Building a wall: How Panthers defence is thriving amid point-scoring surge
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Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo has opened up on the defensive structures that have allowed the Panthers to buck the trend amid a surge in points in the opening weeks of the NRL season.
The Panthers have conceded just 10 points across their first three matches, dispatching three of last year’s top-eight teams in the process.
In doing so, they have bucked an early-season trend of high-scoring matches amid new rule interpretations and the expanded use of set restarts.
Jenkins is scoring four fun!
Contrary to initial expectations, the biggest winners from the off-season changes have been the best defensive sides rather than those who can score points at will.
Penrith top that list, along with the Warriors and the Bulldogs and the similarities between the three sides extend beyond their unbeaten records.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster and Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo were Ivan Cleary’s assistant coaches at the foot of the mountains and played a key role in the Panthers’ NRL dominance earlier this decade before taking on head coaching roles of their own.
Yeo said it’s no coincidence the teams are currently the best three defensive sides in the competition.
“We’re really confident in our system,” Yeo said. “We’re a group now that’s had that system for a long time.
“In each game you’ve got to try evolve and adapt to other team’s strengths and we’ve done that really well. You can see that with our edges, Casey [McLean] and Blaize [Talagi] have been outstanding with another pre-season under their belts and more repetition.
“As a group we’re handling [the pace] really well because there have been some good scorelines there and six-agains are speeding it all up. Some teams are not being resilient enough in those big moments whereas we’ve been able to stick to our system even when we’re under duress and have been able to come out the other side.”
Match: Panthers v Eels
Round 4 -
home Team
Panthers
2nd Position
away Team
Eels
9th Position
Venue: CommBank Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
The Panthers will put their undefeated start to the season on the line when they face Parramatta in the Western Sydney derby at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night.
The Eels are riding high after wins over Brisbane and St George Illawarra and possess an unpredictability that will test Ivan Cleary's men.
Penrith’s defence to start the year isn’t just incredible in the modern era of set restarts and high-scoring matches, it is historically great.
They are only the 13th team since 1908 to allow 10 points or fewer in the opening three rounds and the fourth in the past 90 years.
Fittingly the most recent side to do it was the 2021 Panthers, a juggernaut that won 21 games on the way to the first of four-straight premierships.
This season’s playing style closely resembles the 2021 vintage, with increased ball in play, more fatigue and more points making for a fast-paced entertaining game.
Match Highlights: Panthers v Rabbitohs
The Panthers have long prided themselves on being the fittest team in the competition and forward Luke Garner said they are the reaping the rewards with the game now being played at a breakneck pace.
“You have to be fit to be here and play our style,” Garner said. “With the repeated defensive sets we’re seeing this year you have to be fit so maybe that helps us.
Yeo agrees and said the team’s success boils down to fitness, familiarity and an ability to adapt to different game situations in the heat of the battle.
“We’ve got some elite players in positions that are key to a team,” Yeo said. “You look at Nathan [Cleary], our spine is just getting better and they’re elite players, so that helps.
“We’ve also got a good leadership group and we’re a fit, mobile side. Anytime you can lean on that is a plus, particularly with these adjustments and all the fatigue.”
While they have maintained their staunch defensive mindset, the Panthers have made a number of adjustments to adapt to the fast-paced nature of rugby league in 2026.
Coach Ivan Cleary has turned to an undersized bench in response to the increased fatigue levels. There is no true prop forward on the interchange for Saturday’s clash with Parramatta, with the coach instead opting for versatile and mobile forwards such as Billy Phillips, Scott Sorensen and Garner.
Yeo is averaging more run metres, tackle breaks, offloads and post-contact metres than last year as the game opens up and forwards take advantage of space through the middle of the field.
Edwards shows his class
Penrith’s spine have been adept at finding that space, with Dylan Edwards slicing teams apart in the opening three weeks of the season.
Yeo said there have been minor tweaks to the side’s attack, but ultimately views off-season stability as a key factor in their ability to reach an elite level so early in the year.
“Before each game you try to set some things that you want to do well and then you try adjust on the run,” Yeo said. “We’re trying to evolve a little bit in certain areas of our game.
“We’re trying to see where you can insert yourself or how you can make other players impact the game more.
“We have a really good feel around the club at the moment. In the pre-season we didn’t lose too many players, we brought a lot of players through in Cup or from other clubs and they’ve been outstanding for us.
“We didn’t have too much to change and that’s allowed our combinations to evolve. Our new attack coach Ben Harden has been wonderful for us as well. Everyone’s confident, we’ve got options in how we want to play and I’ve been a big benefactor of that.”
