As it chases another title, Penrith's future is built on its recent past

On a rainy night, the Cronulla Sharks' ground seemed submerged, as both young and veteran Panthers players sweated and toiled, striving for the opportunity to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with legends. While the stakes weren't high in Saturday night's 22-16 loss to Canberra, some Panthers players still had plenty to fight for, proving their worth to the coaching staff and fans alike.

A good performance doesn't necessarily guarantee a first-grade spot, and a poor one won't be a death sentence. As Ivan Cleary often says, not everything is crucial, but everything matters. Perhaps some of them will earn a ticket to Las Vegas, and maybe some will receive a greater reward – a place in the best team they'll ever see in their lives, contributing to a legacy that will last a lifetime.

It's not for everyone, as great things are never easy, but the door to apply is always open. You must first get through the pre-season, which is no mean feat, because a summer of training at the Panthers is more than just something you do; it's a test you must survive. But once you do, good things happen, and they happen quickly, propelling players into the spotlight.

Just ask Casey McLean, the prodigious 18-year-old rugby league star. Standing on the wing, he's expected to start in the season opener against the Sharks. He performed admirably on Saturday night, gaining more meters than any other Panthers player, just lacking the opportunity to showcase the attacking flair he displayed in his NRL and Test debut last season. While he did have a handling error that led to a Raiders try, trials are more about the process than the result, allowing coaches to assess a player's potential and adaptability.

McLean stated, "The biggest thing is confidence. Last pre-season I was really quiet, just because I knew the calibre of players that were there. I didn't want to step on any toes. But this year there's a spot open, and I'm trying to bring some confidence and do the best I can. For me, it's about communicating more with my halves and fullback, seeing what's on, and what needs to be done. I thought I did that pretty well tonight, but it dropped off when I started getting fatigued. I'm hard on myself. Dyl Edwards keeps me calm, I can overthink things, but he tells me to slow down, think about it, and find a way to work it out."

McLean added, "All the boys are like that, they welcome you in and try to make you the best player you can be, which helps you do the same. You've got to focus on the present, not think about who should get the spot, or why. Focus every day, every training session, live in the moment, and earn your spot." McLean is part of a new generation of Panthers who have only known the club's era of dominance, a testament to the team's sustained success. He was only 13 when the club began its ascent to glory in early 2020.

McLean recalled, "The first premiership was a big memory for me, that 2021 game against the Bunnies. Looking at those players, and seeing what they're doing now, how they've grown into the players they are, it shows how good this team and club is. I'm lucky to be a part of it. They're always growing. Everyone's talking about whether they can keep that drive every year, but from 2020 to now, I don't think much has changed. There's still that drive to win, everyone still has that competitive edge. They just want to keep winning and keep getting to the big stage."

There was a time when the Panthers weren't like this, a time McLean never experienced, but the rest of us still remember. But they're never coming back, because they've won twice as many premierships as the club had in its entire history before that. What's happening now is the best period the Panthers have ever had, and perhaps the best any team could ever hope for, so good that if there really is a rugby league heaven, it must be pretty outstanding to compare to what they've got at the foot of the mountains.

Four in a row is a feat a club is likely to only achieve once in its lifetime. Across the entire league, it only happens two or three times a century. We're very likely never to see it again in our lifetimes, and it's safe to say that like Parramatta's champions of the 80s, or Brisbane's brilliance of the 90s, everything the Panthers do from now until forever will be somehow influenced by what's happening now. It must be reiterated just how staggering this level of success is, and it can't be said enough, or loud enough, because we should never get used to this miracle.

It took Canterbury almost 50 years to win four premierships, let alone four in a row. That's as many as Canberra and Cronulla have in their entire histories. It's as many as Parramatta has won in 78 years of top-grade football. The Panthers have once again shown that they are a team that finds joy in the struggle, that they love to fight more than they love to win – and they really love to win, showcasing their resilience and determination.

Traditional wisdom has become warped under the weight of their success. All the things that should be preventing this from happening – artificial things like the salary cap, or human things like the natural loss of some of the hunger and desperation required to be a champion once you've reached the top for a while – seem laughably ineffective. Their idea of a team's premiership window only lasting a year or two before a rebuild seems quaint and small-minded to the rest of the league, highlighting the Panthers' sustained excellence.

They only have seven players left from their first premiership-winning team, and in Jarome Luai and James Fisher-Harris, they may end up losing some genuinely irreplaceable pieces, but they still rightly begin the new year as the team to beat. If you took all the players they've lost and put them in a combined team and added it to the league as an expansion team, they'd probably make the top four, maybe even the grand final, where nobody would be surprised if they were thumped by the Panthers, because that's what happens every October.

But one day, who knows when, the Panthers' reign will end. Unless they win eight or more premierships in a row, we're closer to the end than the beginning. All greatness has a clock, even greatness as ruthless, resolute and seemingly unbreakable as the Panthers. After so long, there's nothing new to achieve, and no demons left to slay, only the addiction to winning, a habit that has consumed them and must be constantly fed, because it can never be satisfied.

So the Panthers players who took the field against Canberra on Saturday were fighting for more than just an opportunity in first grade. They were fighting to secure their own place in a legend that's still being written, and if they can do that, they'll extend the legend's lifespan. The inspiration to continue the dynasty is now the dynasty itself, because to keep the old ways, new energy must come from new faces. There's a lot to live up to, and the pressure can be immense. For ordinary people, the fear of a dynasty crumbling under your watch would be paralysing, but the Panthers left ordinary behind a long time ago.

But the size of the challenge doesn't daunt the youngsters, it inspires them, which is precisely why so many of them have succeeded. McLean said, "There's always going to be talk about whether we can reach the goals. It might come into our heads, can we fill the gaps that have been left. But the environment we're in, from the players to the coaching staff, it's what you want to be a part of. They never put pressure on you. They welcome you in, they understand your strengths, and how to tweak your game. They don't force you, you've got to embrace it, and make it your own."

McLean and his peers have seen everything the Panthers have done, and they've been close enough to feel the pride, the glory, and the intoxication of victory. How could you not want more if you've even just had a little taste? How could you see it and not want to be a part of it? All it takes is everything they've got, and for four years running, not a single Panthers player has baulked at the price, solidifying the team's culture of dedication and sacrifice.