Yeo: Why squad changes is exactly what Penrith needed

Penrith captain Isaah Yeo is confident a “freshen up” of the Panthers’ squad is exactly what was needed to rejuvenate the former premiers.

For the first time since 2022, the Panthers’ are beginning a pre-season not as the reigning premiers, having had their four-premiership streak ended by the Broncos in last year’s preliminary final.

Since the Panthers’ success kicked off, the club have found themselves losing marquee players every off-season, with the likes of Stephen Crichton, Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris, Matt Burton, and Apisai Koroisau, amongst others, all leaving the club.

However, the Panthers have lost none of their top-tier talent, instead making changes to the underbelly of their squad, with 10 fringe players leaving.

The departures have allowed the club to elevate players from their junior system, as well as bring in Tom Ale, Kalani Going, and Freddy Lussick from the championship-winning Warriors’ reserve grade team.

Premiership winner Jack Cogger also returns to the foot of the mountains.

Yeo believes the squad changes are precisely what the Panthers need as they look to reclaim the premiership.

“We haven't lost many from our main 1 to 17, but we've had a real refresh in our boys underneath it,” Yeo told SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“We signed a lot of the New Zealand Warriors NSW Cup side; we pretty much just raided them after the success they've just had… we've got a lot of younger boys that are sort of coming up into the first-grade squad now as well.

“We've got a real breath of fresh air in that regard.

“I think there was an opportunity for the club to sort of try and freshen up the squad, but then on the other side, the boys that have been let go, it's probably a good opportunity for them to sort of go and see something different, be in a different system and have success somewhere else.

“There's certainly a bit of a different feel in the group at the moment just because of the sense of that new energy and that freshness that's come from that second part of the squad.

“The last few years… with a few of our top marquee players (leaving) whereas this time around it’s probably come from our juniors and the boys on the cusp of first grade, so I think that’s exciting.”

The Panthers were in last at the halfway point of the 2025 season, with a demoralising Bathurst defeat to the Knights and a gritty away win over the Warriors the catalyst to turn their season around.

The lack of success was a new experience for a large part of the Panthers’ squad, but Yeo was proud of how they responded last season and believes the lessons they learned during their lowest in 2025 will prove the most useful on their trip back to the top.

“(I’m) really proud of how we're able to turn it around,” Yeo told SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“I don't think there's many teams in the competition that could have been last at the turn of the season and be 40 minutes away from a grand final.

“Then obviously seeing some of our younger boys come on. I thought Casey McLean and Blaze Talagi were outstanding for us, particularly in that back end of the season, but you just can't start like we did.

“It was a tough one. We were trying so many different things. I think the coaching staff were a little bit lost in that regard as well. Like, we had coaching staff that hadn't been in that position before while they'd been at Penrith.

“I think we learned some wonderful lessons, not just players as well. So, I think it's never a bad thing when the coaches are learning on the run as well.

“We've had a lot of boys that have come in and all they've known is success. So, I guess on the flip side of that is, at some stage, you've got to try and learn how you manoeuvre and deal with some scrutiny from the outside but then pressure from the inside when you're not performing well.

“We've been so used to success over the last four or five years, whereas this season just gone, we had to obviously do it a little bit differently.

“I guess off the back of that, (winning) probably gives you that confidence that the effort you're putting in is actually being rewarded whereas before that, boys were probably holding back a little bit on their effort because they weren't confident that there'll be a success off the back of it.”