All hope Lost as Panthers sadly announced the departure of…

There was always a sense of unfinished business at Penrith and Cleary spoke of how the community culture was fractured at the time.

‘There was so much potential at the club, they made the finals three years in a rowm’

‘There was lots of success in the lower grades and lots of good kids playing there.

‘Like Yeoy ([saah Yeo], Nat [Nathan Cleary], Dly [Dylan Edwards], Romy [Jarome Luai] had debuted… the core of the team.’

‘In those days, the community liked their team but it didn’t feel like they loved it.

‘There weren’t a lot of people wearing Panthers kits around the suburbs. There were a lot of Parramatta fans, there are still too many around here today.

‘You don’t see too many jerseys thankfully. There’s a lot of Souths fans, people that moved out here… I thought there was a real opportunity.

Cleary also spoke candidly about the first grand final that Penrith made, where they were beaten 26-20 by the Melbourne Storm despite launching a furious comeback.

‘We went into the Grand Final that year and thought ‘f**k, no one can beat us’,’ he recalled.

‘As it turned out, the Melbourne Storm kicked our arse that night.

‘But they taught us a lesson that night.

‘They taught us a lesson in what it takes to win big games.’