History hunters: Panthers adapt new theme as three-peat beckons

They’ve conquered “Everest”, proved themselves to be the NRL’s “Top Guns” and now the Panthers are “Hunting History”.

That’s the theme of Penrith’s play-offs campaign as Ivan Cleary’s back-to-back premiers aim to become the first team in the NRL era to win a grand final three-peat.

It’s a feat that no club has been able to achieve for 40 years since Jack Gibson took the Eels to successive triumphs in 1981, 1982 and 1983, and would confirm the Panthers as one of the greatest teams in premiership history.

Canterbury (1984, 1985), Canberra (1989, 1990), Brisbane (1992, 1993) and Sydney Roosters (2018, 2019) have all been in a position to win a three-peat since Parramatta's trifecta of premierships, but none were able to do so.

“You sort of do have it in the back of your mind about a three-peat, but Ivan has got this concept of ‘one in a row’ - just because we won it last year doesn’t mean we deserve anything,” Kangaroos second-rower Liam Martin said.

“It's a whole new comp and the next few weeks, we know, are going to be tough and we're going to have to play our best footy, and fingers crossed it will be enough.”

However, Martin revealed that the Panthers had developed 'Hunting History' as their 2023 theme during a pre-finals camp on the Gold Coast, along similar lines to the successful 'Everest' and 'Top Gun' campaigns of previous seasons.

'Everest' was the theme of their 2021 premiership, in which Penrith overcame the disappointment of the 2020 grand final loss to ascend to the pinnacle of the NRL by defeating South Sydney in the decider at Suncorp Stadium.

Last year’s campaign, in which they attempted to win back-to-back premierships, was inspired by Top Gun: Maverick - the sequel to the 1986 Tom Cruise movie.

Players spoke after the 28-12 win against Parramatta about completing “the mission” and mock Top Gun posters with slogans such as ‘one last dog fight’, 'always the hunters', 'brutally suffocating' and 'fast moving' adorned the walls of their dressing room.

“I think this year it is just like chasing history,” Martin said. “It probably hasn't been done in the modern era so we are just hunting history at the moment. That's the slogan.

“Earlier in the year we didn't want to focus on it too much, we wanted to focus on getting our on the field right and then the year would take care of itself.

“But a couple of weeks ago we had a camp and we spoke about it a bit more in depth.”

The Panthers have their sights fixed on retaining the Provan-Summons Trophy after beating North Queensland last weekend to win the JJ Giltinan Shield as minor premiers.

“That's a very special one as well," Martin said. "It’s the third time in four years so it’s a great honour.

"It’s a long year so to be at the top is very special but no-one really remembers the minor premiers, so it won't really count for anything if we don't go on with it."

Martin, who forced his way into the Australian team at last year's World Cup, was honoured this week with the NSWRL True Blue award for his performances in this year's Origin series, while Panthers winger Brian To'o won the Brad Fittler Medal.

The 26-year-old is regarded as one of the best second-rowers in the game and he has evolved into one of Penrith's forward leaders this season.

“I still see myself as a young kid, I still like to muck around with a lot of them and sort of like to have a joke, but I'm certainly starting to grow a lot more in that sort of leadership role," Martin said.

"I know when to be serious and have a voice in the meetings and out on the field, and these sort of [representative] honours certainly help with that."