamism, and Fisher-Harris' power and leadership has proven too much across the opening six rounds, which has resulted in their worst start to an NRL campaign since 2013.
Add to this the loss of over twenty players since 2020, many whom are now key players at other rival clubs, notably Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau, who both left to join top of the table, Canterbury, has left Penrith not only grappling with depth issue, but also watching their former stars power other teams to the top, which may be symbolising a potential changing of the guard in the NRL.
On top of this, with their traditional home ground BlueBet Stadium undergoing redevelopment, their home games have been played at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta, which has seen attendances drop from previous years.
The style has been figured out
Their once revolutionary defence, their relentless control of territory and their suffocating kicking game, now feels predictable. To start this season, the Panthers have conceded a competition-high 170 points, which has seen their points-against-per-game average jump from 16.4 last year to 28.3 this year.
In their most recent defeat against the Dolphins on Thursday, they were completely outmuscled and outclassed. The Dolphins' edges were incredibly strong in defence and fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow had a field day, scoring his second career hat-trick, which led to a 30-12 defeat for Penrith.
Despite strong performances in the middle from Isaah Yeo and Lindsay Smith, injuries to begin the season to Nathan Cleary, Brian To'o and Dylan Edwards have taken their toll.
Is History against them?
Ivan Cleary will still have his sights on the Premiership, but they may have to win it from outside the top 4, a feat which hasn't been done since 1995, and has only happened twice since 1908.
The Panthers will look to bounce back and aim to become the first side to start the season 1-5 and have go on to win the premiership.
