The Panthers have always prided themselves on rewriting history and proving their doubters wrong, which is why Jarome Luai has warned punters to not underestimate them as they look to do what no side has done for 16 years.
Ivan Cleary’s side has made the impossible look simple during their run of three-straight premiership wins, but they face one of their toughest tests against the minor premiers who beat them twice during the regular season.
That stat is what they must overcome on Sunday night with the 2008 Sea Eagles the last team to lose to an opponent twice in the regular season, only to flip the result in the grand final.
The Panthers did it in 2022 when they lost both regular season games against the Eels, but they did beat Parramatta in the first week of the finals to regain momentum before they demolished them in the decider.
That 2008 season should give them confidence given it was Melbourne who beat Manly twice only to lose when it mattered most, with the Storm also dominating the Broncos in 2006 only to go down in the grand final.
Matthew Johns recalls the 2008 season vividly when Melbourne spanked Manly in round five before they clinched a 16-10 win at Brookvale which he says left Sea Eagles players confident that they would win if they met them again in the finals.
“The Storm had just beaten Manly at Brookvale and I think it was a bit of a nasty affair,” Johns told the NewsWire, having worked with the Storm playmakers that year.
“That was on the Friday night, so on the Sunday I was walking along the Manly Corso and I hear someone shouting ‘Matty’. I look over and all the Manly blokes are sitting in the New Brighton Hotel.
“I’ve gone in and we started talking loosely about the game. They were really buoyed so I asked them if they took a bit of confidence out of it, and they said ‘they won’t beat us again’.
“They said they’d worked out a few areas about the Storm but they must have forgotten that I worked with the Storm. I left thinking that they were kidding themselves, but they were right.”
The Panthers will be hoping that history repeats this weekend after they were held scoreless all the way back in round one, before the Storm left Sydney’s west with a gritty 24-22 win after Nathan Cleary came off with a shoulder injury.
The fact both games have been close should give them plenty of confidence, with Penrith better placed than the 2013 Sea Eagles who lost to the Roosters twice in the regular season, in week one of the finals and then again in the big one.
Defying history has become par for the course for the three-time premiers who are ready to avenge their loss to the Storm in the 2020 decider.
“I think both games were tight, and even the one in round one felt like a finals game,” Luai said.
“Both games were great games that went down to the wire, and we’re expecting it to be like that come Sunday.
“Getting confidence that we’re able to play in these tight games that are back and forth with the best teams means that we’ll be there at the hooter with our gloves up.
“In terms of taking pride in proving people wrong, I think it’s always been a little bit of a chip on the shoulder sort of thing (for us).
“If you want to bet against us then we’ll take you on with that. If you want to do that then you’ll lose your money.”
Johns can’t split the sides and is predicting a draw on Sunday night after 80 minutes, with the Panthers to be hungrier than ever given what’s happened this year.
“It’s a really good test of mental toughness for a winning side,” he said.
“It sounds strange because you’ve just won, but even when you win, the losing side always goes back and reflects on the game more than the winning side.
“I always say that success has amnesia.
“The losing sides collate information and slowly get their measure. We (the Knights) went through the same thing in 1997 when we had a really bad losing run against Manly, but we started getting closer with every game and then got them on the big day.”
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