Penrith’s stunning slide from four-time premiers to last place on the NRL ladder midway through the season now sits on the podium of the most dramatic drop-offs in rugby league’s 117-year history.
The Panthers 25-6 loss to fellow stragglers Newcastle on Saturday leaves the title-holders anchored in 17th with three wins and a draw this season as they begin a daunting Origin period.
The Gold Coast’s round 12 bye lifts the Titans above Penrith this weekend.
Numerous defending premiers have fallen off a cliff the following season, but as their 2025 campaign approaches the halfway mark, Ivan Cleary’s side has now hit unwanted parity with the four biggest falls since 1908.
From more than a century of rugby league, only Canterbury (1943), Wests Magpies (1953), the Broncos (1999) and Storm (2010) have been sitting last on the ladder after 12 rounds as defending premiers.
Melbourne’s salary cap scandal stripped their 2009 premiership and left the club playing for no points from April that season.
Brisbane fell to outright last midway through 1999 as a slew of representative stars struggled and Allan Langer made a shock move to the UK, before starting one of the game’s most remarkable recoveries with a 50-0 thrashing of the Magpies. Wayne Bennett’s side won 13 of their last 15 games to sneak into that year’s finals (bowing out in week one) before powering to a dominant title in 2000.
The Magpies of 1953 were a different story as the only team in history to fall from premiers to wooden spooners in 12 months, winning just one of 12 games from late-May in a 10-team NSWRL competition.
Injuries and player departures led to coach Peter McLean briefly pulling the boots back on after retiring with a grand final win, while the club’s annual report noted “ill-feeling and despondency amongst the players”.
Penrith have no such concerns as a tight-knit group with four premierships to their name, but their mid-year revival has stalled all the same with the comprehensive Knights loss.
Rising prop Liam Henry will accept a two-week ban for a crusher tackle on Fletcher Sharpe, which will rule him out of next Sunday’s local derby against Parramatta and the following week’s clash against Jarome Luai and the Tigers.
Penrith will be sweating the Origin fortunes of NSW quintet Nathan Cleary, Isaiah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and Liam Martin throughout the next month – starting with a four-day turnaround to the Eels clash – given the rocks and diamonds presented by their draw.
The Panthers have a bye before Origin II in Perth, but have already ruled out any of their Blues playing four days later against the Warriors in Auckland given the cross-country turnaround.
Ladder-leaders Canterbury are up next on a five-day turnaround from that trip across the Tasman, before their third and final bye leading into the Origin decider.
Coach Ivan Cleary could do little but lament a first-half against Newcastle where Penrith’s prize-winning defence leaked four tries to what is statistically, the worst attack in the NRL.
“Win games,” was Cleary’s simple response to shifting from the bottom of the ladder.
“Look it’s not where you want to be, but what’s more important is how far you are away from everyone else.
“Not just on the ladder but in playing potential. I think we’ve already shown this year, and certainly in the squad, that we have the potential to be much better. But you can only rely on potential for so long.”
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