Rugby league great Cameron Smith sees similarities between the powerhouse Melbourne Storm side of the 2000s and the current Penrith Panthers squad.
Ivan Cleary’s side is unbeaten through 10 games this season and after coming off losing last year's Grand Final against the Storm, Smith has pointed out several parallels between his former side and the team he helped beat in the 2020 decider.
“I’m looking at their (Penrith’s) squad now, and I see a similar situation to what we had at Melbourne,” Smith said on SEN 1170’s The Captain’s Run.
“There were a few older guys getting to the end of their careers when I joined at a similar time to Craig (Bellamy).
“I played a couple of games in 2002 and he (Bellamy) started at the end of ’02 into the ’03 season.
“At that stage, a lot of guys moved on and he injected the squad with a lot of youth in myself, Billy Slater, Dallas Johnson, Ryan Hoffman and guys like Jake Webster and Cooper Cronk not long after.
“All of the sudden we had this young squad injected into an NRL system and we had to learn how to become consistently competitive.
“I see a similar situation in Penrith where not too long ago they were nowhere near finals football.
“Going back a while now, they were consistently near the top of the table, positioned in the top four and obviously won a premiership quite some time ago, then they sort of went off the radar.
“I’m telling you, out in the western Sydney suburbs they were building what they’ve got right now.”
Penrith’s current side has home grown talent in Nathan Cleary, Jarome Luai, Stephen Crichton and Brian To’o among others who have come up through the junior system, and Smith believes growing up as a group has helped the Panthers immensely.
“This group of young players have played a lot of football coming through in the junior grades and played in the junior system of the Penrith Panthers,” Smith said.
“Now what you’re seeing is the same results in first-grade of what we’ve seen in Melbourne with when Craig Bellamy took over with a young bench of men, learning their trade in the NRL.
“In ’03, ’04 and ’05, we played some finals footy, but we weren’t anywhere near the best football side, and then it just clicked.
“One day it just clicked, and we went ’06, ’07, ’08 and ’09 playing in Grand Finals, and the club never looked back.
“Built around that core group of players that came through together, learned the system and learned the culture of the place.
“You look at the Penrith Panthers, they line up every week, and it doesn’t matter what opposition they’re playing, but they look unbeatable.
“They look confident when they go out there that they will not be beaten.”
Penrith will look to make it 11 straight wins when they face South Sydney in Dubbo on Sunday.
More in NRL
NRL fixture 2026: Broncos snubbed for Magic Round prime time
The Broncos will not get the Friday night slot.
SEN Sydney announces star-studded 2026 line-up
SEN is proud to unveil SEN Sydney 1170am’s on-air line-up for 2026.