Penrith partied like it was 2021, and 2003 – and 1991 – as the NRL champions were given a rockstar welcome on Monday morning.
About 1500 people greeted the likes of bleary-eyed Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and coach Ivan Cleary at BlueBet Stadium after their 28-12 victory over western Sydney rivals Parramatta.
Canterbury-bound forward Viliame Kikau had fallen asleep and missed the western Sydney love-in.
One of the highlights was prop James Fisher-Harris taking to the stage and declaring, “Parra are our sons”, which referred to Penrith now being the real league powerhouse in the suburbs, and which also sparked an impromptu “We hate Parra” chant from supporters.
Penrith have now won two straight premierships, to go with the 1991 and 2003 titles – and there is every chance they can go on to win three, four or even five of the next titles such is their dominance and class.
Penrith Power: Panthers fans celebrate with the NRL champions on Monday morning.Credit:Steven Siewert/SMH
Superstar halfback Cleary, who is being hailed as the best player in the game, emerged from the Panthers’ foyer shirtless and told reporters he needed some sleep before returning to greet the fans.
Ski goggles, which have become the norm for sporting teams who celebrate with champagne or beer being sprayed everywhere in the sheds after a grand final victory, even featured Penrith’s sponsors this year.
Coach Cleary became a little sentimental when talking about some of the players and coaching staff who would depart in the coming weeks. He thanked the fans who were forced to cheer last year’s NRL title from nearly 1000km away because of COVID lockdown.
“I just want to thank everyone for coming out today and for giving us your time and support, I know you spend your money to come and watch us play and you wear the jerseys, it means so much to us and lifts our boys up every single week,” Cleary said.
“I hope you are all as happy as we are.
“It was an incredible performance. At the start of the year there were question marks about whether we’d be hungry enough or if our attitude would be good enough to win another premiership.
“Well, since we started pre-season, all I’ve seen is hunger … we [produced] our best performance of the season on the biggest night last night.
“[The party will] now go as long as it wants to.”
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