Penrith’s Historic Start to the Season
Penrith has made history by starting their season with the most impressive run in premiership history, securing their fifth consecutive win with a stunning 50-10 victory over Melbourne. This performance was described by Andrew Johns as the best of the Panthers’ dynasty, and it was clear that Penrith were near flawless at CommBank Stadium on Friday night.
With an unbeaten record after five rounds, Penrith’s for-and-against of +150 is now the best of any team at this stage of the season. Historically, only Brisbane in 1996 and the Eastern Suburbs of 1935 have come close, though the latter had a forfeit and bye respectively in the opening rounds of their seasons.
Ivan Cleary’s team has also become the first in premiership history to win their first five games of a season by 20 points or more. The result marked the first time Melbourne have conceded 50 points in a game in 23 years, and it was their biggest loss since the 2008 grand final.
“I’m definitely shocked by the scoreline,” Cleary said. “I am just stoked with the discipline the boys have shown with the way they have come down from each game and prepared again for the next week. We’re actually getting better.”
The Storm’s third-straight defeat means they now have a losing record this late in a season for the first time since 2018. The good news for Melbourne is that Harry Grant was cleared of a serious injury after finishing early with a knee knock. However, that was where the positivity ended.
“I’m disappointed,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said. “They’re probably head and shoulders best in competition. They don’t have many points scored against them and have scored the most points. It’s not that they’ve won five games. It’s how they’ve won. But I was just really disappointed in our defence tonight.”
In reality, no side would have beaten the Panthers on Friday night. The clear early favourites to regain the crown after their run of four straight premierships ended last year, the Panthers look better than ever in 2026.
Their left edge of Blaize Talagi, Isaiah Papali’i, Casey McLean and Tom Jenkins tells the story of their regeneration, with none of the four having won a grand final for the club. Jenkins’ 12 tries through the first five rounds is also the most in history, having scored a double or hat-trick in every game.
And while that edge is firing, mainstays Nathan Cleary, Isaah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and Liam Martin also played starring roles against the Storm. Even when Melbourne threatened to get back into the game at different stages, Penrith’s class shone through.
Nowhere was that more evident than in the first half with Penrith leading 10-6, and with Melbourne attacking their line. Penrith responded by taking Siulagi Tuimalatu-Brown into touch when Melbourne pushed too wide, and on the next set Papali’i bumped off a defender, offloaded to McLean and Jenkins scored.
Cleary stepped off his left foot moments later to run through the Storm’s line and score, while a 35-metre effort from McLean on halftime when he brushed off three Melbourne players made it 26-6 and game over.
The try of the night came midway through the second half when an outrageous flick pass from Scott Sorensen helped Dylan Edwards send Luke Garner over.
“We’ve had some pretty great performances at the back end of the season through this period,” Nathan Cleary said. “This early in the season it’s probably (the best we’ve played). Usually at the start of every season it’s quite clunky.”
