The Penrith Panthers secured a remarkable fourth Grand Final berth in as many years, storming to a record 38-4 Preliminary Final win over the Melbourne Storm on Friday night.
Having won the most recent two NRL premierships, and now a chance to become the first team to complete a three-peat since the Parramatta Eels of 1981-83, The Saturday Scrum unpacked how the current Panthers side stacks up with the ’81-83 Eels, and more.
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In addition to the Eels, David Riccio raised the Brisbane Broncos and Canberra Raiders sides of the early 1990s as some of history’s most successful, but said he believes the Panthers still top these sides.
“I’m of the belief that this current Penrith team is better than all those teams,” he said.
“I would argue it’s even harder to achieve what Penrith has achieved in this current era, due to the salary cap, and the stringency on the salary cap.
“I think the game is policed more than ever as far as player payments are concerned, unlike 20 years ago, where the flood of talent did go to the more dominant clubs.”
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